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Urdu Texts and Contexts: The Selected Essays of C.M. Naim
Chiefly on Urdu poetry.
273 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
C.M. Naim
20 books3 followersChoudhri Mohammed Naim was an Indian-born American scholar of Urdu language and literature. He was professor emeritus at the University of Chicago.
Naim was the founding editor of both Annual of Urdu Studies and Mahfil (now Journal of South Asian Literature), as well as the author of the definitive textbook for Urdu pedagogy in English.
Naim was the founding editor of both Annual of Urdu Studies and Mahfil (now Journal of South Asian Literature), as well as the author of the definitive textbook for Urdu pedagogy in English.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 2, 2026
This book is a collection of essays by CM Naim from throughout his career. I loved reading them. They're informative, well-crafted, and intriguing. Naim researched extensively and without a doubt knows what he's talking about. I recommend these to anyone interested in the history of Urdu literature. Further, for my own reference as well as to pique future readers' curiosities, I have added short descriptions below.
1) Introduces the marsiya genre, explains its layout and analyses how marsiya-nigars wrote unique marsiyas every time, regardless of the tragedy being repetitive.
2) Homosexuality in Urdu poetry and in that milieu. Contrary to modern views, it was accepted and normal. Often, the beloved in poetry was actually a young preadolescent.
3) The Rekhti genre is presented, which archives the old Urdu spoken by the courtesan ladies and discusses feminine and intimate matters from the female perspective.
4) An incredibly insightful critical analysis of a nazm and ghazal written by Shahryar and Bashir Badr in 1966, respectively. Feels like poetry is maths with all these intricacies.
5) A short, yet neat analysis of one of Ghalib's famous ghazals (shabnam ba-gul-e-lala...).
6) Categorisation of Iqbal's nazms. I found it quite boring and short.
7) The interactions of poets and audience in modern and old mushairas are discussed here. Useful books are further referenced in the footnotes.
8) A lengthy discussion of British patronage towards Indian literature, and a discourse on Nazir Ahmed's popular novels (as they were patronised). Read #11 first.
9) How poets were funded and their relationship with their patron, and a look at how Mir (1700s), Ghalib (1800s), and Azad (after 1850) managed their financial needs.
10) The allusion to the war of 1965 in Urdu poetry, and how it shaped and influenced literature. CM Naim does an excellent job explaining and translating!
11) An account of how a woman learned, when it was heavily frowned upon, how to read and write, by herself in the 1800s.
12) A look into the historicity of Akbar and Birbal- his court jester. Mildly interesting but informative whatsoever.
13) A view into Delhi pre-1857. I feel bringing Ghalib in this essay was just to catch attention; this essay is very dull compared with its peers.
1) Introduces the marsiya genre, explains its layout and analyses how marsiya-nigars wrote unique marsiyas every time, regardless of the tragedy being repetitive.
2) Homosexuality in Urdu poetry and in that milieu. Contrary to modern views, it was accepted and normal. Often, the beloved in poetry was actually a young preadolescent.
3) The Rekhti genre is presented, which archives the old Urdu spoken by the courtesan ladies and discusses feminine and intimate matters from the female perspective.
4) An incredibly insightful critical analysis of a nazm and ghazal written by Shahryar and Bashir Badr in 1966, respectively. Feels like poetry is maths with all these intricacies.
5) A short, yet neat analysis of one of Ghalib's famous ghazals (shabnam ba-gul-e-lala...).
6) Categorisation of Iqbal's nazms. I found it quite boring and short.
7) The interactions of poets and audience in modern and old mushairas are discussed here. Useful books are further referenced in the footnotes.
8) A lengthy discussion of British patronage towards Indian literature, and a discourse on Nazir Ahmed's popular novels (as they were patronised). Read #11 first.
9) How poets were funded and their relationship with their patron, and a look at how Mir (1700s), Ghalib (1800s), and Azad (after 1850) managed their financial needs.
10) The allusion to the war of 1965 in Urdu poetry, and how it shaped and influenced literature. CM Naim does an excellent job explaining and translating!
11) An account of how a woman learned, when it was heavily frowned upon, how to read and write, by herself in the 1800s.
12) A look into the historicity of Akbar and Birbal- his court jester. Mildly interesting but informative whatsoever.
13) A view into Delhi pre-1857. I feel bringing Ghalib in this essay was just to catch attention; this essay is very dull compared with its peers.
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