AN ANALYTICAL OVERVIEW OF ALL THE PARTS OF 'A DESERTFUL OF ROSES'

*ABOUT THIS PROJECT* -- An overview and history of the project, with a brief introduction to Ghalib; and credits and acknowledgements.

*EVOCATIONS* -- Some especially thought-provoking images from the poet's life and times.

*ABOUT THE IMAGES* -- A suitably hyperlinked account of the Berger Collection, its organization, and the details of those parts of it from which images have been drawn for this site.

*ABOUT THE GHAZALS* -- The most detailed description of exactly what material is presented here, what sources it is drawn from, and how it is organized. More information about the commentators and so on will probably be added in due course. This section has various technical sub-pages.

*ON DATING* -- A chart extrapolated from the work of Kalidas Gupta Raza, with what I think is the best attempt that can presently be made to date the individual ghazals.

*ON METER* -- A chart of the various meters used by Ghalib, and an explanation of how they are designated on the ghazal pages.

*MUCH MORE ON METER* -- Urdu Meter: A Practical Handbook, an independent book which is presented within this website.

*ON TRANSLITERATION* -- A chart showing the 'plain roman' transliteration system that was devised for this project (and that forms the basis for all its other script displays); with a pronunciation index.

*A NOTE FOR DEVANAGARI READERS* -- An explanation and discussion of some of the peculiarities of the Devanagari script display on this site

*S. R. FARUQI'S SELECTIONS* -- A chart of Ghalib's finest verses, both published and published, according to the inti;xaab or selection done by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi. The chart includes a list of those verses Faruqi deals with in his own commentary.

*ABOUT THE GENRE* -- Some attempts to describe the ghazal genre, and especially the vexations and difficulties of translating classical ghazal (and Ghalib in particular). This will be a series of rather free-form essays, with some links to other sites. It will also rely on some sub-pages of its own:

*TRANSLATION ANTHOLOGY FOR {20}* -- The famous yih nah thii hamaarii qismat kih vi.saal-e yaar hotaa -- a large number of representative translations presented in chronological order, without commentary.

*TRANSLATION ANTHOLOGY FOR {111}* -- Ditto for the even more famous sab kahaa;N kuchh laalah-o-gul me;N numaayaa;N ho ga))ii;N -- an anthology of representative translations.

*SOUNDFILES* -- Some recordings of recited and sung versions of various ghazals.

*GHALIB'S OWN CALLIGRAPHY* -- A sample of his elegantly patterned (and thus semi-illegible) calligraphic handwriting, as he quotes some of his own verses in one of his letters; *another such sample*.

*CALLIGRAPHY* -- A few calligraphic examples by others

*THE MAIN GHAZAL INDEX* -- The all-purpose comprehensive access point for all the ghazal pages, which in turn are the only comprehensive access points for all the individual verse pages. Ultimately, there will be 234 ghazal pages and about 1,459 verse pages. (Please wish me luck and stamina.) This main index provides access to the first verse of each ghazal in the whole divan, in traditional order (based specifically on Hamid). In order to minimize scrolling, this main index will provide five sub-indices that together contain the whole divan in order:

* ghazals {1} - {48} * -- ending in aa
* ghazals {49} - {83} * -- ending in b through m
* ghazals {84) - {129} * -- ending in n through h
* ghazals {130} - {180} * -- ending in e and ii == part one
* ghazals {181} - {234} * -- ending in e and ii == part two

* TECHNICAL INDEX -- This main index will also provide access to a Technical Index in absolute alphabetical order by rhyming elements. It's the one that I use myself when looking for a particular ghazal. If you understand the structure of the ghazal (especially how radiif and qaafiyah work) and want to look for a particular ghazal in the most efficient way, this is the one to check. It too will consist of five sub-pages, but they will NOT be the same as those above, especially for the ye ghazals.

* ghazals ending in aa * -- i.e., ghazals {1} - {48}
* ghazals ending in b through m * -- i.e., ghazals {49} - {83}
* ghazals ending in n through h * -- i.e., ghazals {84} - {129}
* ghazals ending in hai *-- i.e., a subset of ghazals {130} - {234}
* ghazals ending in ii * -- i.e., a subset of ghazals {130} - {234}
* ghazals ending in e * -- i.e., a subset of ghazals {130} - {234}
*INDEX OF NAMES* -- All the proper names used in the ghazals, and in the commentary. Sometimes I cheat a little, just for fun-- for example, 'Moth' is treated as a proper name, since the Moth is an active agent. Definitions and further references are provided as seems suitable in each case.

*INDEX OF TERMS* -- All of what I consider to be genuinely significant literary and technical terms used by Ghalib and by the commentators. Definitions and further references are provided as seems suitable.

*SETS* -- Selected verses grouped according to common qualities of structure or patterns of imagery, designed for comparative study.

*GRAMMAR NOTES* -- Some material that might be helpful to students and teachers: examples of some of his standard, idiomatic, and archaic usages.

*GHALIBIANA* -- How can we talk about Ghalib without adding a few good anecdotes? So far I'm using mostly Hali's, but I'd like to add more later.

*BIBLIOGRAPHY* -- The main Bibliography contains works specifically referred to in this site. At present it has two sub-pages, with perhaps others to come. These sub-pages add further readings for those interested in making a more serious study of the classical ghazal:
*FURTHER SOURCES IN ENGLISH* -- Both translations, and critical and historical works.

*FURTHER SOURCES IN URDU* -- Commentaries, books, etc.

 
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