Presentation of selected verses in chronological order, lends to the distinction of four phases – Teenage Debut (“D”, 19-19+ years), Youthful Explorations (“E”, 24 – 29 years), Blooming (“B”, 29+ – 54 years), and Twilight (“T”, 55-70 years) i.e., DEBT - and reveals Ghalib’s consistency of ideas and development of thought.
CONSISTENCY OF IDEAS
Praising Own Poetry
Notwithstanding Ghalib’s blind praise of Bedil's poetry at the beginning, his acute consciousness about greatness of his own poetry recurs in his verses. At the debut itself, he tells that he enjoys writing poetry, else he knows that he is ahead of his times, i.e., he is not understood by his generation.
The love for imagination’s delight makes me sing. (D)
I am the nightingale of a yet-to-be created flower garden.
hoon garmee-e nishaat-e tasawwur sey naghmah sanj
The youthful Ghalib boasts about effectiveness of his poetry using the hyperbole that by his mere idea in respect of wildness, the desert got burnt.
Please tell, of thought’s substance, where is the heat? (E)
Some thought about wildness had occurred that the desert got burnt.
a'rz keejey jauhar-e andeshah kee garmee kahaan
During blooming phase, his poetry had started receiving acclaim even from knowledgeable people with differing perceptions.
I get, from him, some praise for my verses. (B)
Gabriel, though, agrees with me not.
paataa hoon us sey daad kuchh apney kalaam kee
In twilight, he acknowledges other stalwarts, but terms himself as numero uno.
There are also other very good poets in the world (T)
It is said that Ghalib’s style of narration is different.
kahtey hain keh Ghalib kaa hai andaaz-e bayaan aur
Extolling Sins
Ghalib is a proud sinner; and, that makes it obligatory to find out what he means by ‘sin’. One realises that the yearnings become sinful in a society where to explore, to wander, is taboo. And, therefore, his sinful attitude need not offend an honest person; of course, the case of hypocrite preacher (naaseh) would be different.
Sin signifies rebellion against decadent order, struggle against oppression, revolt against anything that inhibits strivings of mankind for realisation of humanity’s full potential. Sin symbolises everything positive and progressive, and is based on reasoning.
In short, to take nothing for granted, and raise questions in order to have a holistic understanding of Nature (where Nature encompasses all) because of love for her, is sinful (for the reactionaries, the vested interests); and, it is that sin, which Ghalib celebrates in his poetry.
The débutante Ghalib tells God not to enquire about his sins’ details; and the reason is not that he is ashamed of his sins, but because such a query reminds him of the sins that he could not commit! Desires are sins and also insatiable.
The count of scars of smothered desires, I am reminded of. (D)
From me, the account of my sins, O’ God, do not ask.
aataa hai mujh klo daagh-e hasrat-e dil kaa shumaar yaad
Young Ghalib finds it in the realm of possibility that God would be agreeable to sins, and therefore tells the lover not to be apologetic about.
rahmat agar qubool karey kya ba'eed hai
sharmindagee sey u'zr nah karnaa gunaah kaa
In bloom, he demands from God that he should be congratulated for the sins that he could not commit – in case there is any penalty for the committed ones; i.e., to him, the two are equally absurd.
As well for the yearning of non-committed sins, be patted. (B)
O’ God, if these committed sins entail punishment.
naa kardah gunaahon kee bhee hasrat kee miley yaad
Life-after-death
Next, one is struck by his rejection of the concept of heaven or life-after death. At the debut, he tells that because of the behaviour of the earthly beauties, he has developed prejudice against heaven (as houries, the heavenly beauties, are supposed to be the star attraction out there).
Due to excess of oppression and cruelty, have lost sense. (D)
The beauties have made me biased against life-after-death.
kasrat-e jaur-ositam sey ho gayaa hoon bey-dimagh
khoob rauyon ney banaaya a'aqbat bad khoo mujhey
Young Ghalib finds the deal to barter this world with the promised heaven unacceptable.
Give heaven in exchange for the worldly life. (E)
Commensurate with the hangover, the intoxication is not.
deytey hain jannat hayaat-e dahr key badley
During ‘Blooming’, he accepts that the concept of heaven is soothing, even if the reality is otherwise.
About heaven, I know the truth, but (B)
To keep the heart glad, Ghalib, this thought is good.
ham ko ma'loom hai jannat kee haqeeqat lekin
And, in twilight, when the time to depart from the world approaches, the lover wants hell to be combined with heaven, so that there is more space for the leisurely walk.
