Dr Rauf Parekh explains why Ghalib continues to be extensively studied by literary scholars

Much of Ghalib’s poetry is not easy to grasp, due to which the poet has been extensively studied by critics and literary scholars from his time till the present day.

Linguist and literary scholar Dr Rauf Parekh said this as he addressed an event at the Ghalib Library, Nazimabad, on Thursday. The event was organised by the Idara Yadgar-e-Ghalib to pay tribute to the legendary Urdu and Persian poet on his death anniversary that falls on February 15.

Dr Parekh said over 100 exegeses of Ghalib’s Urdu poetry had so far been written. Literary scholar Dr Sohail Baloch had given 107 as the count of those exegeses, he added.

He said that due to his extremely difficult verses, some labelled Ghalib’s poetry as meaningless, but the publication of so many exegeses was proof that Ghalib’s poetry had layers of meaning which critics attempted to explain.

He explained that according to the historical record, a literary person named Raqim was the first person who wrote commentary on Ghalib’s poetry but that could not be published. Someone was able to find its manuscript but that was in a bad condition and could not be read.

Dr Parekh said the first commentary on Ghalib’s poetry was published in 1876 and it was written by Durga Parshad Nadir, but it was not a complete exegesis as the writer commented only on selective verses. The speaker added that the first complete exegesis of Ghalib was Wusooq-e-Sarahat published by Abdul Alee Waleh in 1895.

He named Shaukat Meerthi, Nazm Tabatabai, Hasrat Mohani, Ghulam Rasool Mehr, Shadab Bilgrami, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and Naiyer Masud as some prominent literary persons who wrote commentaries on Ghalib’s poetry.

Citing Altaf Hussain Hali’s opinion whose work Yadgar-e-Ghalib is considered a phenomenal work on Ghalib’s life and literary output in both Urdu and Persian languages, the speaker said the meaning of many Ghalib’s verses depended on how they were recited. A same couplet may mean different when recited in an assertive tone and it got another shade of meaning when read in a softer tone.

He said Ghalib was a master in the usage of interrogative pronouns and interrogative adverbs (e.g. Kya, Kyun, Kaun, etc.) which rendered his verses open to multiple interpretations.

Ghalib’s poetry was full of questions and expressions of astonishment, due to which it was still fresh today, the speaker remarked.

The event was presided over by poet and critic Sahar Ansari. In his speech, he also praised Ghalib for his letters, saying that Ghalib had documented his era in those letters and we could get a complete picture of that time by reading them.

He said Ghalib’s was a multi-layered poetry and its complete understanding was not an easy task. Ansari said some scholars had wrongly suggested that Hali borrowed some of the content in Yaadgar-e-Ghalib from Muhammad Hussain Azad’s Aab-e-Hayat. He said that although Aab-e-Hayat was published earlier, it was Hali who provided some information about Ghalib to Azad who included it in Aab-e-Hayat.

Later, a Mushaira was held in which many poets recited their Ghazal composed in a Zameen of Ghalib, which means using the same metre and rhyme that Ghalib used in one of his Ghazal.

Initially young poets were invited to read out their poetry. One of them was Danial Ismail, who received much applause for his Ghazal that was written in the Zameen of Ghalib’s famous Ghazal ‘Bazeecha-e-Atfal Hai Duniya Mere Aage’.

Two couplets that Ismail recited are:

“Is Baar Apne Haath Se Jaane Nahin Doonga/ Le Aaye Agar Waqt Woh Lamha Mere Aage”

“Chalta Hoon To Lagti Hai Yeh Duniya Mere Peeche/ Rukta Hoon To Chalti Hai Yeh Duniya Mere Aage”

After a while, it was the turn of senior poets like Rukhsana Saba, Akhtar Hashmi, Meraj Jami and Ansari who delighted the audience with their verses in Ghalib’s Zameen.

Dr Tanzeemul Firdous, the secretary of the Idara Yaadgar-e-Ghalib, also informed the audience about future plans of the organisation.