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One of the most oft-quoted poets the nineteenth century, Ghalib was an intellectual colossus whose poetry is imbued with timelessness and universality. Born and brought up in north India, he wrote both brought up in north India, he wrote both in his mother tongue Urdu and in Persians, the established and privileged language of literature and officialdom. He wrote exquisite prose, but is better known for his poetry, particularly his Urdu Ghazals.

In The Evolution of Ghalib,the author, Hasan Abdullah, provides a detailed introduction that describes Ghalib’s life history, brings out his persona and situates his work in time and space. He briefly discusses the Urdu language and the ghazal as literary form and familiarizes the reader with the words, symbols and concepts crucial for understanding Ghalib’s continually evolving poetry.

Based in a chronological reading of Ghalib’s Urdu ghazals, the author identifies the different stages and phases of the poet’s development and from each of these phases selects and interprets verses, including those that differ from the dominant trend, in order to reveal Ghalib’s intellectual evolution. The book aims to make reading and urdu ghazals a pleasurable and enlightening experience.