Pictures from Delhi – Getting to Nizamuddin and Ghalib

9Oct/0620

Pictures from Delhi – Getting to Nizamuddin and Ghalib

My friend ST was in Delhi recently. After returning to Islamabad, he sent me the following pictures of his visits to the great locality of Nizamuddin in Delhi.

Here is a side view of the mosque at Nizamuddin's shrine

I read this here: He is best known in history for inventing the famous Farsi proverb,â€Hanooz Dilli dur astâ€( Delhi is still far away) which he wrote in reply to the Royal Decree issued by Sultan Ghayasuddin Tughlaq, who had ordered him to leave Delhi before his arrival from the East India where the Sultan had crushed a rebellion. Nizamuddin Auliya wrote that famous line inside the royal decree, which in itself was considered contempt to the throne, punishable by death. However, the Sultan never made it to Delhi, and died in his sleep just on the outskirts of Delhi when his castleâ€™s roof collapsed.

Another one of the shrine. Look at the colours and variety of devotees

And before you see the hustle bustle of Nizamuddin, Ghalib's lonesome tomb greets the visitors...

Check this site for some lovely renditions of GhalibÂ

And, ST was wise to take a nice shot of the grave itself. Note the inscription on the top of the tombstone on the omnipresence of the Almighty - Ya Hayu, Ya Qayumu

Ghalib's verse in English:

"When there was nothing, there was God
If nothing had been, God would have been
My very being has been my downfall
If I hadn't been, what would it have mattered?"

translation discovered here

Â Thank you ST for sharing the pictures and enabling me to undertake a virtual tour of these surreal lanes. I am reminded of Ham ko Maloom hai janat ki haqeeqat...competently translatedÂ and found hereÂ

I know the truth about the promise of heaven
Still, it's a nice thought to keep the heart amused.

Filed under: All My Posts, Arts & Culture, India-Pakistan History, Photo stories, Random musings, South Asian Literature, Sufism and Sufi poetry, Travel, Urdu Leave a comment

Comments (20) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

bhupinder
October 9th, 2006 - 21:58

Taking the vitual tour has at least one downside- you missed the food outside at Karim’s.
Indscribe
October 10th, 2006 - 14:32

Lutf aa gaya. Shukria.
Irving
October 10th, 2006 - 16:26

Beautiful pictures and words Thank you for bringing them to us.

Ya Haqq!
razarumi
October 10th, 2006 - 17:05

Dear Bhupinder
Quite right-one would not enjoy the tender kebabs at Kareem’s via the internet -
there are visas, police reporting systems and what not…!

Irving and Adnan: thanks for visiting and liking the post. I want to do more on Ghalib but getting a right translation or even attempting a rough translation is a herculean task..

in other words: “..lana hai juay-i-sheer ka”
temporal
October 11th, 2006 - 20:53

â€¦this wanderer…an aashiq of ghalib ended up in new delhiâ€¦wishing to pay a tribute to ghalib he enquired around and was told ghalib’s mazar is in the nizamuddin areaâ€¦a locality named after hazrat nizamuddin aulia…go to the ghalib academy thereâ€¦so the next day he ended up at the ghalib academy â€¦somebody there assigned an office peon to unlock the iron doors to ghalib’s mazar just round the corner from the academyâ€¦as the wanderer entered the premises and found ghalib’s resting place he looked around and saw the graveyard attached to hazrat nizamuddin’s dargah across the bustling streetâ€¦standing thereâ€¦ looking at ghalib’s grave and graves in the nizamuddin courtyard …instead of the fateha the wanderer recited:

yeh ma’sa’il-e-tasaw’woof, yeh t’ra bayaan ghalib
tujhay hum wali samajhtay, jo na baada khaar hota

mayank did a write up recently here (the pictures are not as nice tho’)

http://desicritics.org/2006/08/28/011831.php
Asma
November 6th, 2006 - 11:00

And thanks toya for enabling virtual tour to these places …!
moinuddin
November 17th, 2006 - 16:15

i want pictur of muslim dargah and all deitels of muslim religion
Imran Rahat Shaikh
November 28th, 2006 - 09:46

Nice Site and beautiful pictures please do visit my site http://www.aulia-e-hind.com also and let me know your comments on it and also if I have missed any dargah let me know

regards
imran shaikh
sheepoo
December 7th, 2006 - 14:21

I had alwasy wanted to ‘visit’ Ghalib’s grave. You have now made it possible!
Thanks a lot!!!
Sheraz Butt
December 14th, 2006 - 14:07

Respected Brother

I am interested to visit these places in India with my Friend so please can you send us an invitation to travel to India as it is requirement for obtaining the Visa from Pakistan to have one.

I will be grateful for your positive response.

Thanks

Sheraz Butt & Abdul Hameed

Add: Butt & Sohail Law Chamber
272, Sikenderpura, G.T. Road,
Peshawar, NWFP, Pakistan.
razarumi
December 22nd, 2006 - 17:20

Dear Sheraz and Abdul Hamid, I am not based in India. These pictures were taken by a friend who visited Delhi recently and sent me the images in view of my interests. I trust that the visa policy is being reviewed and very soon, if the news-reports are correct, a seven day visa will be easily issued to India. This is a positive development indeed. take care and thanks for leaving the comment.
MUQTADIR MUSTAFA
December 25th, 2006 - 15:09

IT’S REALLY AGREAT ATTEMPT TOWARDS OUR PAST WHICH HELPS US TO KNOW ABOUT OUR GREAT AND INTRESTING PERSONALITIE’S AND THERE WAY OF LIVING TACTS AND THERE CONCEPT ABOUT LIFE AND RELIGION AND ABOUT GOD WHICH IS HELPING US AND WILL SURLY HELP THE OTHER GENERATIONS TO SPEND THEIR LIFE IN A ACCURATE ON A TRUTHFULL WAY.
bahaar
January 12th, 2007 - 06:53

nice pictures.
I visited Ghalib’s tomb in Dec 2004.
Here is a closeup of the inscription and translation:

http://betterurdu.wikispaces.com/play

peace.
shahid husain
February 20th, 2007 - 13:25

this is the touch of my heart.this is feel like close to god.insha allah allah aap ko aour nek hidayat aour kamiyabi de.aamin
Raza Rumi
February 20th, 2007 - 14:13

Shahid Saheb
Very touching remarks..many thanks and pray more for a falliable soul such as mine..
karuthamma
February 20th, 2007 - 17:56

I enjoyed the article on the sufis and shrines of Delhi. Many thanks for sharing it with me. I know next to nothing about Urdu poetry or for that matter Ghalib or Khusraw (and ironically enough these places are easily accessible to me, such is the tragedy of politics) and I will be coming here to enlighten myself.

Btw, I loved the reference to “non-Indo-Pak peace brigade status”
Raza Rumi
February 21st, 2007 - 15:14

Many thanks for the comment. I am gald that you liked reading my personalized account of Delhi..
Please do visit these places as you will explore a world that is both quaint and modern, real and surreal..
Keep visiting..
SanjayMohan
May 11th, 2007 - 03:13

It was very nice to see the great peace giving pictures but if you can do a grat favour and tht is pictures of shrine of baba bulleh shah ji..
THANX
SanjayMohan
May 11th, 2007 - 03:15

If possible please arrange for baba bulleh shah shrines images..
bahut bahut shukriya
SanjayMohan
May 11th, 2007 - 03:16

Dear I have no website…