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9789388070546 65686124f61a860d45cd010f Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and her Greatest Poets https://www.midlandbookshop.com/s/607fe93d7eafcac1f2c73ea4/65686125f61a860d45cd0139/51bprnrs9ml-_sy385_.jpg
‘A riveting resurrection of the city of poets, the city of history, Saif Mahmood’s learned and evocative book takes us to the heart of Delhi’s romance with Urdu verse and aesthetics.’—Namita Gokhale

Urdu poetry rules the cultural and emotional landscape of India—especially northern India and much of the Deccan—and of Pakistan. And it was in the great, ancient city of Delhi that Urdu grew to become one of the world’s most beautiful languages. Through the 18th and 19th centuries, while the Mughal Empire was in decline, Delhi became the capital of a parallel kingdom—the kingdom of Urdu poetry—producing some of the greatest, most popular poets of all time. They wrote about the pleasure and pain of love, about the splendour of God and the villainy of preachers, about the seductions of wine, and about Delhi, their beloved home.

This treasure of a book documents the life and work of the finest classical Urdu poets: Sauda, Dard, Mir, Ghalib, Momin, Zafar, Zauq and Daagh. Through their biographies and poetry—including their best-known ghazals—it also paints a compelling portrait of Mughal Delhi. This is a book for anyone who has ever been touched by Urdu or Delhi, by poetry or romance.
 
 

Review

'Saif Mahmood’s Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets offers a window into the life, times, and poetry of Delhi’s greatest Urdu poets from the 18th and 19th centuries, with witty and critical insight, in a conversational style that has become Saif’s hallmark in many a literary gathering… Beloved Delhi is for keeps and must be read by all with the remotest of interests in Urdu, Delhi, or poetry and poets.’—The Hindu

‘The author, Saif Mahmood, has dwelt upon the linguistic heritage of Delhi and also rued its decline in politically-polluted times… The author has been extremely discerning and eclectic and has chosen the best written by the eight masters.’—Tribune India

‘Elegantly, conversationally, Saif Mahmood intertwines the lives, the poetry, and the social world of these poems into a remarkable portrait of a bygone Delhi.’—Scroll.in

‘A fierce passion for the poetry of Urdu and the city of Delhi thrums through the book, deftly drawing the reader into the world of these poets and the grief at the loss of a great culture is tangible. There is a realisation, also, while comparing the juxtaposed Urdu and English poetry, that Urdu, with its complexity and nuance, was a far more evocative language of love and longing and the loss, with its disappearance, is ours.’—The New Indian Express --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

‘Many books have been written on Delhi…but Saif’s book occupies a distinct position for being a beautiful admixture of the Urdu poetry of [its classical] age and its history.’—Zehra Nigah

‘The depth he has brought to the work of Urdu poets, and their relationship to the culture and the society they lived in, is astounding. Reading this book is like talking to an engaging and sensitive conversationalist.’—Zia Mohyeddin --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

'Dr Saif Mahmood' is a New Delhi-based author, poetry and literature critic, commentator, translator, rights activist, and an Advocate of the Supreme Court of India. Founder of the South Asian Alliance for Literature, Art & Culture (SAALARC), Saif has won particular acclaim for his passionate recitations of Urdu poetry, especially of such progressive and contemporary poets as Faiz, Majaz, Sahir and Jaun Elia. His writings on literature and law and his English translations of Urdu prose and verse have appeared in several prestigious Indian and international publications. --This text refers to the paperback edition.
9789388070546
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Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and her Greatest Poets

Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and her Greatest Poets

ISBN: 9789388070546
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  • ISBN: 9789388070546
  • Author: Saif Mahmood
  • Publisher: Speaking Tiger
  • Pages: 368
  • Format: Paperback
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Book Description

‘A riveting resurrection of the city of poets, the city of history, Saif Mahmood’s learned and evocative book takes us to the heart of Delhi’s romance with Urdu verse and aesthetics.’—Namita Gokhale

Urdu poetry rules the cultural and emotional landscape of India—especially northern India and much of the Deccan—and of Pakistan. And it was in the great, ancient city of Delhi that Urdu grew to become one of the world’s most beautiful languages. Through the 18th and 19th centuries, while the Mughal Empire was in decline, Delhi became the capital of a parallel kingdom—the kingdom of Urdu poetry—producing some of the greatest, most popular poets of all time. They wrote about the pleasure and pain of love, about the splendour of God and the villainy of preachers, about the seductions of wine, and about Delhi, their beloved home.

This treasure of a book documents the life and work of the finest classical Urdu poets: Sauda, Dard, Mir, Ghalib, Momin, Zafar, Zauq and Daagh. Through their biographies and poetry—including their best-known ghazals—it also paints a compelling portrait of Mughal Delhi. This is a book for anyone who has ever been touched by Urdu or Delhi, by poetry or romance.
 
 

Review

'Saif Mahmood’s Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets offers a window into the life, times, and poetry of Delhi’s greatest Urdu poets from the 18th and 19th centuries, with witty and critical insight, in a conversational style that has become Saif’s hallmark in many a literary gathering… Beloved Delhi is for keeps and must be read by all with the remotest of interests in Urdu, Delhi, or poetry and poets.’—The Hindu

‘The author, Saif Mahmood, has dwelt upon the linguistic heritage of Delhi and also rued its decline in politically-polluted times… The author has been extremely discerning and eclectic and has chosen the best written by the eight masters.’—Tribune India

‘Elegantly, conversationally, Saif Mahmood intertwines the lives, the poetry, and the social world of these poems into a remarkable portrait of a bygone Delhi.’—Scroll.in

‘A fierce passion for the poetry of Urdu and the city of Delhi thrums through the book, deftly drawing the reader into the world of these poets and the grief at the loss of a great culture is tangible. There is a realisation, also, while comparing the juxtaposed Urdu and English poetry, that Urdu, with its complexity and nuance, was a far more evocative language of love and longing and the loss, with its disappearance, is ours.’—The New Indian Express --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

‘Many books have been written on Delhi…but Saif’s book occupies a distinct position for being a beautiful admixture of the Urdu poetry of [its classical] age and its history.’—Zehra Nigah

‘The depth he has brought to the work of Urdu poets, and their relationship to the culture and the society they lived in, is astounding. Reading this book is like talking to an engaging and sensitive conversationalist.’—Zia Mohyeddin --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

'Dr Saif Mahmood' is a New Delhi-based author, poetry and literature critic, commentator, translator, rights activist, and an Advocate of the Supreme Court of India. Founder of the South Asian Alliance for Literature, Art & Culture (SAALARC), Saif has won particular acclaim for his passionate recitations of Urdu poetry, especially of such progressive and contemporary poets as Faiz, Majaz, Sahir and Jaun Elia. His writings on literature and law and his English translations of Urdu prose and verse have appeared in several prestigious Indian and international publications. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

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