Cracow Indological Studies
vol. XII (2010)
Agnieszka Kuczkiewicz-Fraś
(Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
The beloved and the lover
 love in classical Urdu ghazal
c
ia
q par zor nah%2łÓ hai yah vah

tia
s

lib
ki lag

ye na lage aur bujh

ye na bane
Ghalib! love is a fire that lights itself
and dies out of itself, beyond our wills.1
The theme of love (cia
q2) and the poetic genre of ghazal (sazal) have
been inseparably tied to each other since the times when pre-Islamic
1
Ghazal XXXIV, transl. by Adrienne Rich in Ghazals of Ghalib, ed.
by Aijaz Ahmad, Delhi: Oxford University Press 1994, p. 155. There is a
brilliant wordplay in this line, as the word s

lib, which is the poet s taxalluĆ
or  nom de plume , often conventionally inserted in the closing couplet of
the ghazal, might be understood also in its literal meaning ( overpowering,
triumphant ), so the verse can be read verbatim:  Love is triumphant fire and
no one has any power over it .
2
The most popular noun used by the authors of ghazals to connote
love, is cia
q  love, excessive love, passion , but there are also many other
words that mean  love or other similar feelings and emotions, which can be
found in this type of poetry, like e.g.: ulfat (P d" A)  familiarity, intimacy;
d"
d"
d"
attachment, affection, friendship ; a
auq (P d" A)  desire, yearning, deep
d"
d"
d"
longing (& ), inclination, affection, love (& ) ; ta�ap  (& ) feverish dis-
quietude (of body or mind); (& ) anxious eagerness or desire (& ) ; lag

va�
(H)  (& ) intimacy, intimate connexion; a liaison; sexual intercourse ;
200 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
Bedouin poets started expressing their overwhelming feelings of
passion and loneliness in this intricate form3. But although the literary
tradition of ghazal can be traced as far back as the times of the
Abbasids court and its most famous poet Abk
Nuv

s who lived and
wrote his ghazals at the turn of the 8th century (d. 814), the actual
blossoming of this genre in its complex and sublime form took place
in medieval Persia. The great Persian poet Rk
dak%2ł (858-941) is con-
sidered to be the true originator of the ghazal in its classical shape.
Among other important authors who composed Persian ghazals are
Am%2łr Xusrau (1253-1325), Sacd%2ł `
%2łr

z%2ł (d. 1291), J

m%2ł (1414-1492),
c
Urf%2ł (1555-1590) and, above all, the greatest master of the art of
ghazal, $

f%2łz `
%2łr

z%2ł (1320-1389). The Urdu ghazal has emerged from
its Persian model both in structure and in texture, becoming one of the
major elements of the Indo-Persian culture4.
During hundreds of years of its evolution, the Urdu ghazal de-
veloped a set of expressions and vocabulary legitimated by tradition
and manifesting itself in a vast array of allusions, similes, metaphors,
and historical or legendary references. The whole selection of se-
mantic tools known as tasazzul5 embodies such key concepts as: the
ma%abbat (P d" A)  love, affection; friendship ; mihr (P)  love, affection,
d"
d"
d"
friendship, kindness, favour (...) ; y

r%2ł (P)  friendship, intimacy; love (...)
(cf. Platts 1884: passim). See also footnote no. 16.
3
In its nostalgic mood and strong emotional appeal the ghazal
continues the tradition of nac%2łb  the prelude part of pre-Islamic Arabian ode
(qac%2łda), in which the poet recalls the happiness he shared with his beloved
and describes his sorrow after they parted.
4
More on ghazal in Indo-Persian literary tradition see e.g.: Naim
1974; Faruqi 2004: 1-93; Pritchett 2003: 863-911; Jafri 2005: 1395-1397.
5
The term tasazzul, which could be translated literally as sazal-ness
( amatory poetry; composition of ode; love element of poetry; ecstasy of
love  Madd

h 1959: 269; STCD 1980: 195) seems to have been invented
by the Urdu literary critics not very long ago and does not occur either in
texts or documents prior to 1857 (cf. Faruqi 1999: 7; also Naim 1974), or
even in the Persian (Steingass) or Urdu (Platts) dictionaries published in the
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 201
tavern (maix

na, a
ar

b-x

na) and drinker (maikaa
, sarmast, a
ar

b%2ł),
wine (b

da, mai, a
ar

b, cahb

), goblet (paim

na, j

m, py

la, s

sar),
a cup-bearer at the wine-party (s

q%2ł), intoxication (bad-mast%2ł, xum

r,
naa
a), spiritual mentor (p%2łr, a
aix), madness (junk
n, saud

), the candle
(%0ńir

s, qind%2łl, a
amc) and the moth (parv

na), the rose (gul) and the
nightingale (bulbul), the falcon (jurra, a


hb

z, a
ikra) and the hunted
bird, the lightening (bijl%2ł, barq) striking the nest (

a
iy

na), and many
more, as well as the historical or legendary figures, like Joseph (fa-
mous for his beauty), Jesus (the giver of life), Solomon (the wise),
famous Arabian lovers Qays (known also as Majnk
n  the madman)
and Laila or their Persian counterparts Farh

