ترجمة عربية لمائة وعشرين بيت شعر من غزليات الشاعر الأردي الكبير أسد الله الغالب Arabic Rendition of Twenty Nine Ghazals From Asadullah Khan Ghalib’s Urdu Poetry Section Articles

Abstract

This article comprises the Arabic rendition of twenty nine Ghazals of the great Urdu poet of all times Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib. And, before that, the article delineates the genre of Ghazal as a form of poetry quite familiar to the Urdu reader. But, to the Arabs, Ghazal has merely been a subject among others used in the only form of Arabic poetry: the Qaseedah. However, the Urdu Ghazal, to the contrary, is recognized as a genre in itself, not merely the exotic prelude with which the Qaseedah was generally opened. This Urdu Ghazal followed the pattern of Persian Ghazal that was detached from Qaseedah and provided with a symbolic connotation of mystic nature initially. Later, a variety of subjects were used in this Ghazal as a separate genre, which then adopted in Urdu as it was, and surpassed the other genres in its popularity and adoptability to every kind of notions and subjects. This separate genre of Ghazal was pioneered by the renowned Iranian Sufi poet Sanāʾī Ghaznavī (d. 529 AH). And, according to the convention, the poet addressed in this Ghazal Persian Cupbearers (Mughbachagān) or Turkish Ghulams (Wishaqān) who circulated among the drinkers with cups of wine in the taverns. As for the form or structure of the ghazal as a specific poetic genre, it consists of a minimum of five couplets (verses) and does not exceed fifteen or seventeen verses in general; although some of the classical poets composed longer ghazals as well. There is no "Organic Unity" binding together the verses of a single ghazal. Each verse possesses an independent meaning or content that makes it self-sufficient. Only the meter and rhyme, as well as refrain (Radeef), join the verses of a Ghazal with each other. The tradition of Takhallus in Ghazal is also elucidated, which is normally translated as a pen-name; yet, as a matter of fact, it refers to a certain name that the poet chooses to incorporate into the last verses of his odes or Ghazals. As for Ghālib (d. 1869 CE), he is the second of the three great geniuses of Urdu poetry, the first being Muḥammad Taqī Mīr (d. 1810 CE) and the last Muḥammad Iqbāl (d. 1938 CE). He lived during the early period of British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent and closely observed the turmoil and transformation that events were undergoing. He was, first and foremost, a Persian poet, and had attached greater importance to his Persian poetry. Nevertheless, he became famous for his relatively small corpus of Urdu poetry and is regarded as the greatest of all Urdu poets. He forged a unique poetic style for himself and remained unparalleled through the ages, holding himself aloof from others. He delved deeply into the psyche of human life and outer cosmos, and granted himself the freedom to contemplate the major issues that had sparked debate across epochs, expressing that with complete frankness, in a loud voice and a satirical tone. Yet, he did not compromise his extraordinary poetic artistry and refined literary sensibility. His poetry is difficult for the general readership. Nonetheless, we find in his poetry a large number of couplets and hemistiches that have attained the status of proverbial adages.