Why not with heaven, unite hell, O' God? (T)
For the stroll, some more environ, let there be.
kyun nah firdaus men dozakh ko milaa len, yaa-rab?
sair key waastey thodee see fazaa aur sahee
Worldly Affairs
Not subscribing to post-death life and being proud of sins suggest Ghalib’s interest in the affairs of this world. And, indeed, that is what he categorically states even if at the debut, he finds himself unequal to the task of understanding her secrets.
For worries of the world, I rack brain. (D)
What am I? And, what this burden is?
fikr-e dunyaa men sar khapaataa hoon
Right from the beginning, he understands that to be in love with this world demands that one rebels against the status quo.
To the world of love, the merchandise that goes, (D)
The goods of life return as the lover of revolt.
dayaar-e i’shq men jaataa hai jo saudaa garee saamaan
mataa'e zindagaanee haa baghaawat daadah aataa hai
He is conscious of the difficulties involved in the domain of love. But, he is not deterred as he derives pleasure from continual strivings for (elusive) excellence.
Nature is interested in pleasures of longing; what to do! (D)
Desire, to me, means unfulfilled desire.
aarzoo sey hai shikast-e aarzoo matlab mujhey
Faced with livelihood problems, he cajoles himself to take hardships in stride.
Asad, be boozy of acceptance of fortune’s vicissitudes; (D)
That disgrace to mad saint’s perception, the complaint of bad employment is.
asad, saaghar kash-e tasleem ho gardish sey gardoon kee
keh nang-e fahm-e mastaan hai, gilah bad rozgaaree kaa
The young lover informs the beloved that notwithstanding his suffering from resource crunch, he remained drowned in her thoughts; and, kept expressing in form of poetry, goes unsaid.
Though I remained under the oppressions of livelihood, (E)
But towards your thoughts, was not negligent.
go main rahaa raheen-e sitam haa-ey rozgaar
Love enabled the youthful lover poet forget his personal pain and introduced him to real pleasures of life, but it also brought him the realisation of the sorrows of the suffering humanity, for which he had no remedy.
From love, the disposition got the taste of life. (E)
For pain, found cure; got pain, sans cure.
i'shq sey tabeea't ney zeest kaa mazah paayaa
The sorrows of love and livelihood recur in his poetry. The mature Ghalib finds sorrows of love unbearable, but finds no escape, as in the absence of sorrows of love, sorrows of livelihood would have engaged him.
Sorrow, although, kills; but how to escape? Because have the heart. (B)
Sorrow of love, if were not; sorrow of livelihood would have been.
gham agarcheh jaan gusal hai, peh kahaan bachen keh dil hai
The following verses show that, since debut itself, he is conscious about toiling people’s exploitation. The lover finds that in the life’s work-place, Lily, the neutral observer, is remorseful because peasant’s toil does not bring him succour, and the grain is consumed by lightning.
In the life’s work place, Lily is saddened. (D)
Relief for the lightning striking the granary, the peasant’s warm blood is.
kaargaah-e hastee men laalah daagh saamaan hai
barq-e khirman-e raahat, khoon-e garm-e dahqaan hai
In his bloom, the poet understands, and is forthright in telling that he survives on the labour of toiling populace, and that is an unpleasant facet of his development.
In my development is concealed an adverse aspect. (B)
The flash of lightning striking the granary is to the toil of peasant.
meree ta'meeer men muzmir hai ek sorat kharaabee keee
EVOLUTION OF THOUGHT
In youth (1821-26), he is attracted by the issue of existence and, in accordance with one school of thought of his times, takes objects as expression of God.
Although, you are in everything; (E)
But, there is nothing like you.
har chand keh har shai men too hai
par tujh see koei shai naheen hai
He, however, emphasises that reality changes every moment, and that the Nature continually evolves.
Yes, don’t be deceived by existence! (E)
Even though would say, it is; it isn’t.
haan, khaaiyo mat fareb-e hastee
What one observes, exists; and, non-existence is nothingness. However, the emphasis on ever-changing reality continues.
Existence is; nor is something absence, Ghalib. (E)
After all, what is; O’ isn’t.
hastee hai, nah kuchh a'dam hai, Ghaalib
aakhir to kyaa hai, ai naheen hai
But, very soon, in the first blooming (1826+), he is able to discover the most fundamental law of philosophy. The following verse has been discussed at some length later on.
From negation drips affirmation; as if, (B)
At the instant of creation, one is not endowed with the spot for mouth.
nafee sey kartee hai asbaat taraawish, goyaa
To say that, at this stage, he understands all dimensions of this principle may not be correct. However, there is no denying that he appreciates its essence, and his poetry beautifully represents its different facets.
