Ghalib, Mirza Asadullah Khan, << GAH leeb, meer ZAH ah sahd YOO lah kahn >> (1797-1869), was perhaps the greatest poet in the Urdu language of India. Ghalib’s letters are also a landmark in the history of Urdu prose. In addition, Ghalib was one of the most important poets of his time in the Persian language.
Ghalib became especially known for his witty and intellectual ghazals, a traditional verse form in Persian, Urdu, Arabic, and Turkish literature. A typical ghazal is a short lyric poem that deals with love. Ghalib also wrote descriptive poems in rhyming couplets called masnawi and poems of praise called qasida. Ghalib’s critics attacked him for writing in a style they considered obscure and excessively ornamental. His poetry did not achieve widespread popularity until the 1900’s.
Ghalib was born in Agra, India, on Dec. 27, 1797. He compiled his first collection of Urdu poetry in 1821. He soon turned to writing in Persian and wrote in that language for about 20 years. Ghalib then returned to Urdu when he became a member of the court of the Mughal Empire, which ruled India at that time. Urdu was the language of the court. The last Mughal emperor appointed Ghalib his poet laureate in 1854.
Ghalib witnessed the Indian Rebellion in 1857 against the British colonial government that ruled India. He recorded his reactions to the rebellion and its aftermath in a journal written in Persian. Ghalib helped to assemble the first collection of his letters, which were written in Urdu. The collection was published shortly before his death and became an immediate classic of Urdu prose literature. Ghalib died on Feb. 15, 1869.
