My maternal grand father, Syed Ghulab Shah Bukhari, was a great literary personality he was an accomplished poet of Punjabi. He had a huge collection of beautiful books, but among these rare books my most favorite is a very rare copy of Deewan-e-Ghalib with the timeless paintings by Abdur-Rehman Chughtai.
The preface of the the Murraqa was written in Urdu by Chughtai himself and in English by none other than Alaama Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal.
In 1927, Chughtai published the Muraqqa, his first major work, which comprised a series of illustrations he made for new edition of the thought-heavy and highly imaginative verses of Ghalib, 19th century " poet's poet" of Urdu and Persian.
My grand father bought a copy of the Muraqqa in 1927, The Murraq is still in very good condition and is well preserved in the capable hands of my cousin Kashif.
Few years back on my trip to Pakistan
The government of Pakistan, later, printed the Murraq many times but none of these matched the beauty of the one published in 1927.
This preface in Urdu is testimony to Chughtai's literary genius.
To view the whole collection of these paintings please follow the link on the top left side of this blog.
The collection is so rare that in 1995 I had the opportunity to visit Dehli, India, and went to the Ghalib museum of India near the place where Urdu's great poet rests. On seeing a very sub-standard re-printed copy of the Murraqa I asked why they were missing the original print of the book to which the person responded "It is not possible to find it anymore"? I mentioned about the copy that my family has in their possession his eyes lit up and asked me if we were interested to donate it to the museum? Of course my response was a polite "No".
Jarrar H. Jaffari
7 comments:
I found a copy of Muraqqa-i-Chughtai yesterday in a second-hand bookshop in Bangalore, India, and immediately bought it. It appears to be a 1928 edition. The design of the thinner pages protecting the prints is slightly different from those in the edition your family owns. If you have any more information on the publication history of this book, please write to me at sniad [at] yahoo.com. Thank you! I am not looking to sell this book or even keep it; I intend to gift it to a dear friend who is an art-lover and a Ghalib aficionado.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time! :)
I had the opportunity to hold relive history by the means of "2 special" signed by the author at my sisters place at Hyderabad India. The best part about the edition is that it is a 1928 edition and there is a note which says that only 3 special are printed and the 1st copy is with H.E.H. It's indeed an impressive piece art work done and the foreword by Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal, KT .. PH. D is apt for the book. Just did a search on the title and found your blog couldn't control posting a comment. though the title is as Muraqqa - I - Chuqtayi
i just wanted to share the information that i have one of he orignal muraqa e chughtai with me which was published in 1928 ...i got it from my grand father.... my e mail id is ahsonfarhan@gmail.com
I got my copy of the Muraqqa-e-Chughtayi through a friend some ten years ago. It does not anywhere say date of publication but it is definitely not of 1927. However it is in avery good condition. The paintings (abou 12) are very good and the shers are at the back of each painting except they are at the bottom (not at the top like yours)
I have started putting this at my blog shakilakhtar.wordpress.com.Only after the initial burst I thought to check the net and found your blog. Hope you will not mind?
I got my copy of the Muraqqa ten years ago as a gift.It does not say any where the year of publication but is definitely not 1927. It is however in a very good condition and good paper and print.The paintings, som 12 in number are also very good. The shers are printed at the back of the paintings but are at the bottom of the page, un like yours at the top.
I am puting this book on my blog shakilakhtar.wordpress. After the first burst yesterday I thought of checking the net and found yours. Hope you will not mind.
Thanks. Shakil
It was interesting to learn that you have so much knowledge on the paintings and the book written by the great artist Abdur Rehman Chughtai. I too have great interest in his two books Muraqqa-i and Muraqqa-e, but unfortunately I do not read urdu and have not yet found somebody who could give me an English translation of the two books. I would appreciate if you would send me the translation of only the Preface which is in Urdu and confirm if the calligraphy is in the hand of the artist and in whose hand was the rest of the book written in Urdu. Pl write to me at junegomes06@gmail.com
Rgds
Sidney Gomes
Post a Comment