The undoing of the existing, i.e., negation, can be meaningful in two ways. One, it may give birth to a new object and, thus, it is an affirmation (by the new) through negation (of the old). For instance, through negation of colonialism dripped affirmation in the form of sovereign nation states.
Alternatively, annihilation of the existing can invest it with meaning; e.g., notwithstanding human avarice desiring perpetuity for one, life is interesting because death makes it finite.
What-all delightful affairs, greed is engrossed in? (B)
Were not to die, then what to savour life?
hawas ko hai nishaat-e kaar kyaa kyaa
Towards the end of second phase of blooming (1846), Ghalib grapples with the issue of God’s existence. He is wonderstruck by manifestations of Nature, and finds metaphysical view of things incompatible with observed reality.
The essence of mystical experience, witness and witnessed is one. (B)
I am bewildered then how to account for observation
asl-e shahood-o shaahid-o mashhood aek hai
Referring to philosophical dictum presuming God’s existence in everything, he finds that incompatible with societal disorder as also with different facets of Nature.
When, without you, none exists, / Then, O’ God, what this tumult is? (B)
How these fairy-faced people are? / What amorous glance, coquetry, and ogle are?
Why the fold of jet-black tress is? / What the sight of collirium-stained eyes is?
Wherefrom greenery and flower have come? / What thing cloud is? What air is?
jab keh tujh bin naheen, koei maujood
phir yeh hangaamah, ai khudaa kyaa hai?
yeh paree chehrah log kaisey hain?
ghamzah-o a’shwah-o adaa kyaa hai?
shikan-e zulf-e a’nbareen kyun hai?
sabzah-o gul kahaan sey aaey hain?
abr kyaa cheez hai? hawaa kyaa hai?
Ghalib, therefore, concludes God to be unique, a singularity.
Who can see Him because that incomparable is singular? (B)
If even smell of duality existed, then would have encountered somewhere.
usey kaun dekh saktaa, keh yagaanah hai woh yktaa
And in third phase of blooming, while peaking in 1847+, he resolves – not to say solves – the most basic contradiction pertaining to God’s existence, by coming out of His domain, and focusing on human being. The eternal nature of God makes Him irrelevant, and human existence becomes all-important. Without humanity, the existence of timeless God, that initial impulse, would be meaningless.
When nothing was, then God was; had nothing been, then God would have been. (B)
Undoing, my being has been; had I not been, then what would have been?
nah thaa kuchh, to khudaa thaa, kuchh nah hotaa, to khudaa hotaa
duboyaa mujh ko honey ney, nah hotaa main, to kyaa hotaa?
After having resolved the basic questions troubling his mind, the poet shifts his focus on to union with the beloved in twilight phase (1851-1865).
The lover poet tells that, under new playfulness, the dominant and experienced poet would be tested in the domain of union; now, union is no longer a hollow promise, and the beloved would be actually paying him a visit.
What promise, you would see her visit my home, Ghalib. (T)
In the new mischief, now, it is the test of ancient sky.
woh aawen gey merey ghar, wa’dah kaisaa, dekhnaa, ghaalib
naey fitnon men ab charkh-e kohan kee aazmaaish hai
Notwithstanding that he has resolved the riddle of God, the issue of God’s existence continues to engage his attention. He wonders if God were like the cruel king Namrud because he has had a tough time in spite of being true.
Was that Namrud’s godhood? (T)
Servitude did me no good.
kyaaa woh namrood kee khudaaei thee
bandagee men meraa bhalaa nah huaa
He, however, realizes that humanity cannot be privy to every secret of Nature.
Who can say that whose manifestation is this? (T)
S/he has unfurled that veil, which can be lifted, but not.
kah sakey kaun keh yeh jalwah garee kis kee hai
And, finally, the arrogant Ghalib becomes humble, and departs with the yearning to have done more.
Gave away life, was given by Him only. (T)
Truth is that the due could not be paid.
jaan dee, dee huei usee kee thee
2 comments:
On this one, I am really jumping the guns. But I am also hoping to see a description of literary and political environment of the time. Or if that is not the scope of this blog, can you refer the reader to the suitable sources?
Dear Manish, I am sorry that the blog, or the resulting book, is unlikely to have description of literary and political environment of the time, notwithstanding the temptation to have it. That is beyond the 'limited' scope of the work. The objective is to decipher 'WHAT' has been said by chacha Ghalib, and not 'what prompted it'? I am not knowledgeable to recommend books, but depending on the extent to which one wants to delve into, and the inclination/ bias, one can choose a book dealing with the first half of nineteenth century north India. Ralph Russell is the most respected name, whose works on Ghalib can give the sort of information that you seem to be looking for.
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