Poet Begets Poet: Ghalib and Iqbal A Case in Point

It was Daqiqi who inspired Ferdowsi to compose the Shahnameh and continue this literary tradition in Persia or when Rudaki breathed his last, Ferdowsi was born in Khorasan. Attar and Sanai paved way for Rumi to enter into the Sufi world of Persian literature. The fact which Rumi admitted in these words:

Attar was the soul and Sanai was his pair of eyes;
And I have come after Sanai and Attar.

This phenomenon is again witness in the annals of Persian literature when Sa’di succeeded Khwaja Abdullah Ansari and further he was succeeded by Khwaja Shamsuddin Muhammad Hafez in Shiraz. The history of Persian literature repeated itself in India, too. Iqbal emerged as the poet- philosopher, with his lofty ideas of Khudi and Bekhudi (Self and Selflessness) which gave a new dimension to Indo-Persian literature. But the greatness of Iqbal owed much to the genius of Ghalib who ushered fresh thoughts and expressions into the edifice of Indo-Persian literature in the sub-continent. Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib was the nightingale of the garden not yet created thereby meaning he was far ahead of his time. Iqbal inherited the rational tradition of ‘Urfi, Faizi, and Ghalib in his philosophical poetry. A study of Ghalib and Iqbal will certainly reveal that Iqbal’s writing is much influenced by Ghalib and owing to Ghalib, Iqbal has attained new heights in philosophical poetry and thus Ghalib has begotten Iqbal.