d and `
%2łr%2łn, etc. All
these, used as catalytic agents, are arranged and employed according
to a poet s imagination and sensibility6 with only one aim: to de-
scribe his love and the whole range of associate feelings like sadness,
loneliness, yearning, longing, desire or devotion.
Love is the central theme of the ghazal and its conception is
highly idealistic and sensuous. This peculiar kind of love, being one
of the ghazal s hallmarks, is often contrasted by the critics and con-
noisseurs with sensual love manifested in typical love poems, in
which love and the loved one are identified and never separated7.
last years of the 19th century. However, it is a known fact that the Urdu poets
used the lexicons or glossaries such as e.g. highly valued by Ghalib (cf.
Naim 2004: 84) Muct$ ala%

t al-`
ucar

� ( The Lexicon of Poets , published
in Lakhnau in 1854 by Siy

lkot%2ł Mal  V

-rastah ), which is an important and
very useful glossary, with numerous examples of phrases used by Persian
and Urdu poets (cf. Storey 1984: 44).
6
The imaginative idea which allows a poet to represent the reality in
his verses is known as taxayyul ( imagining, fancying, supposing; imagin-
ation, fancy  Platts 1884: 314; Steingass 1892: 289) and together with
tasazzul constitute two core elements that create the essence of a ghazal.
More on the concept of taxayyul see Hogan 2004.
7
E.g. Shamsher Rahman Faruqi explains:  Since the convention of
having the �idea of a lover or beloved instead of an actual lover/beloved
freed the poet-protagonist-lover from the demands of �reality, or
202 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
However, love depicted in the ghazal is first and foremost one-sided
and unrequited, platonic (or even spiritual) but at the same time
irresistible, sublime and idealising both the object of love and the
lover s emotion. The probable crucial reason which has motivated the
evolution of such a concept of love was the fact that love pictured in
ghazals was illicit in its character, as for the member of the purdah
society there existed only three possibilities to experience love, and
all three of them were socially not allowed: love for a woman be-
trothed or married to another man, love for a courtesan, and homo-
sexual love for a young and beautiful boy8.
On the other hand, it must be remembered that the greatest
mystics and masters of Persian ghazal of 11th-12th centuries used this
poetic form as a medium for voicing and disseminating their ideas9
and  as the Urdu ghazal exactly follows the Persian model  some-
times the feelings that are expressed in it are not directed towards a
human beloved (cia
q-e maj

z%2ł10) but towards God, Supreme Power,
�realism, love poetry in Urdu from the last quarter of the seventeenth
century onwards consists mostly  if not entirely  of �poems about love,
and not �love poems in the Western sense of the term (Faruqi 1999: 7).
Also cf. Ali 1992: 11.
8
The question of illicit love in the Urdu ghazal has been widely
discussed and argued by Ralph Russell in his books and articles, cf.: Russell
1969; Russell 1992 (esp. part 1); Islam & Russell 1994 (esp. chapter 4);
Russell 1995; Russell 2000 (esp. pp. 126-131). On this subject see also:
Mukhia 1999 and Singh 1997: 152.
9
Cf.:  From the very beginning mystic love was a most popular
subject in ghazal poetry, or rather, ghazal poetry came to be a favourite of
the mystics. The metaphorical and symbolic language of the ghazal was
especially suitable for describing the secrets and mysteries of mysticism.
Like the love of the ghazal poet, the love of the Sufi is subtle,
impressionistic, and emotional; it dislikes detail and the logical explicitness
of rational discourse (Naim 1974: 193).
10
P maj

z%2ł  metaphoric; untrue, feigned, insincere; political; profane;
superficial (Steingass 1882: 1174).
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 203
the absolute (cia
q-e %aq%2łq%2ł11). It is not always obvious who is the
beloved described by a poet  quite often the object of affection might
be equally either human or divine (or sometimes even both in the
same ghazal12). This uncertainty of the beloved s identity is deepened
additionally by the Urdu convention of using the masculine gender
equally for the lover (c

a
iq) and the beloved (maca
k
q), which is again
a consequence of the faithful imitating of the Persian pattern, where
the lack of grammatical gender implies the lack of definition of the
beloved s sex. As Faruqi recapitulates aptly:  The liberation of the
beloved from the constraints of gender identity enabled the poet to
use all possibilities as it suited him (Faruqi 1999: 18).
What might be really surprising for the Western reader of the
ghazal is the fact that the technical term for mystic love is %aq%2łq%2ł,
meaning  real , while earthly love is defined as maj

z%2ł,  metaphori-
cal 13. However, the difference in terminology reflects the major
distinction between worldly love and divine love as it was understood
by �k
f%2ł mystics (again the idea which has come to Urdu poetry from
its Persian elder sibling). The first one (cia
q-e maj

