A Ghazal and its Parts: A Closer Look at Ghalib's Naqsh Faryādī

All of us who read Ghalib know that his dīvān begins with “naqsh faryādī hai kis kī shokhī-e tahrīr kā/ kāghazī hai pairahan har paikar-e tasvīr kā.”1 It was the traditional practice to begin a dīvān of classical poetry with a ḥamd or poem in praise of the Creator. But, is naqsh faryādī a hamd? This paper examines some important threads of the discoursecommentary on this famous ghazal. It also tracks Ghalib’s editing of this ghazal intending to go forward with new perspectives on the ordering of bayts (two-line verses) in the ghazal. It is an exercise in scrutinizing a ghazal for the coherence of the theme through a careful study of the arrangement of verses.