Mirza Ghalib - Life and Tragedy (Thread)

Mirza Asadullah Khan Beigh was born in Agra. The name Asadullah means lion of Allah and the title belongs to Imam Ali. Mirza's father was of Turk ethnicity and mother was an ethnic Kashmiri. Mirza developed love for farsi language since a little age & started writing in the same.

Mirza at the age of 13 married Umrao Begum who was the niece of Nawab of Ferozpur. After marriage Mirza migrated to Delhi with his brother Mirza Yousuf who was a schizophrenic (died in the chaos of 1857). Mirza Asadullah was referred to as Mirza Nausha too.

Mirza adapted his pen name as "Asad" earlier in his life but then changed it to "Ghalib" - which means "the dominant one". Without any formal education in any field, Ghalib excelled in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Logic & Philosophy on his own.

Ghalib, throughout his life, had a very little financial security available to him. He kept shifting from one rented accommodation to another and later settled in Balimaran till he breathe his last.

Ghalib was in debt for almost his whole life which he mostly spent gambling, playing dice and chess, and the most important weapon Ghalib's critics have against him - drinking.

Ghalib had 7 children, none of who survived beyond infancy. His last child was longest lived & he too died at a very young age. Ghalib at the time of his death wrote a ghazal which contains heart wrenching verses like:

"jaatay hue kehtay ho qayamat ko milenge
kya khub qayamat ka hai goya koi din aur

tum mah e shab e char daham thay mere ghar ke
phir kyun na raha ghar ka vo naqsha koi din aur"

Ghalib's poetry is filled with aspects of philosophy, metaphysics, religion, humour & tragedy.
Here's a couplet which gives us an insight of the former three:
"na tha kuch toh khuda tha na hota kuch toh khuda hota
duboya mujh ko honay ne, na hota mein toh kya hota"

Ghalib sums up the tragedy of life beautifully in the couplet below:
"qaid e hayat o band gham asal mein dono ek hain
mout se pehlay aadmi gham se najaat paaye kyun?"

Ghalib, no matter how tragic his life was, was a lively and charming person to be around. It's said that Ghalib, when was once trolled because of his love for mangoes with remark like "Ghaday bhi aam nahi khatay", replied with "Ji beshak Ghaday hi aam nahi khatay".

Ghalib was a critic of orthodox religious beliefs which can be understood from his following couplet:
"hum ko maloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin
dil ke khush rakhne ko ghalib ye khayal acha hai"

Once someone praised about the poetry of Sheikh Sahbai who was a pious and god fearing poet, Ghalib retorted:
"How can he be a poet. He has never tasted wine, neither he has been beaten with slippers by lovers nor has he seen what the inside of a jail looks like."

Though Ghalib in his late years regretted the way he spent his life and the reason he gave as to why he didn't go to masjid for prayes was that he was too big of a sinner to face God.

Ghalib and Ibrahim Zouq are said to be rivals of their own kind. Ghalib used to make fun of Zouq of being a sycophant as he was the head poet of the Mughal Court. Though later they became friends and after Zouq's demise Ghalib became the mentor & literary ustad of King Zaffar.

The chaos of 1857 appalled Ghalib though he never left Delhi amid all the bloodshed. It's said more than half of Ghalib's work was destroyed in the destruction and violence of 1857.

Ghalib died due to sickness in his house at Balimaran - which later was named as "Ghalib ki Haveli". The walls are painted with couplets of Ghalib here & there, one of which is:

"ugh raha hai dar o deewar se sabza ghalib
hum beyaban mein hain aur ghar mein bahar aayi hai"