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Ghalib: 1797-1869: Life and Letters
This book is a fascinating portrait of one of the most popular Urdu and Persian poets, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797-1869)
Very little of Ghalib has previously appeared in English, and that little has circulated almost entirely within India and Pakistan. This volume mainly consists of translations from the Memoir written by his friend and younger contemporary Hali not many years after Ghalib's death; and of his diary of the revolt of 1857.
Very little of Ghalib has previously appeared in English, and that little has circulated almost entirely within India and Pakistan. This volume mainly consists of translations from the Memoir written by his friend and younger contemporary Hali not many years after Ghalib's death; and of his diary of the revolt of 1857.
- GenresPoetry
404 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 2, 2014
Mirza Asadullah Khan ‘Ghalib’ (1797-1869) is a name familiar, and well-respected: considered among the finest of Urdu poets, he has had books (including a recent very good novel, Dozakhnama), films, television series, and more based on his life. His poetry crops up every now and then in Hindustani popular culture, is even parodied. His ghazals are extremely popular even today. But how many know who ‘Ghalib’—not the poet, but the man behind the poetry—was? How many know of his brilliant wit, his personal life, his struggles to survive?
Ralph Russell and Khurshidul Islam’s superb Ghalib: Life and Letters is an attempt to show us Ghalib—through the medium of his own letters. This wasn’t—as I discovered towards the end of the book—the first time this has been done; in Ghalib’s lifetime itself, his friends had started to compile his letters, and collections of these have been printed in various editions since the 19th century itself. All, however, have been in Urdu, or Persian (Ghalib’s preferred language; for much of his life, he prided himself on his Persian poetry and thought of Urdu as only a poor second). Islam and Russell’s book, bringing to English-speaking readers Ghalib’s letters, is therefore a boon to those of us who cannot read Urdu or Persian.
Ghalib: Life and Letters begins with a brief chapter introduing Ghalib: his ancestry, his birth and early childhood in Agra, and his moving to Delhi as a teenager, shortly after his marriage at the age of 13. After this preliminary introduction to the poet, the chapters consist largely of excerpts from Ghalib’s letters to his friends, fellow-poets, relatives, and occasional letters to patrons and officials. Each chapter comes with annotations (thankfully not very academic ones, though there are, wherever unavoidable, very brief footnotes to explain a word or reference here and there). These annotations by the authors serve mainly to set context: when was the letter written, to whom, what (if not clear in the letter) had been happening in Ghalib’s life that has a bearing on the letter.
But the bulk is in the man’s letters, and Islam and Russell let these shine through. (Incidentally, my sister, who does read Urdu and has read Ghalib’s letters, tells me these are excellent translations, since they capture the tone of the original very well). Ghalib was obviously a prolific and eager correspondent, sending off what seem to be dozens of letters every week. They tell of a man who is a loyal and loving friend, ready to correct any poetry sent to him, even by total strangers. A man, too, who is unabashedly unorthodox (he did not keep the Ramzan fasts, and his favourite tipple was wine—preferably French—mixed with rosewater). An egoist who knows his worth. A man, broken-hearted and disturbed by the turmoil he sees around him in 1857 and its aftermath (these chapters also include excerpts from Ghalib’s account, Dastambu, of the revolt of 1857).
And, best of all, a man with a terrific sense of humour. For instance, talking about his return to Delhi after a long and tiring journey, he describes it thus: ‘…I descended like a sudden calamity upon my home’. There are instances aplenty of Ghalib’s wit, of his insatiable fondness for mangoes, his irreverence and impatience with what or whom he did not agree with.
This is an informative book, but it is also an immensely entertaining one. The only thing I’d have liked as an addition—an appendix, perhaps?—would have been the chance to actually read, in Ghalib’s own words (though transcribed in Roman Urdu) at least some of the letters. That would have been the icing on the cake.
Ralph Russell and Khurshidul Islam’s superb Ghalib: Life and Letters is an attempt to show us Ghalib—through the medium of his own letters. This wasn’t—as I discovered towards the end of the book—the first time this has been done; in Ghalib’s lifetime itself, his friends had started to compile his letters, and collections of these have been printed in various editions since the 19th century itself. All, however, have been in Urdu, or Persian (Ghalib’s preferred language; for much of his life, he prided himself on his Persian poetry and thought of Urdu as only a poor second). Islam and Russell’s book, bringing to English-speaking readers Ghalib’s letters, is therefore a boon to those of us who cannot read Urdu or Persian.
Ghalib: Life and Letters begins with a brief chapter introduing Ghalib: his ancestry, his birth and early childhood in Agra, and his moving to Delhi as a teenager, shortly after his marriage at the age of 13. After this preliminary introduction to the poet, the chapters consist largely of excerpts from Ghalib’s letters to his friends, fellow-poets, relatives, and occasional letters to patrons and officials. Each chapter comes with annotations (thankfully not very academic ones, though there are, wherever unavoidable, very brief footnotes to explain a word or reference here and there). These annotations by the authors serve mainly to set context: when was the letter written, to whom, what (if not clear in the letter) had been happening in Ghalib’s life that has a bearing on the letter.
But the bulk is in the man’s letters, and Islam and Russell let these shine through. (Incidentally, my sister, who does read Urdu and has read Ghalib’s letters, tells me these are excellent translations, since they capture the tone of the original very well). Ghalib was obviously a prolific and eager correspondent, sending off what seem to be dozens of letters every week. They tell of a man who is a loyal and loving friend, ready to correct any poetry sent to him, even by total strangers. A man, too, who is unabashedly unorthodox (he did not keep the Ramzan fasts, and his favourite tipple was wine—preferably French—mixed with rosewater). An egoist who knows his worth. A man, broken-hearted and disturbed by the turmoil he sees around him in 1857 and its aftermath (these chapters also include excerpts from Ghalib’s account, Dastambu, of the revolt of 1857).
And, best of all, a man with a terrific sense of humour. For instance, talking about his return to Delhi after a long and tiring journey, he describes it thus: ‘…I descended like a sudden calamity upon my home’. There are instances aplenty of Ghalib’s wit, of his insatiable fondness for mangoes, his irreverence and impatience with what or whom he did not agree with.
This is an informative book, but it is also an immensely entertaining one. The only thing I’d have liked as an addition—an appendix, perhaps?—would have been the chance to actually read, in Ghalib’s own words (though transcribed in Roman Urdu) at least some of the letters. That would have been the icing on the cake.
March 30, 2026
Note on this book: this is a dense, research-forward chronological work on Ghalib’s life mostly based on letters saved by his companions. That being said, this book gives amazing insight into the real, imperfect, human person that Ghalib was. The reader learns about his background, the times and places of immense change in which he lived, survived, and wrote his work. To be clear, I wish there was more of his poetry in his book. As a reader of Urdu, I’d like to reread and add in his Urdu (and if I can, his Persian) prose where the translations are included. Highly recommend for anyone wanting to learn about Ghalib the person.
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May 30, 2016MR. RALPH RUSSELL LOVER OF URDU LITERATURE, HE LIKES URDU, SPENT TOO MUCH TIME FOR URDU, HE WAS GOD FATHER FOR URDU, HE DOES NOT LIKE TO MIX ENGLISH WORDS IN URDU LANGUAGE, PARTICULARLY GHALIB LIFE & LETTERS, HE WAS BORN IN HOMERTAN 1918, HE DIED IN 90YEARS OF AGE.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews