have laid the foundation for the "new ghazal." Actually, Maulana Hali had the same objection to the ghazal as he had to the Muslims' debauchery. According to Hali, the ghazal was a mere sensual luxury. And in the Maulana's dictionary, the meaning of luxury was everything which was not beneficial to the gaurn [nation; community]. In this sense, not merely the ghazal, but the whole of poetry becomes a luxury. Maulana Hali, in his Muqaddama-e-Si'r-o-§a'iri, criticized not only the ghazal itself, but gave a good thrashing to all the genres of poetry. And he wrote quite plainly that these are absolutely worthless things, if they don't prove useful in the service of the qaum. To be sure, he expended more energy on the ghazal, because in such a relentlessly "luxurious" genre, the signs of corruption are most numerous. In the company of poets such as Dagh, the ghazal had never ventured outside the realm of the courtesan's salon.S In this way, the foundation of the "new ghazal" was laid upon the principle of national service, instead of the "luxury" of accounts of beauty and love. And Maulana Hali's instruction manual was issued thus: LW^U^I^ ^^>^>^^ Young people, do something! Your youth is arising! By "something," Maulana Hali means here the program of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, which urged young Muslims to learn English and to seek positions in the offices of the British. But what were the issues for those budding young people to whom this address was made, and what was the effect of Maulana Hali's message on them? One difficulty is that I am writing this article in the year 1960, and I cannot place a great deal of confidence in my own interpretation of the young people of that period. However, I must say that I am somewhat encouraged by Shaikh Sa'di's statement: "You know what happens in the days of youth!" Adolescents of any period are all the same, and the foremost concern of their "arising youth" is the same. It leads some of them in the direction of the brothel, and some of them to the police station. The rest of them, if they don't want to end up in the madhouse, quickly get themselves married off. Nowadays another group of young people has emerged which follows a path leading in quite another direction; but I won't mention this group, for fear that a large number of C.S.P. officers will be offended.* Dagh was the interpreter of that group of his contemporary young people which looked for the solution to its foremost concern in the courtesan's salon. Dagh's ghazals told them that even this area had a certain etiquette; and if one only behaved properly, there was much enjoyment to be had. In other words. he tried to civilize even the vulgar affairs of the brothel. I have never seen Bombay, but I have certainly heard from Aziz Hashmi (and let the blame rest upon the teller!) about the account told by the capable author and critic of Urdu, Mujtaba * C.S.P. = Civil Service of Pakistan. 54