Written by: Mahnoor Fatima
Posted on: February 14, 2020 | 
Diwan-e-Ghalib Muraq-e-Chughtai (Ghalib's Poetry with A.R. Chugtai's Illustrations)
ہیں اور بھی دنیا میں سخن ور بہت اچّھے
کہتے ہیں کہ غالب کا ہے اندازِ بیاں اور
“They say there are more (other) good poets, they say that Ghalib’s style is different from all the rest!”
One does not need to read poetry to have heard the name Mirza Ghalib. Perhaps one of the most timeless and influential Urdu poets of history, Ghalib words have become immortal, whether the audience likes or understands him. The deeper one delves into Ghalib’s life and poetry, the more one raises questions about his life, motivations and ability to have such a masterful command of words. But as writer Ali Sardar Jafri writes, “Because he leaves much unsaid, it makes the couplet[s] difficult to understand, but, at the same time, adds vastly to its beauty and the meaning assumes a wider range.”
Ghalib or Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan was born in 1797 in Agra, India to a family of Turkic and Kashmiri ancestry. Not much is factually known about his life; although he was financially comfortable, he had to face many personal tragedies, from the early death of loved ones, to the loss of his Mughal titles and patronage after 1857. Over the course of his life, he composed many poems that have gained massive popularity after his death, most of which are found in Deewan-e-Ghalib (Works of Ghalib). Alongside his poetry, Ghalib is also famous for his letters, which many agree have helped Urdu’s transition from a stiff, court language to an accessible, everyday vernacular.
Ghalib's Haveli in Delhi (photo credits to TimesofIndia)
Ghalib’s era marked a tremendous shift in India’s zeitgeist; the Mughal Empire was on its last legs, and the British began to formally take over India. For the everyday people, this massive shift created a psychologically difficult period, filled with uncertainties, controversies, decay and hope for a better future under the reign of these alien invaders from a totally different civilization and which was at a different stage of development and had undergone industrialization.
In Dastambu (Bouquet) and his personal letters, Ghalib had written about the effect that the 1857 Indian rebellion had on him. But while he was deeply disturbed by the massive bloodshed (“May the sockets of my eyes be filled with dust if during this tragic time I have seen anything but weeping”), he was sympathetic and even appreciative of the British (truly we cannot hope for justice under any other government but that of the British). Scholars and historians to this date debate about the motivations behind his oath of allegiance to the new Raj.
While he preferred the complexities of Persian over Urdu, Ghalib remains an important pillar in the development of the Urdu language. He plays with the form of the ghazal; tonally the couplets of a ghazal must be the same, each couplet can carry different meanings. This can allow for the sacred and mundane to feature in the same couplet (which Ghalib does quite often). There is a lot of ambiguity of meaning in the words, and he often plays with imagery to reveal how detached it is from reality. But Ghalib’s beauty lies in the way he speaks of the everyday richness of life using simple and easy-on-the-tongue metaphors. For example:
“Don’t be carried away by the giddy heights of the world; These lofty heights are destined one day to have a fall.”
Two moods that feature prominently in his work are deep longing for peace and tranquility in a strife-torn period and a bitter distain for hypocrisy. Many believe that the attitudes and indifference of people frustrated him, prompting him to write of intense yearning for love, beauty and perfection, especially in terms of the Divine.
A Bust of Mirza Ghalib
رنج سے خوگر ہوا انساں تو مٹ جاتا ہے رنج
مشکلیں مجھ پر پڑیں اتنی کہ آساں ہو گئیں
Driven by an unknown hope I go, I know not where; The path itself is in a straight line Of grace to me
As literary critic Ahmed Ali writes, “He could not accept the established view of things and was skeptical of known beliefs…though a good deal of imagery was based on the conventional [idea], he inverted it to suit his thought, sometimes grotesquely perverting it.” Ghalib saw through the hypocrisy of hollow, orthodox attitudes and advocated for a more spiritual, emotional approach to his struggle for meaning.
Men are put to shame By false courage. Therefore Produce tears, Asad. If the sigh has no effect
However, along with the melancholy that colored his work, there was also humor and wit. Most famously, he uses the last of his sentences for self-deprecating humor. Ghalib is able to write about himself with equal parts detachment and arrogance, a feat that few can accomplish with equal finesse.
غالبؔ چھٹی شراب پر اب بھی کبھی کبھی
پیتا ہوں روز ابر و شب ماہ تاب میں
“Ah! Ghalib gave up wine but once on in a merry mood He drinks on a rainy day or a moonlit night.”
Today, Ghalib remains a crucial part of popular culture, whether in film, music or television. Ghalib’s ghazals are sung by singers like Noor Jehan, Abida Perveen, Lata Mangeshkar etc. In 1954, Sohrab Modi directed Mirza Ghalib, written by giants of the Progressive Writers’ Movements, Saadat Hassan Manto and Rajindar Singh Bedi. In 1988, writer-director Gulzar’s television serial Mirza Ghalib aired, starring the famed Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah in the eponymous role. Within literature, Rabisankar Bal’s Dozakhnama (The Book of Hell) features a dialogue between Manto and Ghalib beyond the grave.
Mirza Ghalib's Statue at Jamia Millia University, India (photo credits to theculturetrip)
Although these popular imaginings have taken many creative liberties with the historical backdrop and Ghalib’s personal character, they were wildly successful and are still acclaimed for their elaborate representations of the poet’s works.
The Ghalib Museum with Ghalib's Clothes (photo credits to TimesofIndia)
Ghalib remains an iconic literary figure beloved by many irrespective of country, age, social and religious backgrounds. His appeal lay in an unparalleled command of poetry that transformed his pain and longing into a force that transcended his life. He teaches those who speak and appreciate the Urdu Language about the complexity and room for intricacy within its form. But more so, his words touch a spectrum of emotions (sometimes in one go) and that part of us searching for something far beyond ourselves.
You may also like:
