LightNews — News, ranked by scholars

Michael

@mdstamper.bsky.social

The Extinguished Flame by Abdur Rahman Chughtai (Pakistani) - Watercolor on paper / 1920s - Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Japan) #womeninart #art #watercolorart #artwork #PakistaniArtist #PakistaniArt #FukuokaAsianArtMuseum #福岡アジア美術館 #womensart #AbdurRahmanChughtai #Chughtai #Ghalib #MirzaGhalib #poetry

This watercolor on paper painting by esteemed Pakistani artist Abdur Rahman Chughtai shows a scene from a poem by celebrated 19th century Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib about a woman who continues to wait for her lover even after the light from the candle has extinguished. Golden moths are falling over the woman who is reclined in front of a doorway on a thin flat beneath mattress beneath a dark tall gold candle stand.

The motif of burnt moths which went too close to fire often appears in Persian literature and paintings to symbolize the fragility of passionate love.

Abdur Rehman Chughtai is a Pakistani painter who worked in Lahore around the time the city was still in the territory of British India. He established his original style by fusing different ways of expression including the tradition of Bengali School led by Abanindranath Tagore, Indian miniature painting, modern Japanese painting, and Art Nouveau.

Using fluid colors and elegant lines which are the characteristics of the "wash technique" of Bengali School, he made a range of delicate poetic paintings of Hindu and Buddhist myths, historical figures in Islam, and Urdu and Persian poetry.

He is considered to be "the first significant modern Muslim artist from Pakistan," and the "national artist of Pakistan." On Pakistan's independence day in 1951, he produced a set of 9 stamps, better known as 'Chughtai Art set'. At that time, this set was considered as the most beautiful stamps of the world.

Poet Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan, commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language. He also produced a significant body of work in Persian.

Ghalib's poetry often addresses existential struggle, sorrows, and socio-political disturbances, particularly the decline of the Mughal Empire. Even thought he spent most of his life in poverty, his work remains popular not only in the Indian subcontinent but also among the Hindustani diaspora around the world.

March 12, 2025 at 11:59 PM

Nathan Francis

@nathanfrancis79.bsky.social

"Lest we forget: It is easy to be human, very hard to be humane."

Poems: www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mirza-...

✒ Urdu poet #MirzaGhalib was #BOTD 27 December 1797. #Poetry #Literature

December 27, 2025 at 2:09 AM

Nathan Francis

@nathanfrancis79.bsky.social

"Lest we forget: It is easy to be human, very hard to be humane."

Poems: www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mirza-...

✒ Poet #MirzaGhalib passed away #OTD 15 February 1869. #Poetry #Literature

February 15, 2025 at 12:37 AM

Dr. David Pecotić

@djp1974.bsky.social

The temple and the Kaaba, both mirrors that reflect the same desire;
a tired zeal carving out shelters for itself.

- #MirzaGhalib

December 14, 2025 at 6:07 PM

Nathan Francis

@nathanfrancis79.bsky.social

"Lest we forget: It is easy to be human, very hard to be humane."

Poems: www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mirza-...

✒ Poet #MirzaGhalib passed away #OTD 15 February 1869. #Poetry #Literature

February 15, 2026 at 4:33 AM

Nathan Francis

@nathanfrancis79.bsky.social

"Lest we forget: It is easy to be human, very hard to be humane."

Poems: allpoetry.com/Ghalib-Mirza...

✒ Urdu poet #MirzaGhalib was #BOTD 27 December 1797. #Poetry #Literature

December 27, 2024 at 2:47 AM

Dr. David Pecotić

@djp1974.bsky.social

There are dangers in waves, in all those crocodiles with their jaws open.
The drop of water goes through many difficulties before it becomes a pearl.

- #MirzaGhalib

Modern illustration of 'The Hymn of the Pearl'

October 6, 2025 at 1:39 PM

The Friday Times

@thefridaytimes.bsky.social

Ghalib’s libertine wit was not irreverence but method: paradox as a bridge to Wahdat al-Wujud, where art becomes the language of the ineffable.
By Madiha Arsalan Haneef

Read more: thefridaytimes.com/28-Dec-2025/...

#MirzaGhalib #SufiPoetry #UrduLiterature #Mysticism #Tasawwuf #MysticalThought

December 29, 2025 at 11:30 AM

Scroll

@scroll.in

“Jab ki tujh bin koi nahi maujood

Phir yeh hangama ae Khuda kya hai”

It’s impossible not to contemplate the mystical dimensions of Ghalib’s work through these and countless other verses.

scroll.in/article/1077...

Amir Suhail Wani writes

#MirzaGhalib

December 27, 2024 at 3:29 PM

The Friday Times

@thefridaytimes.bsky.social

Some griefs cannot be carried in translation. In the face of a child’s death, it is poetry—in Urdu and Punjabi—that holds what prose cannot.
By Mariam Tahir Butt

Read more: www.thefridaytimes.com/15-Feb-2026/...

#GriefAndMemory #UrduPoetry #PunjabiPoetry #MirzaGhalib #FaizAhmedFaiz #ShahHussain

When English Fails – Finding A Vocabulary Of Grief In Urdu And Punjabi

In moments of profound tragedy, the English language often displays a pitiful inadequacy in cradling our cultural and emotional nuances compared to our native

www.thefridaytimes.com

February 16, 2026 at 8:27 AM

vintage-ahmadiyya.bsky.social

@vintage-ahmadiyya.bsky.social

#ahmadiyya #ahmadiyyat #mirzatahirahmad #mirzaghalib #poetry

July 17, 2026 at 1:49 PM

The Friday Times

@thefridaytimes.bsky.social

Is it possible to have too much chai?

Usama Malick reflects on his father's loving concern over his caffeine habits, the timeless wisdom of Punjabi elders, and how it all takes a backseat when mango season arrives. 👇 🔗 www.thefridaytimes.com/12-Jul-2026/...

#MangoSeason #Chaunsa #MirzaGhalib

Tea, Coffee And The King Of Fruits

Legend has it that the great poet Mirza Ghalib ingeniously hinted his way into receiving a basket of the finest royal mangoes directly from the Emperor

www.thefridaytimes.com

July 13, 2026 at 1:07 PM

The Friday Times

@thefridaytimes.bsky.social

Mirza Ghalib once famously quipped, "Only donkeys do not like mangoes!"
From Mughal emperors to modern-day Lahore, the "king of fruits" continues to rule our hearts.

Usama Malick’s delightful ode to summer’s greatest joy: 🔗 www.thefridaytimes.com/12-Jul-2026/...

#MangoSeason #Chaunsa #MirzaGhalib

Tea, Coffee And The King Of Fruits

Legend has it that the great poet Mirza Ghalib ingeniously hinted his way into receiving a basket of the finest royal mangoes directly from the Emperor

www.thefridaytimes.com

July 13, 2026 at 8:56 AM

Words

@xwordz.bsky.social

"Aaina kyun na dekhun roz
tera Husn bhi to mera hi jalwa hai."
~ Mirza Ghalib

"आइना क्यों न देखूं रोज़
तेरा हुस्न भी तो मेरा ही जलवा है।"
~ मिर्ज़ा ग़ालिब

#LoveInTheClouds #LoveIsBlind #LoveNextDoor #LoveIsBlindHabibi #LoveInTheAir #LoveinAction #LoveSick2024 #MirzaGhalib #Love

November 27, 2024 at 6:38 AM

sarfraz1980.bsky.social

@sarfraz1980.bsky.social

@mfi_usa “Being loyal to somebody is the real faith” - #MirzaGhalib

#quoteoftheday❤️ #ifollowGoharShahi #GoharShahi #ImamMehdiGoharShahi #GoharShahiLikeNoOther
#poet #thought #love #real #faith #emotions #spiritualguide #attachment #logical #never #instagram #instagood

August 24, 2025 at 8:17 AM

The Friday Times

@thefridaytimes.bsky.social

Was Mirza Ghalib a Sufi or a rebel mind? His rindana voice dismantled ritual to reveal unity, destiny, and divine love beyond convention
By Madiha Arsalan Haneef
@madihahanif.bsky.social

Read more: www.thefridaytimes.com/28-Dec-2025/...

#MirzaGhalib #SufiPoetry #UrduLiterature #Mysticism #Tasawwuf

Understanding The Ghalibian Crucible: Unveiling Sufi Realities Beyond The Pretext

Despite his reputation for debauchery, Ghalib’s work reveals a creative mind bridging conventional boundaries to express deep spiritual truths

www.thefridaytimes.com

December 29, 2025 at 6:27 AM

Dheeraj DeeKay

@meetdheeraj.bsky.social

इश्क़ से तबीयत ने जीस्त का मज़ा पाया
दर्द की दवा पायी दर्द-ए-ला-दवा पाया

Love gave me the lust for living To ease my pain it gave me something for sure; It gave me such pain that nothing can cure.

#MirzaGhalib

February 7, 2025 at 12:47 PM