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
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—Rebecca West (1892–1983)