This book is my humble tribute to the great genius of Ghalib who has been my comfort and companion all through my life. My experiment with English translation of Urdu poetry began in 1989 with the publication of the Masterpieces of Urdu Ghazal, and Ghalib's ghazal, yeh na thi hamari qismat was the starting point of my venture. But the Masterpieces contained only twenty ghazals of Ghalib, for it was meant to be a more broad-based anthology covering nine representative poets of Urdu. I had always felt that 20 ghazals were too inadequate to give an idea of the richness and variety of Ghalib's poetry. This book is intended to make up for this deficiency. It presents in one compendious volume, 104 ghazals, 7 miscellaneous poems, and 68 letters, which taken together, represent, in my view, the best of Ghalib in poetry and prose. I have taken care that the poems chosen for this anthology pass the test of artistic excellence, and are easily accessible to the average reader to whom this book is primarily addressed.
Translation of poetry is a tough and slippery task, but translating Ghalib is frightfully so, fraught as it is with the twin difficulties of the correct interpretation of a complex poet, and a faithful rendering of his thought into English. I have attempted to translate the original in a language that is simple, lucid and rhythmical. In addition, I have also tried to convey to the reader some idea of the musicality of Ghalib's verse by retaining the accessories of rhyme or assonance. I am not sure if I have, despite my best efforts, succeeded in doing justice to the spirit and content of Ghalib's lyrics.
The layout of the book follows the pattern of my earlier books of translation of Urdu poetry.
If there is one poet of Urdu who has become a household name in India, it is Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797-1869). Even those who haven't read his poetry are familiar with his name which they flaunt with abandon, to create an impression of their cultural respectability. In fact, for many people Urdu poetry is synonymous with Ghalib. Almost every scholar of note considers it an act of pride to pay his tribute to Ghalib's poetic genius. He has been admired, assimilated, adapted and emulated by most of his successors, including Iqbal and Faiz. Many literary luminaries have acknowledged the greatness of his art and thought. Hali paid a memorable tribute to Ghalib in his path-breaking book, Yaadgaar-e-Ghalib, which, apart from containing useful biographical information, offers insightful explications of many of his famous couplets. Dr Sir Mohammed Iqbal considered him superior to the poets of Sheeraaz- Khanda-zan hai ghuncha-e-Delhi, gul-e-Sheeraz par The blossoming bud of Delhi bemocks Sheerazi rose, and compared him to the German poet, Goethe. Syed Ahmed Khan ranked him higher than the famous Persian poets, Hafiz, Khaqani and Khusro, while Mohammed Hussain Azad called him the monarch of the poetic kingdom. Even his contemporaries, Momin, Zauq and Shefta couldn't help acknowledging the supremacy of Ghalib in the field of poetry. But by far the highest praise was showered on him by Dr Abdul Rahman Bijnauri who felt no hesitation in saying, "India owns two books of divine revelation: (i) the holy Vedas, and (ii) Diwan-e-Ghalib.
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