December 27 marks the 219th birthday of Mirza Ghalib - a great visionary that the Indo-Pak sub-continent was blessed with whose grasp over Persian and Urdu and sense of ethics, theology, philosophy, and history continues to amaze his admirers. Sadly, we in Pakistan overlook these aspects of his poetry; all we sometimes recall is his unique romantic style, not how he highlighted basic human values and how his letters created a wholly new chapter in Urdu prose.
Until the 1970s, Ghalib's death anniversary was celebrated by the PTV, the most remarkable of these events being Ghalib's 100th death anniversary on February 15, 1969. To mark this event, for one full week PTV had telecast a series of programmes devoted to Ghalib's life, works, and legacy, and on February 15, PTV telecasted a conference of intellectuals, including some from abroad.
In that conference the PTV, the keynote address was delivered by Dr Annemarie Schimel - a German by descent - who had acquired PhD degrees in seven languages including Arabic, Persian and Urdu giving her the expertise and credentials to compare literary works of the icons in seven languages, and come to well-reasoned conclusions.
In her view, Ghalib was the greatest poet the world has known. Someone in the audience asked whether she meant the 'greatest poet of the 19th century'. She responded by saying that since Ghalib's poetry is based on cosmic realities and encompasses every sphere of human life (especially human failures), it is an intellectual contribution that even passage of time couldn't render irrelevant.
Every day we hear stories about our descent into a bottomless pit of inhumanity due to our refusal to adopt and practice the 'cosmic' human values that turn 'Aadmi' (ie man) into 'Insan' (ie human being) is a tragedy that Mirza Ghalib warned about when he composed the following couplet that reminds us of this ever-lasting weakness, and prods us to strive for undoing it:
Bus ke mumkin nahien har kaam ka aasan hona
Aadmi ko bhi mayassar nahien insan hona
Ghalib lived in an era characterized by chaos that steadily engulfed the world ie being ruled by the power-hungry devoid of the attributes of compassion and consideration who side-lined the spread of peace and prosperity and thus defied the divine scheme. In the following verses he foretold, the state of apathy that has unfolded over the years, and regretted its spread:
Munsab-e-shaiftagi ke koi qabil na raha
Hui mazooli-e-andaaz-o-ada meray bad
Ghum se marta hun ke itna nahien dunya me koi
Ke karey taziyat-e-mehr-o-wafa merray bad
Ghalib's vision about the future and his understanding of man's nature and his failings is a quality that is reflected repeatedly in his verses. In the following verses, while he describes the pathetic state of affairs of his time, he appears to be describing the total hopelessness that humanity now confronts everywhere due to bad governance:
Koi ummeed bar nahien aati
Koi soorat nazar nahien aati
Aagey aati thi haal-e-dil pe hansi
Ab ksi baat par nahien aati
What bothered Ghalib was the rise of monstrous tendencies - greed, and an unending craving for self-enrichment at the cost of denying even basic human rights to the ordinary as manifested by the rulers' blatant disregard of their obligations to the masses. In the following verse he sums up how the leadership's denial of the expectations of the ruled - trend that has become a harsh reality:
Hum ko unsay wafa ki hai ummeed
Jo nahien jaantey wafa keya hai
Ghalib viewed life as a mix of myths, beliefs and perceptions about lasting power and existence. In the following couplet he warned about being enticed by such misconceptions because a lasting self-serving environment and power are mere traps set by self-delusion:
Husti ke mut fraib may aajaiyo Asad
Aalum tamam halqa-e-dame-khayal hay
After the fall of the Mughal Empire, he had to go to Calcutta to plead his case for getting the pension promised by Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. During that visit he witnessed the impact of modern inventions - electricity, steam boats, telegraph, and modern weaponry - and visualized the future consequences of the changing ground realities ie the planet's domination by the West.
