Mirza Ghalib
Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan Ghalib is the most widely quoted and celebrated classical Urdu and Persian poet. His ghazals are renowned for their philosophical depth, questioning of religious dogmas, and intense exploration of love and existential sorrow.
The poet who made doubt beautiful
Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan was born in Agra on 27 December 1797 and settled in Delhi as a young man, where he spent most of his life in rented rooms in Ballimaran. He lost his father early, married at thirteen and carried financial worry through decades of a pension dispute with the British East India Company.
He wrote in both Persian and Urdu, and was prouder of his Persian. History disagrees: it is his Urdu diwan — compact, difficult and endlessly quotable — that made him immortal. Bahadur Shah Zafar appointed him court historian and gave him the titles Dabir-ul-Mulk and Najm-ud-Daula.
Ghalib also reshaped Urdu prose. His personal letters, written in a chatty and witty style, introduced a conversational tone that Urdu prose had rarely used before. He died in Delhi on 15 February 1869, after witnessing the 1857 uprising and the fall of the Mughal court.
Recurring themes
- Insatiable desire
- Religious irony
- Self-mockery
- Philosophical doubt
- The dignity of suffering
Where to start
Read the ghazals that begin 'Hazaaron khwaishein aisi' and 'Dil-e-nadaan tujhe hua kya hai' first; then try the letters for a very different, humorous Ghalib.
Worth knowing
He once said that his Persian poetry was 'a garden of colours' compared with his Urdu 'collection of sparse flowers' — and posterity decided exactly the opposite.
Classical Couplets by — Mirza Ghalib
Hazaaron khwaishein aisi ke har khwaish pe dam nikle,
Bohat niklay mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle.
Mohabbat mein nahi hai farq jeene aur marne ka,
Usi ko dekh kar jeete hain jis kaafir pe dam nikle.
Hum ko maaloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin,
Dil ke khush rakhne ko Ghalib ye khayaal achha hai.
Na tha kuch to khuda tha, kuch na hota to khuda hota,
Duboya mujh ko hone ne, na hota main to kya hota?
Ronde mein hai sharafat par rona nahi aata,
Dil mein hai jo baat wo chehre pe laana nahi aata.
Jee dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din,
Baithe rahein tasawwur-e-jaana kiye hue.
Qarz ki peete the mai lekin samajhte the ke haan,
Rang laaye gi humari faqa-masti ek din.
Maine kaha ki bazm-e-naaz mein ghairon ka kya guzar,
Usne kaha ki dastaan aage badhao baat kya.
Nukta-cheen hai gham-e-dil usko sunaye na bane,
Kya bane baat jahan baat banaye na bane.
Rahiye ab aisi jagah chal kar jahan koi na ho,
Hamsukhan koi na ho aur hamzabaan koi na ho.
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