The Essential Ghalib Hardcover

For poetry lovers, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797-1869) needs no introduction. His poetry remains both emblematic and enigmatic, and his name is indelibly associated with the ghazal. However, apart from some well-known verses, the larger public is unacquainted with his body of work. In The Essential Ghalib, veteran scholar, author translator Anisur Rahman presents an exemplary selection of Mirza Ghalib’s Urdu couplets, translated in English along with critical commentaries. Using colloquial and contemporary language, the translations provide an accessible and pleasurable route to understanding Ghalib’s poetry, while the commentary explores the multiple meanings of the Urdu original.

A veritable selection of the most remarkable verses by Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, The Essential Ghalib is a worthy addition to every ghazal aficionado’s bookshelf. About the Author
Anisur Rahman is a bilingual poet in English and Urdu, translator and literary critic. Formerly a Professor of English at Jamia Millia Islamia, a Central University in New Delhi, and Senior Advisor at Rekhta Foundation, the world’s largest website on Urdu language, literature, and culture, he has worked and published in the areas of comparative, translation, postcolonial, and Urdu studies. He has to his credit six books authored by him, five edited/co-edited volumes, and two collections of Urdu poetry in English translation. His most recent publications include Earthenware: Sixty Poems (Rubric Publishing, 2018), In Translation: Positions and Paradigms (Orient Blackswan, 2019), Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi: The Wonderful World of Urdu Ghazals (HarperCollins, 2019) and Socioliterary Cultures in South Asia (Niyogi Books, 2019). Rahman has been a Shastri Fellow at the University of Alberta, Canada (2001-2002) and a Visiting Scholar at Purdue University, USA (2007).