Among the first women to gain recognition and fame in the almost entirely male-dominated field of Urdu poetry, Zehra Nigah (born in 1935) is today taller than any Urdu-language poet writing in South Asia or beyond. She is also an eagerly awaited figure on the mushaira circuit in India and Pakistan. A classicist in style, her themes are urgent and contemporary—she has been hailed for ‘saying “big” things in a seemingly conversational manner’. This selection contains her best-known nazms and ghazals, which showcase her lyricism and also her deep insight into the human condition and the social and political realities of our age and our region.
Among the gems in this collection are poems like ‘Bhejo Nabi ji Rehmatein’, ‘Mein Bach Gayi Ma’, ‘Qissa Gul Badshah’ and ‘Insaf ’ , which have as their themes sexual war crimes against women, female infanticide, repressive Shariah laws and child soldiers in a ‘religious’ war; tender, bitter-sweet poems about love and family relationships, like ‘Shaam ka Pehla Taara’, ‘Ek Sachchi Amma ki Kahani’ and ‘Qurbaton se Kab Talak Apne ko Behlayenge Hum’; and wise and moving reflections on the emotional and social life of a woman— ‘Samjhauta’, ‘Hawwa ki Kahani’ and ‘Sylvia Plath’.
Translated with regard and respect for both the poet and the English-language reader, this collection is a splendid introduction to the work of a legend of Urdu poetry.
