There is perhaps no one in our country at least, who has not at one time or another in his or her life, been influenced by the beauty and softness of a “ghazal”. Reading a ghazal is one thing and listening to it, set to music, is totally a different experience. The music, which accompanies the poetry, enhances the impact of the ghazal and transports the listener to a world of charming romance. Down the ages, people have loved this delicate form of poetic expression.
A poet has aptly said:
“Ghazal rudaad hai naakaamiyon ki,
Ghazal mehrumiyon ki daastaan hai
Ghazal riste hue zakhmon ka marham,
Ghazal ek chaaraa-e-dard-e-nihan hai
Ghazal ka husn hi hai, husn-e-aalam,
Ghazal ka noor hi noor-e-jahan hai”
This captures the essence of the ghazal form so beautifully. The pain expressed in a ghazal, the nostalgia, the beauty of love and the divine depth and heights which it expresses. As ghazal traditionally was used to express the despair and failures of a lover, it has been called rudaad (tale) of naakaami.
Ghazal is an Arabic word which means ‘talking to one’s beloved’. Keeping with its literal meaning, subjects related to love or romance were the topics of the Ghazals in early days. Most of the early poets were Sufi and for them, the beloved (Mehboob) was God himself, and the union with the beloved was the salvation of the lover and a life of eternal unity with God. It is because of this reason that the beloved in early Urdu poetry is addressed in the masculine, because it meant God Himself.
In Ghazals, Ishq means either “love of God”( ISHQ-E-HAQEEQI or the real love) or earthly love (of a man for a woman or vice-versa, ISHQ-E-MAJAZI).
However, the term ‘love’ as used in Urdu poetry has a wide connotation. It can be a romantic affair of the poet with some real life woman, or it also can be a devotion to some cause - social, political, ideological, spiritual or moral.
Immortal poets like Mir Taki Mir, Mirza Ghalib, Zauq, Dagh and Faiz Ahmed Faiz have all strengthened and enriched this world of beauty and love called the ghazal. Their poetry has been sung to lovely, lilting music by great singers like Begum Akhtar, Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh, Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mehmood, Iqbal Bano and many other maestros.
Together they have created for us a marriage of poetry and music which provides us with moments of solace and joy amid our hectic lives. These lyrical gems give us a peace which caresses us with the melody which accompanies the poetic compositions.
They are with us in our sad moments too — says famous Urdu poet Firaq Gorakhpuri — “Ghazal ke saaz uthao, badi udaas hai raat/Nawaa –e-Meer sunao, badi udaas hai raat/raho yun
hi kuchh der aur haath mein haath diye/abhi nas paas se jaao,badi udaas hai raat.”
People these days, do not have much time to listen to music. But, if they once manage to steal a few moments from their busy routines, they can lose themselves in the soulful music and meaningful lyrics, deriving a feeling of freshness which will give a better rhythm to their lives and connect them to their innermost feelings. Ghazals can anchor your thoughts like nothing else can. And in the times in which we live, who does not need such an anchorIJ
Our cinema, which has recently completed a hundred years, has used the ghazal form extensively, specially in the 1950s and 1960s. Well-known poets like Hasrat Jaipuri, Kaifi Azmi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir ludhianavi and Shakeel Badayuni contributed greatly to the world of film music, beautifying it with enchanting Urdu lyrics. Who can forget film ghazals like Koi Saagar Dil ko bahlaata nahin (Shakeel Badayuni), Tang aa chuke hain kashm kash-e-zindagi se ham ( Sahir ludhianavi) and Tumhari Zulf ke saaye mein shaam kar lunga (Kaifi Azmi). In the film Bazaar, Mir Taqi Mir’s ghazal was used (Dikhayi diye yun ke bekhud kiya).
In his film “Mausam, Gulzar created a fascinating ghazal, taking as his first couplet Mirza Ghalib’s words “Dil Dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din, baithhe rahein tassavur-e-jaana kiye huye.” This ghazal of Gulzar is one of the brightest stars in the realm of Urdu poetry. The story of the ghazal will never end. As long as love exists and as long as the joy and pain it brings are there, the ghazal will live.