z%2ł), conceived as
mortal and being so  not lasting forever but having its definite end-
ing point, can not be real or genuine. Arising from the beauty of
transient forms, this temporal love is also transient, but at the same
time it plays a very important role, serving as a model for the di-
vine-human relationship, and being the first step towards the other
11
P %aq%2łq%2ł  true, unfeigned, real; accurate; radical, essential
(Steingass 1882: 426).
12
Cf.:  In one and the same ghazal one will find some verses which
one naturally takes in the earthly sense and others which one takes in the
divine sense; and when one takes a second look there are many which could
be taken in either sense or indeed in both at the same time (Russell 1969:
114).
13
More on metaphors and metaphorical aspects of the Urdu ghazal
see an inspirational article by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, who discusses the
question of convention of love in Urdu love poetry (cf. Faruqi 1999, esp. pp.
23-27).
204 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
type of love, the true one (cia
q-e %aq%2łq%2ł), it can ultimately lead to the
complete and eternal union of the lover (devotee) and the beloved
(God)14.
Such a twofold perception of the idea of love is based partly on
the �k
f%2ł belief that all earthly phenomena reflect the beauty of God
(so the poetic image of a beautiful woman can reveal the divine
enchantment very well), and partly on the deep conviction (borrowed
from Arabian scholars, but originating from Greek medicine and
philosophy) that love in its human dimension is a kind of a serious
disease, a physical illness located in the heart or the liver, for which
there is no cure but to unite the sufferer with the beloved (it was a
fundamental remedy for love-sickness, recommended e.g. by
Avicenna)15. And due to the fact that such unification in real life was
absolutely unattainable because of social circumstances, the only
14
Similar distinction concerns the beloved depicted in the ghazal:
maca
k
q-e %aq%2łq%2ł  the true beloved , i.e. the divine object of love, is
contrasted with maca
k
q-e maj

z%2ł  the metaphorical beloved , i.e. the earthly
object of love, who could be either a woman or a young boy (cf. Naim 2004:
23). In Urdu ghazals there are many other words apart from maca
k
q (which
c
originates from the same Arabic source as ia
q and denotes literally
 beloved, loved passionately ) used for  beloved , e.g.: piy

(H d" S)
d"
d"
d"
 beloved, dear; dear one, husband; sweetheart, lover ; j

n%2ł (P)  (...) beloved
one, darling, sweetheart ; dilbar (P)  (...) heart-ravisher, a lovely person, a
sweetheart ; dost (P)  a friend, one beloved; a lover, a sweetheart ; sajjan
(H)  (...) a sweetheart, lover; husband ; a


hid (P d" A)  a sweetheart, a
d"
d"
d"
beloved object; a handsome man; a beautiful woman; a female friend ;
canam (P d" d" A)  (...) met.
d" A)  (...) a mistress, lover, sweetheart (...) ; k

fir (P d"
d" d"
d" d"
a mistress, sweetheart ; ma%bk
b (P d" A)  loved, beloved, liked; lovely;
d"
d"
d"
amiable; a beloved one, a sweetheart ; muqarrab (P d" A)  (...) an intimate
d"
d"
d"
friend; a favourite (...) ; mohan (H d" S)  (...) an enchanter; a sweetheart, a
d"
d"
d"
lover (...) ; y

r (P d" A)  a friend; a lover; paramour, gallant; mistress (...)
d"
d"
d"
(cf. Platts 1884: passim).
15
Cf. Ferrand 1990: 62-66. The Arab physicians perceived love as a
 horrifying form of mental derangement capable of destroying the very
essence of man (Ibidem: 62).
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 205
solution would be to replace the impossible to fulfill, illicit passion
with mystical love that eventually consolidates the lover with the
Supreme Beloved in his infinity, eternity and immortality16.
The beauty of the beloved in the ghazal is always described in
incredibly exaggerated and exceedingly conventional terms17, with
the use of a whole collection of similes and metaphors18. Her19 figure
16
In Urdu different words are used to connote different types of love:
mu%abbat means  love between parents and children and between God and
the believer and love for honour ; cia
q   love exceeding the former and held
in particular for the beloved (though the mystical sense was introduced as
early as the eight century CE) ; and havas   for ethical writers a word
denoting desire in general, and in particular lust and concupiscence which,
taken to excess, would turn the individual away from God and led him into
sin, while for secular writers it was a simple synonim for cia
q (Orsini 2006:
16; cf. also
z

d 2001: 349). A similar distinction between %ubb or
c
ma%abba (= Gr. ógŁph, fil& a) understood as  affection and ia
q (= Gr.
S
rwj) as  violently passionate love , had already been made by ancient
Greek and Arab writers (cf. Meyerhof 1928: 345). The important notion is
that while love (ma%abbat) between the two may be mutual in nature,
passion (cia
q) is never reciprocal. In �k
f%2ł tradition cia
q is the supreme and
most fervent kind of love, greater and purer than ma%abbat (since cia
q is a
result of ma%abbat, but not always ma%abbat leads to cia
q).
17
Cf.:  The lover-protagonist and the beloved-object both live in a
world of extremes: supreme beauty, supreme cruelty, supreme devotion  all
things are at their best, or worst, in this world (& ) (Faruqi 1999: 11).
18
The technique of portrayal of the beloved in Persian and Urdu
poetic tradition was known as sar-

-p

(or sar-t

-p

)  a complete
description in verse (of graces or charms, & c.), meaning literally  from head
to foot, throughout, totally; cap-ą-pi� (cf. Platts 1884: 648; Steingass 1892:
665).
19
Writing about the beloved I use pronouns in their feminine forms,
for the consistent avoiding of gender indicating words in an English text
would be a rather impossible task. However, it must be remembered that the
sex of the object of love depicted in the ghazal sometimes is not clearly
defined and remains equivocal, as this type of poetry  (& ) is more
206 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
therefore resembles a slender cypress, her eyes are like narcissus and
ears like rose petals:
rux se gul kar mk
l liy

q

mat se sarv sul

m kiy

20
Her face more precious than a rose, her figure enslaves a cypress.
nargis k%2ł

nkh k%2ł qasm, aur gul ke k

n k%2ł21
I swear on the eye of a narcissus, and on the ear of a rose.
The curled locks of the beloved are likened to a hyacinth or to the
coils of a snake:
gesk
k%2ł kis ke la� naTar

