Poetry
The secret of Dard's appeal as a poet lies not in his mysticism, but in his ability to transmute this mysticism into poetry, and to present transcendental love in terms of human and earthly love. Although he has written ghazals which are unambiguously mystical in their intent, his best couplets can be read at both the secular and spiritual levels, and are, for this reason, acceptable to all and sundry. In addition, Dard had also written ghazals which deal with a patently sensuous and earthly love, and deserve to be classed with the best poetry of this kind. Dard generally excels in short ghazals of about seven to nine verses, written in comparatively short measures. His style is simple, natural and musical; his content, thoughtful and thought-provoking. His poetry includes a collection of Urdu ghazals and a divan in Persian.
Dard's Persian prose works are extensive, consisting of the Ilm ul Kitab, a 600+ page metaphysical work on the philosophy of the Muhammadi path, and the Chahar Risalat, collections of more than a thousand mystical aphorisms and sayings.
Example work:
دوستوں دیکھا تماشا یہاں کا بس
- تُم رہو اب ہم تو اپنے گھر چلے ۔
| “ | doston dekha tamasha yahan ka bas.
tum raho ab hum to apne ghar chale |
” |
|
—Dard |
Or as translated into English:
| “ | My friend, we've seen enough fine sights, through which we loved to roam.
You stay on to enjoy them; we are ready to go home. |
” |
|
—Dard |
- Translation by David Matthews
Read more about this topic: Khwaja Mir Dard
Famous quotes containing the word poetry:
“Firm in our beliefs without dismay,
In any game the nations want to play.
A golden age of poetry and power
Of which this noonday’s the beginning hour.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Much of our poetry has the very best manners, but no character.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)