Includes bibliographical references.

The prolific Mir Taqi Mir (1723-1810), widely regarded as the most accomplished poet in Urdu, composed his ghazals, a poetic form of rhyming couplets, in a distinctive Indian style arising from the Persian ghazal tradition. Here, the lover and beloved live in a world of extremes: the outsider is the hero, prosperity is poverty, and death would be preferable to the indifference of the beloved.