�%2ł, jo b

s meŃ
m

r-e siy

h Vurra sunbul ne saa
kiy

22
Because of the curls of her locks that came into sight in the garden
the black serpent swooned and the ringlets of the hyacinth fainted.
A nose to a jasmine bud:
tujh ko qasm hai sun%0ńa-e zanbaq k%2ł n

k k%2ł23
You have my oath sworn on the nose of a white jasmine bud!
concerned with the passion than with the sex of the person who feels it, and
can make as great an appeal to a woman as to a man (Russell 2000: 124).
20
M%2łr 1958: 105. All Urdu original texts and their references are
quoted after the excellently edited anthology of David Matthews and
Christopher Shackle (Matthews & Shackle 1972); all the literal translations
of Urdu verses into English, if not otherwise stated, are mine.
21
Ina


1952: 136 (no. 229).
22
Ina


1952: 13-14 (no. 20).
23
Ina


1952: 136 (no. 229).
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 207
A chin to a well (and a dimple in the chin is compared to the lustre of
water in a well):
tuj n%2łr-e �huĄĄ%2ł k%2ł phab%2ł hai c%2łse k

b

r

24
The grace of water in the well of your chin is the power of Jesus25
Radiant prettiness of her face might be compared only to the sun-
shine:
c
araq k%2ł bk
nd us k%2ł zulf se ruxs

r par �apk%2ł
tacajjub k%2ł hai j

gah yah pu�%2ł xk
ra
%2łd par a
abnam26
A bead of sweat dropped from her lock on her cheek.
How astonishing! The dew fell down on the sun!
It overshadows every other light in the same way, as the real beauty of
God eclipses the insignificant and worthless earthly splendour:
r

t-e majlis meŃ tere usn ke a
ucle ke u�k
r
a
amc ke munh pe jo dekh

to kah%2łŃ nk
r na th

27
Last night in the attendance of the flames of your splendour
the countenance of the candle which I looked at had no radiance at all.
The beloved is the most beautiful of all the beauties:
gar%0ńi sab xk
brk
haiŃ xk
b vale
qatl kart%2ł hai m%2łrz

k%2ł ad

28
24
Qut$ b `


h 1940: 5.
25
The beloved is often attributed with  the power of Jesus or  the
breath of Jesus , which is the life-giving force that can raise people from the
dead.
26
Dard 1962: 44-45.
27
Dard 1962: 9-10.
208 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
Even though all beauties are beautiful,
the charm of my beloved is deadly.
jag ke xk
b

Ń k

namak ho ke namak parvardah
%0ńhup rah



ke tere lab ke namakd

n meŃ

29
The piquancy of the earth s beauties has become your servant,
and remains concealed in the salt-cellar of your lips.
However, the sight of her killing beauty is impossible to bear for the
lover and is so powerful, that it might appear deadly even for herself:
daa
na-e samza j

Ń sat

Ń, n

vak-e n

z be pan

h
ter

h%2ł caks-e rux sah%2ł, s

mne tere

�e kyoŃ?30
The dagger of the amorous glance torments the soul, the arrow of
coquetry makes refuge impossible,
indeed, how it is possible that the reflection of your face could
appear in front of you?
t

b-e naT

ra nah%2łŃ

�ina kiy

dekhne dk
Ń
aur bin j

�eŃge taĆv%2łr jo air

Ń hoŃge31
I shall not let her ogle in the mirror and cast these burning glances at
herself
lest she utterly bewildered turn into a picture.
Love, this incapacitating affection, unfulfilled and never recip-
rocated, indicates a compelling wish of the lover to stay with or even
possess the beloved. And although he is well aware of the fact that it
must never happen, that he is not allowed even to see or to touch his
28
Val%2ł 1927: 33-34 (no. 46).
29
Val%2ł 1927: 26-27 (no. 35).
30



lib 1967: 158-160.
31
Momin 1964: 217-219 (no. 186).
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 209
maca
k
q (beloved), yet he is begging for any kind of sensual contact 
let it be visual:
tujh ghar k%2ł Varaf sundar

t

hai val%2ł d

�im
mua
t

q hai dara
an k

�uk daras dikh

t%2ł j

32
O my beautiful! Vali comes constantly near your house,
desiring only to see you, so give him sometimes a glance!
auditory:
s rain andher%2ł meŃ mat bhk
l pa�k
Ń tis sk
Ń
�uk p

