On Translating Ghalib

Translating Ghalib, the afflicted Ghalib who had been “a prisoner of loneliness” (K. A. Faruqi, 1992, p.31), with his variety of meanings, levels of meaning, and sheer audacity is the most difficult job for any translator. Like any other great poet, Ghalib's words and his complexity of expression serve to challenge the abilities of the most able translators. Considering this, we had endeavored collectively and objectively to render his work to be understood and appreciated by common readers, namely those readers who are not connoisseurs of literature. The work-a-day life leaves little or no time to devote to the exploration or pursuit of the multiplicity of meanings to be found in many layers of his poetry. We hope that our work here results in increased access to all the subtleties of Ghalib’s distiches thereby providing an enhanced appreciation and finer understanding of his poetry by both lay persons and students of literature. Our goal has been to provide ease of access to appreciation of the magnificence of Ghalib’s couplets by laypersons. Interpretation of the meanings of his couplets can never be stagnant by virtue of the genius of his language and its multiplicity of potential interpretations, its layering. His genius lay in the edacity of his creations. We just have to take hold of it.