Reading Ghalib in his full glory
If someone would say: Why would Rekhtah [Urdu] be the envy of Persian? Read out Ghalib’s verse, just once: ‘Like this!’
Look at my Persian so that you may see different colours
Pass over my collection in Urdu because it doesn’t have my colour.
Both these self-assured verses are by Mirza Ghalib and translated by Mehr Afshan Farooqi. It should be pointed out that the first is from Urdu, and the second from Persian. Ghalib wrote in both languages, and his output in Persian was more than double of that in Urdu — facts that are not widely known despite his abiding popularity in South Asia and the world. And as seen in the above verses, Ghalib prioritised either Persian or Urdu, at different points of time in his writing career.
Mehr Afhsan Farooqi’s book, Ghalib: A Wilderness at My Doorstep, by focussing critically on both Ghalib’s Persian and Urdu poetry and prose, becomes the definitive literary biography of 19th century’s greatest poet. In contrast, most critics in Urdu or English have focussed largely on Ghalib’s Urdu work; fewer others writing in Persian, Urdu, or English have analysed his Persian oeuvre. Farooqi writes not just on the biographical or anecdotal while strewing Ghalib’s exalted verses around, as prior biographies in English did. Instead, she closely examines the history of his manuscript and printed editions of Ghalib’s work, their editing and selection by the poet, the various prefaces written to different editions by the author and/or his friends, and also their reception.
While undertaking the literary studies pathway of close study and textual research of various editions of Ghalib’s works, the book also acquires the hues of a bibliomystery, investigating the motivations behind Ghalib’s choices, as well as the appearance and disappearance of his various manuscript diwans (collections) and anthologies. Farooqi makes interesting claims and refutes canonical opinions, such as those about Ghalib expunging his “difficult” verses from his early phase for his published Urdu diwans, the first of which was published only in 1841, even though his first collection was ready possibly by 1816. She also examines Ghalib’s reasons for concentrating on Persian in his mature phase, such as to participate in a larger Persosphere spanning from Turkey to Bengal. Why is the Persian poetry an easier read than the highly complex Urdu poetry? These are some of the key questions Farooqi seeks to answer.
While placing herself in a long tradition of Ghalib scholarship from Hali, Tabatabai, Malik Ram, Vazir-ulhasan-abidi, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi (her father), to name only a few, Farooqi creates a historiography
Ghalib: A Wilderness at My Doorstep
Mehr Afshan Farooqi 416pp, ~799, Penguin of the interpretative history of Ghalib. And while doing so, she clarifies the timelines of both criticism and also Ghalib’s compositions, which other biographies in English have failed to do. She also asserts Ghalib’s travels in 1826-27, the long journey to Calcutta, as the reason for his mature understanding of the Persosphere and the value of print cultures. These, she avers, become the reason for his enduring success.
However, at times, Farooqi’s desire to present Ghalib in all his bilingual glory to an Englishreading public becomes a bit of a hindrance. The narrative voice is that of an “I” throughout, which takes away from the subject at hand. Despite these minor quibbles, this is the best addition to Ghalib scholarship in English in the recent many decades.
The poet’s canny wilderness has been tamed for us by Farooqi, and we must doff our topis, karakuls and hats to this expert Ghalibian.
Maaz Bin Bilal is a poet, translator, and cultural critic. He teaches literary studies at Jindal Global University