�oŃ ke bi%0ńhvoŃ k%2ł

v

z sun

t%2ł j

33
Still I may lose my mind in the darknes of that night
so at least let me hear the sound of the toe-rings on your feet.
or physical:
det%2ł je-ku%0ń tk
Ń g

liy

Ń de bose dil

ve n

34
Among all the abuses you give me why don t you give me a kiss!
The experience of this love, closely intertwined with the deepest
suffering of the lover, has in fact a physical dimension and its effects
on him are apparent in physical symptoms. The lover can neither
sleep nor eat, he does not find pleasure in anything unconnected with
his beloved:
piy

r%2ł ter%2ł bi%0ńh�e the rain munj n%2łnd

ve n


tk
Ń qudrat k%2ł gha�%2ł tuj bin gha�%2ł p%2łrat mk
bh

ve n

35
32
Val%2ł 1927: 32-33 (no. 44).
33
Ibidem.
34
Qut$ b `


h 1940: 242 (no. 4).
35
Ibidem.
210 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
O my dear one, sleep does not come to me at night since we
are parted.
Nature has created you so that without you I can not find even
a little pleasure in love
The reason which causes the most terrible tortures for the lover is
the insufferable separation from the beloved:
piy

b

j piy

l

piy

j

�e n


piy

b

j yak til jiy

j

�e n


kahethe piy

bin Ćabk
r%2ł kark
Ń
kahiy

j

�e amm

kiy

j

�e n

36
Without my beloved to drink from the cup is impossible.
Without my beloved to live even for a split second is impossible.
How can I be forbearing without my beloved?
It is possible to declare but to do  impossible.
jk
-e xk
Ń

nkhoŃ se bahne do ki hai a


m fir

q
maiŃ yah samjhk
Ńga ki a
amceŃ do furoz

n ho ga�%2łŃ37
This is the night of separation and regret so let the stream of blood
flow down my eyes.
I would fancy them as two inflamed candles38.
Because of the insatiable longing and permanent soreness, the
order of his bodily functions becomes disturbed and their proper
balance is upset to such a degree that even a physical illness can
36
Qut$ b `


h 1940: 23 (no. 23).
37



lib 1967: 150-152.
38
The eyes full of tears of blood or streams of bloody tears are poetic
images often used in Urdu poetry as metaphors of the utmost suffering of a
lover. In this couplet, lover s eyes weeping bloody tears are compared to
candles dropping tears of wax (which is another popular simile of Urdu
poetry).
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 211
ensue. The disease of love-sickness starts affecting the whole body
and can be potentially lethal to the sufferer:
ul�%2ł ho ga�%2łŃ sab tadb%2łreŃ kuch na dav

ne k

m kiy


dekh

is b%2łm

r%2ł-e dil ne

xir k

m tam

m kiy

39
All my judgments have been changed and no cure was effective.
See, the heart-sickness has finally put an end to my life!
The cure for this dreaded disease does not lie in the compendium
of medical knowledge and the specialists are unable even to diagnose
the ailment:
prit tere kk
Ń luqm

n bh%2ł sake n

d

rk
dene kk
Ń40
For your love nobody can provide the remedy, even Lukman41
can not.
Only the beloved appears to possess both the skill to diagnose
and the power to cure:
junk
n-e cia
q meŃ mujkk
Ń nah%2łŃ zanj%2łr k%2ł

jat
agar mer%2ł xabar lene kk
Ń vah zulf dar

z

ve42
I would need no chain in the madness of love,
if only that lady with long curls pays me a call!
The life-giving power of the beloved, correlated with the sense
of seeing (or hearing), could easily heal the lover and annihilate the
symptoms and effects of disease (i.e. of love-sickness):
39
M%2łr 1958: 105.
40
Qut$ b `


h 1940: 242 (no. 4).
41
Lukm

n  name of a famous Eastern fabulist (supposed by many to
be the same as Aesop); also  a wise man (cf. Platts 1884: 958).
42
Val%2ł 1927: 235-236 (no. 324).
212 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
Mu abbat meÓ nah%2łÓ hai farq jine aur marne k


Us ko dekhkar jite haiÓ jis k

fir par dam nikle43
In affection to live and to die makes no difference.
We live while seeing the beloved for whom we are dying.
ky

�idd hai xud

j

nte mujh sath va gar n


k

f%2ł hai tasall%2ł ko mer%2ł ek naTr bh%2ł44
God knows how wicked she is to me, and if it were otherwise,
even her one glance at me would be consoling.
kyoŃ tk
ne

xir

xir is vaqt munh dikh

y


d%2ł j

n m%2łr ne jo asrat se ik nigah kar45
Why you let me see your face at this very last moment?
Mir yielded up his life desiring just one glance.
But the object of a poet s passion in the ghazal remains cold,
indifferent, even cruel to the lover. Her cruelty may be genuine, or
may be used as a metaphor of her indifference or physical distance
from the lover. He however, would prefer death at the hands of the
beloved rather than her indifference, all the more so because to die for
the beloved is regarded by him as good fortune:
sun le ek b

t mer%2ł tk
ki ramaq hai b

q%2ł
phir suxan tujh se sitam g

r kark
Ń y

na kark
Ń46
Listen to one thing I say, as I have the very last breath left.
Should I then speak to you or not, o cruel tyrant?
43



lib 1967: 276-277.
44
Saud

1964: 284.
45
M%2łr 1958: 184.
46
Saud

1964: 253.
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 213
arf nah%2łŃ j

