| ghalib...
Mirza Asadullah Khan "Ghalib" is one of the best of the Urdu poets.
He led a revolution in Urdu poetry with his words. According to the critic
Aal Ahemd Sarvar "Ghalib gave brain to our poetry which was till then dominated
by the people of heart."
Ghalib used to have takhallus (pen name) of 'Asad' but he listened
to this sher
Asad us jafaa par butoN say wafaa ki
me-ray sher shabaash rahmat kHuda ki
He said whose sher is this should get lots of rahmat of God but
if it is mine then lots of laanat on me, and he changed his
takhallus to 'ghalib'.
the beginning...
He was born in 1796 in Akbarabad (present Agra). His father Abdullah
Beg Khan and Uncle Nasrullah Beg Khan were in the Army. Mirza Ghalib become
orphaned when he was just 5 years old. He lived with his uncle for 4 years,
when his uncle too died.
He started saying sher in Agra itself. He married the daughter of Nawab
Ilahi Baksh 'Maaroof' and therefore moved to Delhi. In Delhi he devoted
his full concentration to poetry. Soon he mastered the Persian language.
So that no one should call him be-ustad ( without a teacher) he fabricated
a story that he had an Iranian teacher Abdul-samad live in house for two
years to teach him Farsi. Ghalib was always proud of his Farsi poetry but
he is known more by his Urdu prose and poetry.
life...
He always lived his life lacking money. After 1857 the support from
the Royal durbar stopped. The pension from the British Govt. was stopped
because he was suspected of supporitn the rebels. He even traveled to Calcutta
to restart the pension but to no avail.
He went to the Nawab of Rampur, who promised him Rupees 200 if he lived
in Rampur and Rs. 100 if he lived anywhere else. His pension was resumed
3 years after that, but all that money was used up for paying old debts.
Ghalib died in 1869.
letters...
Not only Urdu poetry but the prose is also indebted
to Mirza Ghalib. His letters gave foundation to the easy and popular Urdu.
Before Ghalib, letter writing in Urdu was highly ornamental. He made his
letters "talking" by using words and sentences as if he is talking to the
reader. According to him
"sau kos say ba-zabaan-e-qalam baateiN kiya
karo aur hijr meiN visaal kay ma-zay liya karo"
[ from hundred of miles talk with the tongue
of the pen and enjoy the joy of meeting even when you are separated]
His letters were very informal, some times he
will just write the name of the person and start the letter. He himself
was very humerous and also made his letter very interesting. He said
"maiN koshish karta hooN keH koi aisi baat
likhooN jo pa-Rhay kHoosh ho jaaye"
[ I want to write the lines that whoever reads
those should enjoy it]
When the third wife of one of his friends died,
he wrote...
"Allah allah aik woH log haiN jo teen teen
dafaH iss qaid say chhooT chu-kaiN haiN aur aik hum haiN keH aik ag-lay
pachas baras say jo phaNsi ka phaNda ga-lay meiN paRha hai to naH phaNda
hi TuT-ta hai naH dum hi nikalta hai"
[Allah Allah, there are some among us who have
been freed from the prison three times and I have for the past 50 years
this rope around my neck neither this rope breaks nor it takes my life]
Some scholars says that Ghalib would have the
same place in Urdu litterature even only on the basis of his letters.
poetry...
In Urdu ghazals, along with the love and beauty Ghalib added all the
facets of life. Because of him the canvas of Urdu ghazal became very extended.
Since Ghalib was very occuppied with Persian , his earlier shers used
difficult words and his flights of imagination was such that...
"yaa to aap sam-jhay yaa kHuda sam-jhay"
[ either you (Ghalib) understand or the God understand]
Ghalib was not a philospher but he questioned things around him.
jub keH tujh bin nahiN koi maujood
phir yeH hungaamaH ai kHuda kya hai
[ when there is no one besides you;
then oh God why is this pandemonium]
One also find naughtiness in his writings, he makes fun of every thing
and evreybody including himself.
jiss meiN laakhoN baras ki hooreiN hoN
aisi jannat ka kya ka-ray koi
[ when the women are million years old
what i will do with that paradise]
But Ghalib's sher not only have immediate effect on the heart but it
makes you think too.
aah ko chahiye aik umr asar ho-nay tak
kaun jeeta hai teri zulf kay sar ho-nay tak.
hum nay mana keH tagHaful naH karo-gay lekin
kHaak ho jaaayeN-gay tum ko kHabar ho-nay tak.
daame hur mauj meiN hai hulqa-e-sad kaam nihaNg
dekheiN kya guz-ray hai qat-ray peH guhar ho-nay tak.
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