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Lit Bug's Reviews > Diwan e Ghalib / دیوان غالب
Diwan e Ghalib / دیوان غالب
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ENGLISH TITLE: DIVAN-E-GHALIB (The World of Ghalib)
One of my favorite poets ever, and a treasured Urdu collection since long. Ghalib's sensual poetry made sharper by wit and peppered by sarcasm make it a memorable, cherished read. Devoid of melodrama, he is still capable of making the reader pine - and ah, so flawless his execution, so heart-rending his poetry!
Ghalib's own words sum up better his place in history than any reviewer can ever hope to -
है� और भी दुनिया मे� सुख़नव� बोहो� अच्छ�
कहते है� के ग़ालिब का है अंदाज़-�-बयाँ और
Club reading his poetry with Gulzar's beautiful teleseries on Ghalib's life, Naseeruddin Shah capturing Ghalib amazingly well in the role - and Jagjit Singh's mellifluous voice rendering the heart-rending lines of my favorite Ghalib-ghazal ever -
Aah ko chahiye ek umr asar hone tak,
kaun jeeta hai teri zulf ke sar hone tak..."
I simply love this rendition -
Why the hell don't people write so well, compose so well, and sing so well now?
A plus point of this collection is that it has a poem-by-poem glossary of the Farsi words used, now unintelligible to most of us.
This collection is a sheer delight. A must-read for anyone who loves good poetry.
One of my favorite poets ever, and a treasured Urdu collection since long. Ghalib's sensual poetry made sharper by wit and peppered by sarcasm make it a memorable, cherished read. Devoid of melodrama, he is still capable of making the reader pine - and ah, so flawless his execution, so heart-rending his poetry!
Ghalib's own words sum up better his place in history than any reviewer can ever hope to -
है� और भी दुनिया मे� सुख़नव� बोहो� अच्छ�
कहते है� के ग़ालिब का है अंदाज़-�-बयाँ और
Club reading his poetry with Gulzar's beautiful teleseries on Ghalib's life, Naseeruddin Shah capturing Ghalib amazingly well in the role - and Jagjit Singh's mellifluous voice rendering the heart-rending lines of my favorite Ghalib-ghazal ever -
Aah ko chahiye ek umr asar hone tak,
kaun jeeta hai teri zulf ke sar hone tak..."
I simply love this rendition -
Why the hell don't people write so well, compose so well, and sing so well now?
A plus point of this collection is that it has a poem-by-poem glossary of the Farsi words used, now unintelligible to most of us.
This collection is a sheer delight. A must-read for anyone who loves good poetry.
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Diwan e Ghalib / دیوان غالب.
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Waah Waah! Isn't Urdu poetry mesmerizing? I hope to read more of it some day...
Mesmerizing indeed! I used to read a lot of Urdu poetry but have been out of touch since a long time. Your review was a lovely reminder to get back to reading it.
Agree with Garima here,Lit Bug! I have read some of the poems from the work and yes, it has been a sheer delight. I remember Nasserudin in Galib's role, as always, very captivating! And absolutely no words for Jagjeet Singh's voice!! He is the only singer whose voice seems like coming from heart and straightly touches the heart [sort of divine experience if such an experience exists :)]. RIP Jagjeet Singh.
Rakhi wrote: "Agree with Garima here,Lit Bug! I have read some of the poems from the work and yes, it has been a sheer delight. I remember Nasserudin in Galib's role, as always, very captivating! And absolutely ..."It is a pity the series is not shown on TV again, like many other sensible, wonderful old shows... You're lucky to understand Assamiya - apart from Jagjit Singh, I loved Bhupen Hazarika's melodious voice.
Hum ko maloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin...dil ke khush rakhne ko ghalib yeh khayal acha hai..
As I write this shaer my head resonates with Jagjit Singh's voice and the narration provided by Gulzar. Beautiful. Amazing. No words.
Ghalib is in a league of his own. And all we can do to keep him alive is I guess keep talking about , keep reading him.