Ń baxa
%2ł meŃ us k%2ł xk
b%2ł apn%2ł qismat k%2ł
ham se jo pahle ki bhej

so marne k

pais

m kiy

47
No harm that she distributes her life-giving goodness.
The first message she sent me was my death-sentence.
The more persistently the lover tries to get her favours, the more
unmoved and unreachable is the beloved:
k

m hk
�%2ł haiŃ s

re �

�ec har s

cat k%2ł sam

jat se
istisn

k%2ł cau-gun%2ł un ne jk
Ń jk
Ń maiŃ ibr

m kiy

48
All my doings have been fruitless for I spent every moment
on flattery.
Her haughtiness increased fourfold the more I was pestering.
Even if she sees his torments and hears his lamentations, she
would do nothing to alleviate the lover s suffering:
mat suĆĆe ke a
ucle sk
Ń jalte kk
Ń jal

t%2ł j


�uk mihr ke p

n%2ł sk
Ń yah

g bujh

t%2ł j

49
Do not let the flames of anger burn the one already aflame,
rather with the water of affection try to quench this fire!
And when she has had enough adoration, she mercilessly sends
him far away, although she is well aware of the fact that for a lover
this can be tantamount to death from love-sickness:
saud

ter%2ł fary

d se

nkhoŃ meŃ ka�%2ł r

t


�%2ł ho sa ar hone ko �uk tk
kah%2łŃ mar bh%2ł50
47
M%2łr 1958: 105.
48
Ibidem.
49
Val%2ł 1927: 32-33 (no. 44).
214 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
Sauda, I had a sleepless night because of your lamentation.
Now the dawn has almost come, you also go and die somewhere!
Overwhelmed by the feeling of the deepest pain and calamity,
the lover little by little withdraws from the real world and sinks into a
madness-like state, letting the inner fervency consume both his body
and his mind:
tujh cia
q meŃ jal jal kar sab tan ko kiy

kaj

l
yah roa
n%2ł afz

hai ankhen ko lag

t%2ł j

51
In love for you my entire body has burnt and turned to soot.
Put it on your eyes, it makes the glance brighter52
rain-din kk
j j

ne n

jo ko�%2ł j%2łv c

a
iq hai ter


lagay

hai y

d yk
Ń ter

ki bha�%2ł kuj y

d

ve n

53
Your true lover discerns nothing for all the days and nights.
And while he starts to remember you he can remember nothing
He cares no more for the earthly existence, leaves his friends and
family and wanders into the real or allegorical desert, where he lives
the life of a recluse. The lover s fever of passion is fired to such a heat
that his subjectivity is being melted down. He suffers the love s
50
Saud

: 1964: 284. The word sa ar used in this couplet denotes a
time a little before day-break, when night withdraws and the dawn is
breaking; a lover, belonging, together with his groans, to the night-time,
should now vanish in the same way as darkness disappears with the first rays
of the rising sun.
51
Val%2ł 1927: 32-33 (no. 44).
52
Soot (lamp-black) is in India applied medicinally and as a collyrium
to the eyes. It is believed to increase clarity of vision (by the action of
opposites), to protect the eyesight from the sun rays and from eye-ailments
and generally to be a good coolant for the eyes.
53
Qut$ b `


h 1940: 242 (no. 4).
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 215
torment  only to find on the other side a desert expanse with no
identifiable features, in which one can never establish one s orienta-
tion (Kugle 2007: 575):
dardmand

n ko bajuz dard nah%2łŃ Ćaid mur

d
ae, a
ah, malik-e junk
Ń, sam ke biy

b

n meŃ

!54
Without pain those who are afflicted cannot capture their prey.
O, lord of madness, come into the wilderness of grief!
barsoŃ caJ

b dekhe qarnoŃ tacab u�h

te
yah dil az%2łŃ huv

hai ky

ky

jaf

�%2łŃ sah kar55
For years we suffered torments, for ages experienced grief,
after so many injuries the heart has been mourning.
His madness, caused by deepest suffering of unfulfilled love, is
rather a spiritual state resulting from absolute resignation, which is
the highest form of love56. Finally the lover burns in the flame of
separation, becoming at the same time liberated from every earthly
affair and cleansing his sinful heart of all longing for the world, which
is a necessary condition for experiencing the real, mystic love57:
54
Val%2ł 1927: 26-27 (no. 35).
55
M%2łr 1958: 184.
56
Cf.:  Madness and banishment, or imprisonment or general �ill
fame, are the functions of true love: the stronger the madness, the farther
the wandering, the blacker the ill fame, the truer and deeper the love (Faruqi
1999: 12).
57
The concept of separation as the precondition of the real love for the
Supreme Being, emphasizing the hurtful aspect of love and the necessity of
releasing of worldly concerns are common features of both Indian �k
f%2ł and
bhakti literary tradition. Cf. also:  Besides the general specification that the
hero must be cleansed of impurity, the convention also required of him that
he developed certain moral traits. First of all, he had to be free from exces-
sive preoccupation with self. Then he had to eliminate all envy and anger
216 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
quVb a
ah na de muj div

ne ko pand
div

ne kk
Ń ku%0ń pand diy

j

�e n

58
Do not give, Qutb Shah, any counsel to me  a madman.
To a madman no counsel could be given.
ranj se xo-gar huva ins

n,to mi� j

t

hai ranj
mua
kileŃ mujh par pa�eŃ itn%2ł ki

s

n ho ga�eŃ59
When a man gets used to suffer grief, the grief becomes obliterated.
I have had to endure many troubles and now they are easy to bear.
He is like a moth that flutters around the blaze of the candle
which symbolises the absolute. The relative existence of the lover is
burned in the beloved s fire in the same way as a moth burns in the
flame of a candle:
majlis meŃ r

