PESHAWAR: Speakers at a literary event showered accolades of praise on classic Urdu and Persian poet Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib and termed him a strong metaphor of long Urdu cultural tradition.

They said that substantive research work on Mirza Ghalib and various aspects of his life and contribution had been done and many scholars had also conducted comparative studies of Ghalib and prominent Pashto poets during the last few decades.

The speakers said that Mirza Ghalib was the most precious asset and great literary legacy handed down to Muslims of India in the form of his matchless and sublime poetry. Even his cotemporary poets had admitted Mirza Ghalib’s literary acumen and envisioned him the most influential bard of all times, they added.

Expressing their views, poets, writers and research scholars said that Ghalib had deeply impacted all languages spoken in the sub-continent through his spellbinding way of poetic expressions. They said that he was the last great literary luminary towards the end of the Mughal-era.

Speakers say the literary giant will remain relevant in future

The event was organised by Peshawar chapter of Pakistan Academy of Letters to mark 221st birthday of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib at Urdu Science Board Library Hall here on Thursday. Poets, writers, scholars and fans of Ghalib attended the function.

Noted writer Dr Salahuddin said that Mirza Ghalib started composing poetry when he was just 11-year-old and became centre of gravity for everybody around him.

He said that Ghalib became orphan during his early childhood and was brought up under the guidance of his uncle but benefited all and sundry out of his creative treasure trove.

Prof Owais Qarni in his remarks pointed out that Mirza Ghalib had not only influenced the entire Urdu world but also cast a magic spell on all languages of the sub-continent.

He said that besides translations, critical research work had also been done in Pashto on him and was still going on. He said that as a literary metaphor and cultural tradition, Ghalib would continue to be relevant in the years to come because of his creative vision.

Dr Shida Sardar, noted Urdu writer, on the occasion said that Mirza Ghalib had left no topic untouched in his life including Sufism, love and beauty. She said that Mirza Ghalib being true to his penname, captured every delicate image and crafted word pictures that were self-explanatory and corresponded to their targeted meanings.

Prof Abdul Sattar Khan Lawaghari in his paper said that Mirza Ghalib though graced the Mughal courts yet continued to warm up minds of millions of his fans across the globe through his poetry full of humour, satire, sarcasm and beautiful poetic images.

Earlier, Nusrat Bad Shah, assistant resident director of PAL, threw light on different aspects of Mirza Ghalib. He said that the event was aimed at creating awareness on and about the great literary giant of Urdu and Persian languages. He said that Mirza Ghalib was respected and looked upon as metaphor of refined literary expression.

Salim Bangash, Mohammad Ali, Prof Ishaq Wardag, Gulzada Kausar, Murad Ali Murad and Sajid Sarhadi also addressed the function.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2018