غالب ،علم لغت اور قاطعِ برہان کا قضیہ

This paper examines the controversy sparked by Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib’s Qat‘e-i Burhan, a Persian prose work first published in 1862, in which Ghalib harshly criticized Burhan-i Qat‘e, a widely used Persian dictionary compiled by Muhammad Husain Burhan Tabrizi in 1652. A revised edition of Ghalib’s critique appeared in 1865 under the title Dirafsh-i Kāwiyāni, further intensifying the debate. The publication provoked numerous rejoinders—both in prose and verse—from defenders of Burhan-i Qat‘e, to which Ghalib also responded. While many Urdu critics have historically sided with Ghalib, portraying his criticism as justified and Burhān-i Qāt‘e as a flawed work, later scholars such as Qazi Abdul Wadood and Prof. Nazeer Ahmed have shown that Ghalib exaggerated the dictionary’s shortcomings. This paper argues that Ghalib’s knowledge of lexicography, lexicology, and Old Persian was limited, and that his critique included factual errors, partiality, and a disregard for scholarly decorum. It further highlights Ghalib’s use of coarse humour and satirical tone, often overlooked or downplayed by his admirers. The study draws on textual evidence from Persian and Urdu works written in response to Qāt‘e-i Burhān, challenging the perception of Ghalib’s authority in this scholarly dispute and drawing attention to the racial and cultural biases embedded in his critique.