t ek tere partave basair
ky

a
amc ky

patang har ek be u�k
r th

60
At the gathering last night deprived of your splendour,
there was no candle, no moth, there was nobody at all.
j

n se bez

r hk
Ń ik a
amc rk
ke cia
q meŃ
s

th lekar mujh ko kar de

g meŃ parv

na

j61
from his personality. He had to look on the various aspects of the world
dispassionately with the demeanor of an ascetic. In essence this involved his
complete detachment from care for the demands of the will and the body
(White 1965: 122) and  Courage, constancy and complete dedication to love
are the supreme qualities which in the Urdu ghazal exalts, and because only
the experience of love can develop these qualities, no suffering is too great a
price to pay (Russell 1992: 34).
58
Qut$ b `


h 1940: 23 (no. 23).
59



lib 1967: 150-152.
60
M%2łr 1958: 103.
61

tia
1963: 179-180.
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 217
I am displeased with life, with love for her with the face radiant
as candlelight.
Let today the moth carry me away and immolate me in the fire!
Death is therefore the greatest success for a lover, the most de-
sirable achievement, which brings him respite and release from suf-
fering, and gives him hope for the future everlasting union with his
beloved. The lover perishes when he abandons himself and becomes
alive while he inclines towards the absolute. Emptied of himself,
changed into nothing, the lover finally finds eternal love and eternal
life.
* * *
In conclusion, perhaps it would be worth to ask a question: why
ghazal, this poetic  string of pearls , which is characterised by so
highly conventionalised aesthetics, and which has a natural tendency
to being complex, metaphysical, even philosophical  why does this
very form today still enjoy great prestige as well as immense popu-
larity among both South Asian authors and incredibly large numbers
of recipients?
The fundamental secret of success which Urdu ghazal has been
enjoying for the last several hundred years is probably the fact, that it
also very strongly corresponds to the less sophisticated, but abso-
lutely basic human needs: the need for love and the need for being
loved. Even though cia
q depicted in ghazal  be it earthly or divine 
is experienced in separation and can never be fulfilled, and even
though pain and anguish are their distinctive marks  still, or perhaps
because of that, the challenges of this love are considered to consti-
tute the very essence of humanity, and to create the emotional core of
every human being.
Leaving such love unexpressed would not be possible. This is
the obvious truth for all those individuals, who love with passion
218 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
although without hope for fulfilment, who suffer endless longing and
insatiable desire, who in a physical, sensuous way can feel the in-
consolable soreness of being separated by the distance or social
bounds from the one they love.
The poetic and metaphorical space of ghazal becomes the right
expanse where all these feelings and all these experiences can be
manifested and communicated, expressed, found and compared...
Bibliography:
Ali 1992: The Golden Tradition. An Anthology of Urdu Poetry,
selected, translated, and with an introduction of Ah-
med Ali, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992.

tia
1963: Xv

ja $aidar cAl%2ł
tia
, Kulliy

t-e
tia
, Urdk
Akadem%2ł
Sindh, 1963.

z

d 2001:
z

d, Mu%ammad $usain,
b-e %ay

t. Shaping the
Canon of Urdu Poetry, translated and edited by Fran-
ces Pritchett, in association with Shamsur Rahman
Faruqi, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Dard 1962: Xv

jah M%2łr Dard, D%2łv

n-e Dard, ed. by Xal%2łl
al-Rahm

n ń
�k
d%2ł, Lahaur: Majlis-e Taraqq%2ł-e Adab,
1962.
Faruqi 1999: Faruqi, Shamsur Rahman,  Conventions of Love, Love
of Conventions: Urdu Love Poetry in the Eighteenth
Century , The Annual of Urdu Studies 1999, Vol. 14,
pp. 3-32.
Faruqi 2004: Faruqi, Shamsur Rahman,  A Stranger in the City: the
Poetics of Sabk-i Hindi , The Annual of Urdu Studies
2004, Vol. 19, pp. 1-93.
Ferrand 1990: Ferrand, Jacques, A Treatise on Lovesickness, Trans-
lated and Edited and with a Critical Introduction and
Notes by Donald A. Beecher and Massimo Ciavolella,
New York: Syracuse University Press, 1990.
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 219



lib 1967: Mirz

Asadull

h X

n


lib, D%2łv

n-e


lib, ed. by

ul

m Rask
l Mihr, Lahaur: Shaikh Ghulam Ali and
Sons, 1967.
Hogan 2004: Hogan, Patrick Colm,  Stories and Morals: Emotion,
Cognitive Exempla, and Arabic Aristotelians , [in:]
The Work of Fiction: Cognition, Culture and Com-
plexity, ed. by Alan Richardson and Ellen Spolsky,
Aldershot-Burlington: Ashgate, 2004, pp. 31-50.
Ina


