‘With Meer, Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz, to name only four, the firmament of Urdu poetry is truly star-studded, with Humerous starlets strewn around. Ghalib has not only pride of place among them but his stature is growing with every passing decade. He was ahead of his time, and his contemporaries failed to comprehend him fully. It was when India (and Pakistan) celebrated his first death centenary in 1969 that Ghalib was really rehabilitated and recognized as the great poet that he is. There has been no looking back after that.

As with other great poets like Shakespeare, one discovers a new wealth of meaning every time one reads him, and different people find different meaning, suiting their need and situation. In other words, great poets are inexhaustible in their appeal and meaning and do not get dated even when they mirror their times most effectively. Ghalib’s writings are not only an authentic account of his own age, his poetry transcends his times and situation and is universal in its appeal.”