Full Description
Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (1797-1869), known by his pen names Asad ("lion") and Ghalib ("superior"), is the famous romantic and mystical poet of the Mughal Empire (1526-1858) in India. He is the most-beloved and most widely read poet of the Urdu language, the dominant language of northern India and Pakistan that emerged through the blending of Hindustani with Arabic and Persian.
Contents
Acknowledgments 7
Introduction 3
Ghalib's Life and Times 3
The Religious and Erotic Traditions 7
Ghazals as the Blues 13
Opening Up the Rhyme 15
The Problem with Repetends 19
Rhetorical Play and Wit 20
The Poems 26
Out of Heartfire 28
The Jewel of the Party 29
At This Party 31
The Spell of Desire 33
Murderess 34
Executioner 36
The Idol 38
A Direction in Which to Pray 39
What Comes 41
Seeking a Gash 43
Enough 46
Enter My Dream 48
Thirst 49
A Smaller Miracle 50
Wine Wave 52
Stay Drunk 54
The Empty Cup 55
A Stunned Drop of Wine 57
Then 58
The Betel Nut 60
My Desires Are Legion 62
The Sound of My Own Failure 64
The Accounting 66
Deadbeat Heart 67
Pawned to This Cruel Life 68
She Pawned Her Heart 70
The Dead Lamp 71
Everything Will Be Dust 72
Red Flowers Hidden in Dust 74
Handful of Dust 77
Dust 78
Why Sing the Blues? 79
Why? 81
What We Say 83
Glances Lined with Kohl 85
Kohl for the Eyes 86
Hennaed Feet 87
I Am Human, After All 89
The Stare 91
Rupture 92
The Face in the Mirror 94
More to Say 95
Some Life 97
When the Dead Rise 98
A Footprint in Paradise 99
Be Generous 100
Veil 101
What? 102
The Cure for Life 104
Infected by Love 106
No Medicine 107
Where Is My Heart? 109
Famine 111
A Woundgift 113
Who Cares? 114
Heartgrief School 116
The Desert Sea 118
Wasteland 119
The Traveler 121
Call Down Lightning 122
Lunatic Beggar 123
Madness of the Night of Separation 124
Blood-Filled Eyes 126
A Rose in the Dirt 127
Give Me Lunacy, at Least 129
How Tight Is the World? 131
The Tulip 132
Dew on a Red Tulip 133
Nothing Is What Breathes from Me 135
No One 137
About the Translators: 138
