Selected Urdu ghazals with English translation; includes text and introduction.

This book is a companion volume to author's earlier book, "Masterpieces of Urdu Ghazal" which contained English translations of 108 ghazals selected from nine major poets. The present volume contains 129 ghazals representing 20 outstanding Urdu poets. Thus, this anthology, taken together with The Masterpieces, may rightly claim to be a fully representative collection of Urdu ghazals in English translation. The ghazals are carefully selected and explained in English for the average readers as well as Urdu Connoisseurs. The book contains brief biographical notes and introductory essays on the ghazals.

This book offers a representative selection of humorous and satirical Urdu poetry, drawn from the works of seventeen major poets, including the classics like Mohammed Rafi Sauda and Akbar Allahabadi, besides the famous practitioners of this art in the 20th century. The poems are chosen on the basis of their artistic and thematic quality. These are then translated, verse by verse, into English, and transliterated in the Roman script for the benefit of the non-Urdu-knowing reader. This is probably the first book of its kind in Urdu-English translated literature.

This book has the unique distinction of presenting, in one compendious volume, the best of Ghalib in poetry and prose. It contains 104 ghazals, seven miscellaneous poems, and a bouquet of sixty-eight selected letters, besides a few striking couplets and qitas. The ghazals and poems are first given in the original form in calligraphic Urdu. This is followed, on the opposite page, by their English translation, couched in a language that is simple, lucid and rhythmical. The ghazals and poems have also been provided with a transliterated version in the Roman script. This should enable the non-Urdu-knowing reader to have a feel and flavour of the Urdu text. In addition, the book contains a critical-cum-biographical introduction which is comprehensive, well-documented, and insightful. It is hoped that the book will receive a welcome response from the lovers of Ghalib, who was an outstanding poet fit to rank with the greatest poets of the world, and a precious part of our cultural heritage.

Selected Urdu ghazals with English translation; includes text and introduction