(Web Desk) – Fans are observing 155th death anniversary of legendary poet Mirza Ghalib on Thursday (today).
Today, he remains one of the most popular and influential masters of the Urdu language; he is known simply as Ghalib, the poet of all ages.
He remains popular not only in India and Pakistan but also among the diaspora.
A prodigious poet
Mirza Ghalib started writing poetry at the age of 11. His verse is characterised by sadness, the result of a tragic life.
He was orphaned at an early age and lost all seven children in their infancy.
Born in Agra as Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan on Dec 27, 1797, who later used pen name “Ghalib” (the conqueror), he migrated to New Delhi where he lived for the rest of his life.
Mirza Ghalib initially started his poetic passion in the Persian language. However, after shifting to Delhi, he started using Urdu as a medium of his poetic verses.
He struggled financially, never had a regular job and depended on patronage from royalty.
The poet had an arranged marriage at the age of 13, but none of his seven children survived beyond infancy, tragedies which are reflected in his work.
Ghalib’s poetry
After marriage, he settled in New Delhi. In one of his letters, he describes his marriage as a second imprisonment after the initial confinement of life itself.
The idea that life is one continuous struggle was a recurring theme in his poetry.
Ghalib’s best poems were written in three forms: ghazal (lyric), masnavi (moralistic or mystical parable), and qasidah (panegyric).
Ghalib took the concept of ghazals and changed them from an expression of anguish in love to philosophies of life.
His critics accused him of writing in an ornamental style of Persian that was incomprehensible to the masses. But his legacy has come to be widely celebrated, particularly his mastery of the Urdu ghazal.
Ghalib wrote hundreds of ghazals during his life which have since been interpreted and sung in many different ways. His poetic work Diwan-i-Ghalib, Kulyat and Maktoobat were published in the Persian language.
Mirza Ghalib died on this date in 1869 in Delhi.
Either it is the sorrow of losing a sibling or a child, or being deprived of the beloved, or it is the poison of poverty and piousness - Ghalib was well aware of all and he glorified those grieves in his works.
Gifted letter writer
Mirza Ghalib was also a gifted letter writer. His letters paved the way to a simpler usage of Urdu.
Before him, letter writing in Urdu was highly ornamental, his letters used common words to express ideas.
Recognition
He was awarded the title Dabir-ul-Mulk by Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II in 1850, along with the title of Najm ud-Daulah.