New Books in Poetry cover image

Maaz Bin Bilal, "Temple Lamp: Verses on Banaras by Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan" (India Penguin Classics, 2022)

New Books in Poetry

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Galaib's Letter

When we were growing up in Pakistan, we used to read a Galaib's letter as part of our Urdu curriculum. One that I always remember fondly is how he was called in for almost an inquisition-like situation after the 1857 revolt. He wrote a whole poem to one of his patrons asking them to send mangoes by the crate and not be stingy in sending them. His claim to being more Persian and better at Persian than other Indo-Persian poets of his own time.

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