1952: Sayyid Ina


All

h X

n Ina


, Kal

m-e Ina


, ed. by
Mirz

Mu%ammad Askar%2ł and Mu%ammad Raf%2łc, Al-
lah

b

d: Hindust

n%2ł Akadem%2ł Uttar Pradea
, 1952.
Islam
& Russell 1994 Islam, Khurshidul, Russell, Ralph, Three Mughal
Poets: Mir, Sauda, Mir Hasan, Delhi: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1994.
Jafri 2005: Jafri, Fuzail,  Ghazal (Urdu) , [in:] The Encyclopaedia
of Indian Literature, ed. by Amaresh Datta, vol. II,
New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2005, pp. 1395-1397.
Kugle 2007: Scott, Kugle,  Qawwali Between Written Poem and
Sung Lyric, Or& How a Ghazal Lives , The Muslim
World 2007, Vol. 97, pp. 571-610.
Madd

h 1959: KhaÓ, Muhammad Mustaf

 Madd

h , Urdk
-hind%2ł
śabdkoś [Urdu-Hindi Dictionary], Lakhnau 1959 (8th
ed., Lakhnau: Uttar Pradeś Hind%2ł SaCsth

n, 1997).
Matthews
& Shackle 1972: Matthews, David J., Schackle, Christopher, An An-
thology of Classical Urdu Love Lyrics. Texts and
Translations, London: Oxford University Press, 1972.
Meyerhof 1928: Meyerhof, Max,  An Arabic Compendium of Med-
ico-Philosophical Definitions , Isis 1928, Vol. 10, No.
2 (Jun.), pp. 340-349.
c
M%2łr 1958: M%2łrTaq%2ł M%2łr, Kulliy

t-e M%2łr, ed. by Ib

dat Barelv%2ł,
Karachi: Urdu Dunya, 1958.
Momin 1964: $ak%2łm Mu_ammad Momin X

n Momin, Kulliy

t-e
Momin, vol. I, ed. by cAl%2ł X

n F

�iq, Lahaur: Majlis-e
Taraqq%2ł-e Adab, 1964.
220 AGNIESZKA KUCZKEWICZ-FRAŚ
Mukhia 1999: Mukhia, Harbans,  The Celebration of Failure as
Dissent in Urdu Ghazal , Modern Asian Studies 1999,
Vol. 33, No. 4 (Oct.), pp. 861-881.
Naim 1974: Naim, Choudhri Mohammed,  Ghazal and Taghazzul:
The Lyric, Personal and Social , [in:] The Literatures
of India: an Introduction, ed. by Edward C. Dimock,
University of Chicago Press, 1974, pp. 181-197.
Naim 2004: Naim, Choudhri Mohammed, Urdu Texts and Con-
texts. The Selected Essays, Delhi: Permanent Black,
2004.
Orsini 2006: Orsini, Francesca,  Introduction , [in:] Love in South
Asia. A Cultural History, ed. by Francesca Orsini,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp.
1-39.
Platts 1884: Platts, John T., A Dictionary of Urdk
, Classical Hind%2ł
and English, Oxford 1884 (reprinted New Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2000).
Pritchett 2003: Pritchett, Frances W.,  A Long History of Urdu Liter-
ary Culture, Part 2: Histories, Performances and Mas-
ters , [in:] Literary Cultures in History: Reconstruc-
tions from South Asia, ed. by Sheldon I. Pollock,
Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: University of Cali-
fornia Press, 2003, pp. 863-911.
Qut$ b `


h 1940: Mu%ammad Qul%2ł Qut$ b `


h, Kulliy

t-e Mu%ammad
Qul%2ł Qut$ b `


h, ed. by Mu%%%2ł al-D%2łn Q

dir%2ł Zor, Hai-
dar

b

d 1940.
Russell 1969: Russell, Ralph,  The Pursuit of Urdu Ghazal , The
Journal of Asian Studies 1969, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Nov.),
pp. 107-124.
Russell 1992: Russell, Ralph, The Pursuit of Urdu Literature. A
Select History, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Russell 1995: Russell, Ralph,  The Urdu Ghazal  A Rejoinder to
Frances W. Pritchett and William L. Hanaway , The
Annual of Urdu Studies 1995, Vol. 10, pp. 96-112.
Russell 2000: Russell, Ralph,  Getting to Know Ghalib [in:] The
Famous Ghalib, selected, translated and introduced by
THE BELOVED AND THE LOVER  LOVE IN CLASSICAL URDU GHAZAL 221
Ralph Russell, New Delhi: Lotus Collection. Roli
Books, 2000, pp. 115-166.
Saud

1964: Mirz

Mu%ammad Raf%2łc Saud

, Kal

m-e Saud

, ed. by
Xura
%2łd al-Isl

m, Aligarh: Anjuman-e Taraqq%2ł-e Urdk

Hind, 1964.
Singh 1997: Singh, Khushwant,  Love in Urdu Poetry , [in:] De-
claring Love in Four Languages, ed. by Khushwant
Singh and Sharda Kaushik, New Delhi: Viking, 1997,
pp. 151-176.
STCD 1980: Standard Twentieth Century Dictionary Urdu to Eng-
lish, compiled by B. A. Qureshi, revised and enlarged
by A. Haq, Delhi: Educational Publishing House, 1980
(New Edition, Delhi 1999).
Steingass 1892: Steingass, Francis Joseph, A Comprehensive Per-
sian-English Dictionary, London: Routledge & K.
Paul, 1892 (reprinted Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal
Publishers, 2006).
Storey 1984: Storey C. A., Persian Literature. A bio-bibliographi-
cal survey, vol. III, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1984.
Val%2ł 1927: Kulliy

t-e Val%2ł, ed. by cAli Ahsan M

rahrav%2ł, Auran-
gabad: Anjuman-e Taraqq%2ł-e Urdk
, 1927.
White 1965: White, Charles S. J.,  Sufism in Medieval Hindi Lit-
erature , History of Religions 1965, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp.
114-132.