Firaq Gorakhpuri: Selected Poetry

Firaq was a prolific writer who produced a rich crop of poetry, comprising more than 40,000 couplets. This book contains a comprehensive sampling of his representative poetry, along with its English translation and transliteration in Romanized script. In all, the book contains 60 ghazals, 7 nazms, 23 rubais, and a sprinkling of couplets and quitas.

The poems have been carefully selected, keeping in view the quality of their content and style, and their easy accessibility to the average reader.

The book opens with an Introduction which underscores the distinctive features of Firaqs poetry, and discusses, with suitable illustrations, his characteristic manner and favorite themes. This book includes a list of important events in the life of Firaq, and a facsimile of the poets hand written page. It also contains a brief collection of the critical comments made on his poetry by some of his famous contemporaries. Firaq Gorahkpuri: Selected Poetry will serve to propagate the pleasures of Urdu poetry and introduce the reader to the multidimensional world of Firaq’s poetry.

Each poem is first given in Urdu calligraphics, followed on the opposite page by its translation in lucid English which, in turn, is succeeded by the Romanized version of the Urdu text.

Kishan Chand Kanda has had a long and illustrious tenure as a Reader in English at Delhi University. He completed his Ph.D. in English from Delhi University, Master’s degrees in English from Punjab University and Nottingham University, and a Master’s degree in Urdu from Delhi University. He has published several works of Urdu poetry translations. Dr. Kanda has been honoured with the Urdu Academy Award for excellence in translation for his works.