Profundity in the Poetry of Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869 AD)

Pages:119-120
Archana Sehgal (CMJ University, Shillong, Meghalaya)

“Hain aur bhi duniya mein sukhanwar bahut achche, kehte hain ki Ghalib ka hai andaaz-e-bayan aur”. In the era when four greatest poets of Urdu lived viz., Ghalib, Zauq, Momin and Zafar, Ghalib reigned supreme and it so remains till today. His class is that of Shakespeare or a Kalidas. One line of such laureate gets interpreted in infinite number of ways in various contexts and at different points of time. Like Eliot he was quite handsome and over bearing temperamentally. Around the age of 25, his poetic talent had finally developed. A great scholar and master of many great languages of all times, his literary canvass is of immeasurable range be it the groups, classes of people or philosophy, life styles of mind sets and thoughts steam, but there is one characteristic trait of ordinary mundaneness that never touched him. Philosophy and deep contemplation are pretty variegated in his writings: “Ishq mujh ko nahin vehshat hi sahi, Mere vehshat teri shohrat hi sahi” “Koi din gar zindgani aur hai, Apne ji mein hamne thani aur hai” “Ishq par zor nahin, hai ye woh aatish Ghalib, Jo lagaaye naa lage, aur bujhaye na bane” Following closely in the footsteps of Meer Taqi Mir, the innovative father of Urdu ‘Ghazal’, Ghalib took the glare to its dizzying heights with his profound approach to ‘Love’ which has caused more heart-breaks than fulfillment. Assad ullah’s famous verse, ‘Aashiqui sabr talab aur tamanna betaab, dil ka kya rang karoon khoon-e-jigar hone tak’ deeply conveys the conflict between what love demands and how impatient is the longing for its realization the lover here knows full well that he is headed for disaster with his heart bleeding to no end. The use of poetic device of ‘double entendre’ renders this part of the composition highly rofound the lover expresses his inability to hold (rang) his heart full of love; of course, it turns red with blood all over.