The first book in Arabic about the life and poetry of the great Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib, titled Ghalib: A’zam Shu’ara’il-Hind (Ghalib, the Greatest Poet of India), was released here on Friday at the India-Arab Cultural Centre of Jamia Millia Islamia. BY Zillur Rahman Haidar
The book’s author, Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, was present at the event.
The book release ceremony was presided over by Professor Naseem Akhtar, Chairman of the Arabic Department at the Jamia. Teachers in the department, Professors Habibullah Khan, Abdul Majid Qazi, Mohammad Ayub Nadwi, Fauzan Ahmad, Aurangzeb Azmi, Haifa Shakiri, Suhaib Ahmad and Mahfuzur Rahman as well as Professor Mujeebur Rahman of JNU and university teachers and students attended the event.
Professor Habibullah Khan highly praised the author and the book. He said that Dr. Khan is a top-notch translator and scholar. He is not only recognized and known in India but is also internationally recognised. He said we have heard the adage “Work is worship,” but Dr. Khan is a living example of it. He said, he has been with the Jamia for the last 32 years, and has a very long and fruitful relationship with Dr. Khan. Whenever he sought his guidance about anything, he readily extended help with a smile.
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Professor Habibullah said Dr Khan’s book on Ghalib is one of its kind and only a person like him could have undertaken such a difficult task. He said Dr. Khan began this book with these verses of Iqbal about Ghalib which are very apt:
Fikr-e-insaan par teri hasti se ye roshan hua
Hai par-e-murgh-e-takhayyul ki rasaai ta kuja
tha sarapa rooh tu bazm-e-sukhan paikar tera
zeb-e-mehfil bhi raha, mehfil se pinhaan bhi raha
(Your existence has illuminated human thought,
How far can the wings of imagination fly?
You were entirely a spirit, and the assembly of words was your domain,
You were both the adornment of the gathering and hidden from it.)
Prof. Habibullah said, Dr. Khan has written in this book that he has not literally translated these verses but has tried to explain their meaning. To write this book, Dr. Khan has used very simple language and has done it with very good planning.
Prof. Habibullah added that the work Dr. Khan has produced in this book is so good that only an Indian could have accomplished this work with a profound understanding of Ghalib’s poetry and nuances of Urdu language.
Prof. Abdul Majid Qazi said that Dr. Khan deserves a lot of praise. This is the second time within a week that he had the fortune to be with him on such an occasion. He mentioned that the world knows Mirza Ghalib. During his centenary celebrations in 1969, experts on Ghalib’s poetry descended from all over the world to attend a conference on him in Delhi. He said, Ghalib possesses a brilliant, matchless personality. Every verse of Ghalib’s poetry has become ingrained in people’s minds, and things that are thoroughly absorbed tend to be the most useful. Verses of Ghalib’s poetry are on the lips of both the common and the elite, which is what makes him popular and distinctive. He added that a single verse from Ghalib can transport one from one condition to another. Ghalib is not only a cultural necessity for us but is indispensable for the whole world. He recounted that when someone used the term “haramzada” (bastard) in appreciation of Ghalib’s Persian poetry, Ghalib responded by saying that he had never received a better compliment for his poetry.
Prof. Qazi mentioned that translating poetry is not easy, but Dr. Zafarul-Islam has the necessary tools and experience to undertake this task. The language of poetry is very expansive, encompassing many cultural spheres. Each culture has its own linguistic milieu, and a person who lives within that milieu can understand its nuances easily. Persian and Urdu have greatly benefited from each other’s linguistic environment, but the same is not true for Arabic. The auditory harmony in poetry resonates with your ears and captures your attention – these qualities cannot be fully conveyed in translation, as the transmission of the verse can be compromised in the process. Dr. Majid said that despite this, if anyone can undertake this task, it is Dr. Khan because he comes from a family background that specializes in such literary work. He said, Ghalib has been very well introduced to the Arabic audience through this book.
Prof. Qazi said Ghalib was obscure and penniless during his time, so much so that he spent his life residing in a rented house in Delhi. But today, in a unique reversal of circumstances he is the owner of that house – Government of Delhi purchased it, named it “Ghalib ki Haveli” (Ghalib’s Mansion) and made it a museum about his life and poetry. Such examples are rare in the history of literature and art. He lamented that Ghalib having such a big name, Delhi airport should been named after him.
Author of the book, Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan thanked the speakers and the audience. He said he has a very old relationship with Jamia’s Department of Arabic. Over three decades ago he gave lectures on the methodology of research here and the same were published in a book in Beirut titled “Dalil al-Bahith” and later translated into Urdu as “Usul-e-Tahqiq.”
Reminiscing over his work on Ghalib, he said that he had written articles on Ghalib for the top Egyptian literary magazine, Al-Majallah, and for Cairo Radio’s “Al-Barnamaj al-Thani” in late 1960s while he studied at Cairo University. He also wrote this book at the time but somehow it is being published only now.
Dr Khan said for those who know other languages, translation is a duty – to transmit the best in their languages to other audiences and convey the best in other languages to their own. He said, he translated into Arabic his father’s Urdu book “Ilme Jadeed ka Challenge” as Al-Islam Yatahadda which became immensely popular in the Arab world and still remains so. He said that sometimes translated works surpass in popularity the original ones like the Arabic translation of Pancha Tantra which is popular even today as Kalila wa Dimna and is being taught in almost every Arabic madrasa in the Subcontinent. Its original Sanskrit text is forgotten while the Arabic translation is popular even today.
Head of Department of Arabic at Jamia Millia, Professor Naseem Akhtar, who presided over the book release function, said that the department is honoured by launching this important book which is the first on Ghalib in Arabic. He said that we have very old relationship with Dr. Khan, and we would like this relationship to continue in future. He said that writing about Ghalib is not easy. Some people tried but they stopped, fearing that their shortcomings might be exposed. He said Ghalib is a collection of contradictions; every person sitting here must be remembering some verses of Ghalib. He said, there is a uniqueness in Ghalib’s poetry. His thoughts may be traditional but his expressions are exquisite. As an example, he cited the following verse: “Hain aur bhee duniya mein sakhanwar bahut achche. Kahte hain ke Ghalib ka hai andaaz-e-bayaan aur” (There are many excellent poets in the world, but, they say, Ghalib’s style of expression is different.”