Rago mai daudte phirne ke hum nahi kaayal,
jab aankh hi se na tapka toh phir lahoo kya hai.
:)
Rago mai daudte phirne ke hum nahi kaayal,jab aankh hi se na tapka toh phir lahoo kya hai.
Believe it or not, I was just going to type this - what a powerful sher - I was thinking of including a translation of some of his shers in the review, but it is futile - like Bengali, Urdu too has a beauty I find difficult to translate into English.
There is a story of Ghalib that I remember having read somewhere. Ghalib who was an atheist, once was walking past a dargah, and it happened to be the timing for namaaz. Someone who was entering the durgah invited Ghalib inside saying, as you are here at such an auspicious time, why not pay your respects to the almighty.Ghalib mulled over the invitation for a little while and then started towards the doors of the mosque. He had almost stepped inside, when some one from the street called out to him and pointed towards a bottle of alcohol that he carried with himself.
Ghalib stopped on his tracks and turned back from the mosque towards his alcoholic friend. Atleast finish the namaaz before you leave, people inside the mosque requested. Ghalib just replied, the thing that I had come here to ask from the almighty, awaits me outside. What more do I need to pray for.
PS: If this anecdote isn't crisp and witty enough, apologies for my poor narration. :)
I think we should still try putting up our favorite shaer's here in the comments with our own translation. We can come across new ones, or be reminded of the old lost ones that have faded over time. Let me recollect some of my own favorites and add them here..
I think we should still try putting up our favorite shaer's here in the comments with our own translation. We can come across new ones, or be reminded of the old lost ones that have faded over time. Let me recollect some of my own favorites and add them here..
By all means, do so!And the anecdote you narrated, hasn't Ghalib written a sher on that as well? I'll find it out and post...
Hazaron khwahishen aisi ke her khwahishper dam nikle,
Bahut nikle mere arman phir bhi kam nikle.
Mohabbat main nahin hai frk jeene aur
merne ka,
Usi ko dekh ker jeete hain jis kaafir pe
dam nikle.
I can't actually try to translate these beautiful lines. Any attempt feels like blasphemy.
@Lit Bug: Did you read this in Urdu?
Rahul wrote: "@Lit Bug: Did you read this in Urdu?"No... It was written in Devnagari (Hindi) script with a glossary of Farsi words in Hindi. There was no other edition listed here and the cover I have was the same as this so I listed this edition as 'read'.
Lovely lines! Absolutely lovely...
Let me introduce a contemporary of Ghalib here. I chanced upon him when listening to a ghazal by Ghulam Ali.The first rendition in the above link is my favorite. Please do check it out, at least the lines of the ghazal.
I have read the Hindi versions only too across net as well as a book I had with me. ( Lightning should have fallen on Ghalib )Urdu is such fine language though and I always cringe at a mediocre translation or one dimension translation of it into English.
Thank you for the link! I've heard it often in Ghulam Ali's melodious voice but didn't know about the poet..Keep posting! :)
I didn't know Abida Parveen, Farida Khanum and Pankaj Udhas too have rendered it in their voice.I so love "Ranjish Hi Sahi" by 'Mehndi Hasan' -
Farida Khanum se yaad aaya...tum hi soncho zara kyu na roke tumhe jaan jaati hai jab uth ke jaate ho tum...
Aaj jaane ki zidd na karo :)
"Kahan Maikhaane ka Darawaza Ghalib aur kaha waij, Par itana jaanate hai kal woh jaata thaa ke hum nikale"
This is one nice sher.
Yup, and a very famous one too! :)
Diwane Ghalib pahli baat kab likha gayaKoi to bataye
Dil ke khush rakhne ko Ghalib ye khyaal acha hai!
Followed by Faiz Ahmed Faiz's:
aur bhi gham hain zamaane mein mohabbat ke siwa
raahatein aur bhi hain vasl ki raahat ke sivaa!
:D