13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
absolutely fantastic, April 12, 2004
If you are like me-passionate about urdu poetry and shairy, but cant read urdu-this book is for you.
Ghalib, undoubtedely, is one of world's best writers ever. But everybody knows that, so lets just talk about this book.
This is indeed a labour of love. Just flipping through the pages, one can see how much hard word has gone into it. But more than that, you will realize how passionate the writer is about Ghalib and about urdu poetry. To translate and explain thousands of couplets is no mean feat. And I salute the auther for this wonderful work.
Each and every shair-couplet- of Ghalib has been given in urdu, also in roman script so that if you can speak hindi/urdu/hindustani, but cant read urdu, you can recite the couplets in original. Then he has translated it literally, in two sentences. Which is really wonderful work, and those who dont understand urdu can appreciate the beauty of ghalib's work.
But it doesn't end here, then the author goes on to explain what Ghalib meant by that couplet. Ghalib's poetry is not always forthcoming and easy to understand. It has many facets to it. A deep hidden meaning, philosophical overtures, social and political satires, historical and religious references-and most times-Ghalib's irreverence to them. And one can interpret it in many ways. The author explains in detail, going on to pages sometimes to explain one couplet. This is where the depth of author's hard work shows. I didn't always agree with him on the real or hidden meaning of some couplets-but then, that's Ghalib for you. You can take it the way you want, and the way one would interpret it would depend on that person himself.
The artwork was a bit disappointing but having said that, this book is worth its weight in gold.
I hope author is going to continue his work and give us Mir, Iqbal, Faiz-------. I for one would keep my ears close to ground and wait eagerly.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Boon for Ghazal lovers, September 2, 2002
I highly recommend this book to all lovers of urduu poetry. It is particularly useful to serious students of the Ghazal form for whom interpreting Ghalib has always been an "issue". Not only does Dr. Niazi dwell at length on the imageries used by Ghalib, but in many cases also gives contextual references to incidents in Ghalib's life to help interpret a couplet better. Again, some couplets/terms (eg. kAGhazI paErahan) are understood only within a historical/social context - and Dr. Niazi provides the same in such cases. Note that each couplet is followed by a LITERAL (not idiomatic) translation and then by an elaborate explication. The explication also addresses multiple inherent interpretations if they exist. Dr. Niazi also points out, in many cases, erroneous interpretations that are in vogue.
Budding/Fledgeling poets may use this work to enhance their own understanding of symbols and idioms as used in urduu poetry (in addition to making sense out of the obscurity that is Ghalib). For established scholars this book can serve as a ready reference (or sanity check!).
Note: While the couplets are presented first in the original persian script, they are also transliterated using the roman script for the benefit of those who do not read the original.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love Poems from East, April 26, 2002
Love and poems of love are universal; how an Eastern mind presents its dilemmas of love are remarkably rendered by the most famous poet of the East--Mirza Ghalib. Beautiful Urdu calligraphy with ample English explication makes reading this poetry from a distant culture a true delight.
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