Best of Meer

by Salil Kuldip

Meer Taqi Meer, the 18th century Urdu poet, is called the imam (leader) of Urdu poetry. He was highly regarded by his contemporaries and even the later poets including Ghalib who acknowledged Meer's poetic genius. Meer belonged to the Delhi School of Urdu ghazals. The greatest strength of his poetry is its simplicity. The language he used is not intricate or grand but simple and easily understood. It is this simplicity which makes a deep impact on the readers. There is an elegance in his style. Meer also used Persian imagery and idiom in his poetry to enhance its beauty. Though Meer tried his hand at various poetic forms, but his fame is mainly due to his ghazals which deal with love, especially unrequited love. He has written some of the best poems on love in Urdu. His masnavi Mu'amlat-e-Ishq is counted among the greatest love poems in Urdu literature. His personal life influenced the poetry he wrote. The pathos and melancholy in his poetry are due to the tragedies he suffered throughout his life. Meer wrote poetry both in Urdu and Persian. His collection of Urdu poems, Kulliat-e-Meer, has six volumes which have 13,585 couplets. Kulliat-e-Farsi is the collection of his poems in Persian language. Meer also wrote his autobiography in Persian called Zikr-e-Meer: This book offers a selection of the best ghazals ofMeer Taqi Meer, translated into English by Kuldip Salil. To help you enjoy the richness and flavour of Urdu language, the original Urdu ghazals are transliterated and presented both in Roman and Devnagri scripts.

168 pages, Hardcover

Published March 30, 2023

Reviews

[Kanchan Mandanekar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful expression of pain, suffering and joy that only Meer could have expressed so artistically. It must have taken real courage to live the life of Meer.

There are some verses which you may read and will not understand. But you cannot miss the pain and intensity with which something inside you is being moved. That feeling is inexplicable.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves brevity and thus poetry.

[Sakshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to have rediscovered my love for Urdu Poetry, introduced to me by my late grandfather who was a master of many languages including Urdu. I love this edition of the book, which prints the shayari in 3 languages - Hindi script, Hindi in Roman script and translated into English, which has helped me understand it much better. Meer's love for Delhi is evident and his reflections on the sufferings of life are tangibly beautiful.

[Mohammed Maqsood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Khuda e Sukhan (God of Poetry)

There are not many who wrote so extensively and in such depth on love, Meer stands tall and no one comes close to him.

The English translations does a great help and I would go on and say, they in themselves can make you appreciate the thoughts of Meer

[Mr. Ridiculous · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful collection.