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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