Read this when
Ghazals and Letters of Ghalib
A 19th-century poet who lost all seven of his children and still wrote the wittiest lines about longing. Grief and jokes can share a couplet.
Who it's for
Ghalib's ghazals compress enormous desire and disappointment into two-line couplets that often mean two things at once, so a reader in grief can find a line that says exactly what they feel without having to read a whole book.
Feelings it meets
What it is
A selection of the Urdu ghazals and letters of Mirza Ghalib (1797–1869), the Delhi poet known for densely layered couplets that move from love poetry into philosophy and the trials and mysteries of life.
Where to find it
The Urdu originals are public domain and free online (e.g., Rekhta.org, with transliterations and glossaries). English translations (Ralph Russell's; Ghalib: Life and Letters by Russell & Khurshidul I.
Before you start
Heads up: Grief over the deaths of children.
Age: Ages 14+
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “On Joy and Sorrow”
