On Translating Ghalib

It has been years since Ghalib produced his body of work expressing his views on the social, cultural, moral, and political situations, on love, surrender, beauty, and mystic and spiritual experiences, but, remarkably, the extent to which his writing is applicable and appealing today is shocking and undoubtedly accounts for his ever-growing popularity. His poetry appeals both to those who adore life and its beauty, love and its madness, and to those who are broken. Ghalib's poetry paints life with such vibrant colors that even the gloomy side of life has its own beauty in his distiches. It gives tongue to the feelings and emotions of all and sundry, to the jubilant and elated and to the grieving, afflicted, and dejected. Reading his poetry today we find that despite the passage of time and the successive waves of changes in the way in which so many subjects are viewed today as compared to the period during which Ghalib wrote, he still manages to strike a chord with readers. We cannot fail to recognize the dramatic differences in terms of social, cultural, moral, and political, concepts and conditions, and yet Ghalib's expressions still touch the hearts of his readers with an intensity that makes light of the passage of years and the changes they have wrought.