Ghalib, Mirza Asadullah Khan_Goodyear, Sara Suleri_Mir, Raza - Ghalib_ a thousand desires-Penguin Random House India Private Limited¶

Metadata¶

• Author: [[Raza Mir]]

Highlights¶

Mirza Asadullah Khan Baig ‘Ghalib’ (1797–1869) — location: 225 ^ref-18168

Ghalib is not just a brick in the wall of Urdu poetry but one of its foundations — location: 229 ^ref-575

Financial insecurity did not rob him of sophisticated tastes — location: 301 ^ref-21738

Ghalib had charm and social skills to spare, though his ego sometimes proved to be a major obstacle to his advancement — location: 317 ^ref-26438

Hum muvahhid haiN, hamaara kaish hai tark-e rusoom MillateN jab mit gayeeN, ajza-e eemaaN ho gayeeN We are unitarians, rejection of rituals is our brief Where sectarian differences end, there begins true belief — location: 369 ^ref-22224

Two more elements of the ghazal to keep in mind are the matla and the maqta. The matla is a sher in the ghazal, usually the first couplet, where both lines rhyme. The first sher in the above ghazal is a matla. A ghazal may have more than one matla. The maqta is that sher of a ghazal, which contains the poet’s name as a signature (the signature is known as the takhallus) — location: 1306 ^ref-3618

Typically, the maqta is the last sher of the ghazal. But poets may choose to tweak the format and place the maqta elsewhere. — location: 1316 ^ref-57101

radeef in this ghazal is ‘na bane†— location: 1303 ^ref-2258

qaafiya, which in this case comes from the rhyming of sunaaye, banaaye, uthaaye and bujhaaye — location: 1302 ^ref-25490

the protagonist lover as the moth (parwaana) destined to die a fiery death, — location: 1326 ^ref-11070

Often, this was accomplished by producing a set of binaries between the purity of love (ishq, pyaar) and the corruption of the world, represented by tyranny, wealth, the throne, or even god (zulm, zar/daulat, takht, khudaai). — location: 1355 ^ref-21035

Is saadgi pe kaun na mar jaaye ai khuda Ladte haiN aur haath meiN talvaar bhi nahiN Such innocence is worth dying for, my word That my love went to battle without a sword! — location: 1555 ^ref-55223

MehrbaaN ho ke bula lo mujhe chaaho jis waqt MaiN gaya waqt nahiN hooN ke phir aa bhi na sakooN Call me whenever and thus you will learn I am not spent time that can’t return! — location: 1578 ^ref-2054

Hum ko maaloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin Dil ke khush rakhne ko Ghalib ye khayaal achchha hai We know the reality of paradise Ghalib, let’s admit, these are comforting lies — location: 1615 ^ref-57771

Ishq ne Ghalib nikamma kar diya Varna hum bhi aadmi the kaam ke Indeed, Ghalib, love has laid me low Else I was quite a useful fellow — location: 1625 ^ref-12856

Na tha kuch to khuda tha kuch na hota to khuda hota Duboya mujh ko hone ne na hota maiN to kya hota When there was nothing, there was god Had there been nothing, god would be The act of being was my undoing What would have been had there been no me? — location: 1641 ^ref-45670

Aaina kyon na dooN ke tamaasha kaheN jise Aisa kahaaN se laaooN ke tujh sa kaheN jise If you seek your equal, I must offer a looking glass Where else can I offer someone equal to you in class? — location: 1659 ^ref-18665