Ghalib's letters

In poetry, Ghalib adopted a complex, new style that ran against the dominant currents of the period. Meer had simplified poetic expression. Ghalib taking Bedil, the Persian master's approach was at times so complex that he was often ridiculed for the abstract, seemingly opaque structure of his 'asha'ar', but as he put it:

tarz-e-bedil reKhta meiN kehna
Asadullah Khan, qayaamat hai

(to adopt Bedil's style in Urdu
Is something extraordinary, O Asad!)
On the other hand, his letters are disarmingly simple, once again running against the prevaing trend of the time, of writing in high-brow Persianized prose. Here's a brilliant example of the witty, conversational Ghalib we see in his letters:

Ghalib Qazi Abdul Jameel 'Junoon' ke naam....
peer-o-murshad! faqeer hamesha aap ki Khidmat_guzaari meiN Haazir aur Ghair_Haazir raha hai. jo Hukm hota hai usko bajaa laata huN, magar ma'adoom ko maujood (ma'adoom=non-existent; adam and wajood=non-existence and being) karna meri vas'a-e-qudrat se baahar hai (vas'a-e-qudrat se baahar=beyond my means). us zameen meiN ke jiska aap ne qaafiya aur radeef likha hai, maine kabhi Ghazal nahiN likhi. Khuda jaane Maulvi Darvesh Hassan Saheb ne kis se is zameen ka shayr sun kar mera kalaam gumaan kiya hai. har chand maine Khayal kiya, is zameen meiN meri koi Ghazal nahiN. Dewan-e-reKhta (reKhta=Urdu) chhaape ka yahaN kahiN hai. apne Haafize par ai'temaad (bharosa) na kar kar usko bhi dekha, woh Ghazal na nikli. suniye! akcar aisa hota hai ke aur ki Ghazal mere naam par paRH dete haiN. chunaN che inhiiN dinoN meiN ek saheb ne mujhe Agra se likha ke yeh Ghazal bhej dijiye:

Asad aur lene ke dene paDe haiN

maine kaha 'laa haul w^la quwwat' . agar yeh kalaam mera ho tau mujh par la'anat hai. isi taraH zamaana-e-saabiq meiN ek saheb ne mere saamne yeh matl'a paRHa:

'Asad'! is jafaa par butoN se wafaa ki
mire sher! shabaash, reHmat Khuda ki

maine sun kar arz kiya ke 'Saheb! jis buzurg ka yeh matl'a hai, us par baqaul us ke Khuda ki reHmat, aur agar mera ho tau mujh par la'anat. 'Asad aur sher' 'but aur Khuda' aur ' jafaa aur wafaa' , yeh meri tarz-e-guftaar (style of expression) nahiN hai.' bhhalaa in do shayroN meiN tau 'Asad' ka lafz bhi hai, woh shayr mera kyoN kar samjha gaya? wa_Allah, ba_Allah! woh shayr 'Khadang' 'rang' ke qaafiye ka mera nahiN hai.
wassalaam
'Ghalib'
See also:

Abdul-Qader Bedil

Ghalib, Bedil, etc.