On his return to Delhi he convinced Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to setup a place of learning for the future generations where they could acquire a grasp over modern sciences whose deficit (besides other flaws) led to India's becoming a British colony. To fulfil his Murshid's (ie Mirza Ghalib's) desire, Sir Syed setup Aligarh's Islamia College that later became the Muslim University of Aligarh.
After eventually converting Aligarh's Islamia College into a university - largest Indian university to-date - Sir Syed often expressed a wish - Mirza Ghalib being alive to see how his disciple had fulfilled the promise he made to his Murshid. Even Quaid-e-Azam used to admit the role this university played in awakening the Indian Muslims, and the creation of Pakistan.
Ghalib had a unique way of admiring the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Although he never composed a naat because, in his view, it amounted to competing with the Creator who alone can do justice to praising the Holy Prophet (PBUH) the following verse wherein he refers to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is a wake-up call to the Ummah to rise to the pedestal the followers of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) should be on:
Us ki ummat mein hoon mayn, mere rahein kyun kaam bund
Wastey jis Sheh kay Ghalib gumbad-e-bedar khula
By reminding the Muslims that they are the followers of the Supreme Guide - the Holy Prophet (PBUH) - for who even skies had to part and make way, in the above priceless couplet (the briefest yet the most beautiful and inspiring reference to Meraj) Ghalib demands of the Ummah to overcome all obstructions to its rise to the highest pedestal of humanity.
Maulana Hali and Allma Iqbal - great admirers of Ghalib - understood this verse; the legacy they left behind (Mussadas-e-Hali and Bange-e-Dara) is the heritage that the Ummah can truly be proud of. Besides these two icons of the Ummah, great literary figures of the Indo-Pak subcontinent including Firaq Gorakhpuri, Pundit Daya Shankar Naseem, and Kali Das Gupta Raza accepted Ghalib as the torch-bearer to follow.
How late Faiz Ahmed Faiz admired Mirza Ghalib's poetry was disclosed by the Lebanese author and critic Edward Saeed. During General Zia-ul-Haq's Martial Law, Faiz shifted to Lebanon where Edward Saeed became his close friend. According to Edward Saeed, one book that was always on the bedside of Faiz was the Dewan-e-Ghalib - book that Faiz would read to overcome his frustrations over what was happening in Pakistan.
Ghalib's integrity and humility were exemplary; he never claimed credit for the charismatic effect of his poetry because he knew that it was a divine gift and praise there for belonged only to his Creator. That's why, for the beauty in his verses, he gave the entire credit to his Creator by humbly admitting:
Aatey hain ghaib sey yeh mazameen khayal mein
Ghalib sareer-e-khama nawa-e-sarosh hia
In spite of his greatness, Ghalib never praised himself, which reflects his humility and a mystic ability for appreciating excellence. Ghalib unreservedly accepted the supremacy of the greats like Rumi, Saadi, Hafiz, Jami, Amir Khusro and Mir Taqi Mir, and admired them for the great legacy they left behind; all he claimed for himself was being 'different', which he indeed was, saying:
Hain aur bhi duniya mein sukhanwar bohat achchey
Kehtey hain ke Ghalib ka hai andaz-e-bayan aur
When you combine all aspects of Ghalib's life and his legacy, he seems like a Wali, though he denied it citing his human weaknesses. But the fact that, despite leaving behind a treasure trove of wisdom and its lasting benefits, he died of starvation (confirmed by Khawja Hassan Nizami) where should we place him? Ghalib, for example, said:
Yeh masael-e-tassawuff, yeh tera bayan Ghalib
Tujhe hum wali samjhtey jo na bada khuwar hota
Undisputedly, Ghalib is a legend - a poet who continues to be admired around the world. How could Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib - God's lion who was destined to prevail - end up at a pedestal lower than that? May he rest in peace and may God shower his bounties upon him! We owe him a debt of gratitude though we don't even remember him, let alone adopt the values he wanted us to practice. As for the Indians, the way they are neglecting the up-keep of Ghalib's grave exposes their much-claimed ownership and 'gratitude' to Ghalib.