Few voices in Urdu poetry have carried the weight of history, resistance, and deep personal introspection quite like Zehra Nigah. One of the first women to break into the traditionally male-dominated world of Urdu poetry, Nigah’s work stands as a testament to the power of words to illuminate, question, and challenge. The Story of Eve: Selected Poems, translated by Rakshanda Jalil, brings together some of her most powerful nazms and ghazals, showcasing both her literary elegance and her unflinching gaze at the human condition, particularly through the lens of gender, social injustice, and political turmoil.
The Power of Simplicity: A Classicist with a Contemporary Soul
Nigah’s poetry has often been praised for its ability to say “big” things in a seemingly conversational manner, a rare gift that allows her to address profound and unsettling truths without overwhelming the reader. This collection exemplifies that gift, as her words carry the power of deep social and emotional reflection, wrapped in a deceptively simple style. Her classicist approach—anchored in the rhythmic discipline and structural elegance of Urdu poetry—does not create distance from contemporary issues; rather, it intensifies their emotional depth. The musicality of her language, coupled with the economy of her expression, gives her poetry a striking immediacy. Her diction is accessible, flowing effortlessly, but beneath its surface lie layers of meaning that unravel gradually, revealing wounds both personal and collective, and whispering revolutions that are at once quiet and piercing.
Nigah’s thematic range is vast, traversing deeply personal emotions, gendered struggles, and the larger socio-political currents of South Asia. Her poetry moves fluidly between the intimate and the universal, often blurring the boundaries between the two. Poems like Bhejo Nabi Ji Rehmatein and Mein Bach Gayi Ma peel back the illusion of civility to expose the brutal realities of sexual violence and female infanticide, giving voice to those who have been silenced by fear, shame, and systemic oppression. The raw vulnerability of these verses does not simply evoke sympathy; it demands accountability. Similarly, Insaf and Qissa Gul Badshah interrogate the rigidity of legal and religious structures that perpetuate injustice, illuminating how the most vulnerable—women, children, and those on the fringes of society—are often the ones who suffer under the weight of these institutions.
Yet, despite the often somber realities she confronts, there is an unwavering grace in Nigah’s voice. She does not surrender to despair, nor does she allow her poetry to become a space of pure lamentation. Instead, her words hold within them a quiet but fierce resilience, a refusal to let bleakness consume the spirit. Her poetry does not simply document suffering; it transforms it into a form of resistance, a lyrical rebellion that reclaims agency even in the face of profound loss. Whether she is addressing love, loss, injustice, or the constraints imposed upon women, Nigah’s poetry reminds us that language itself is an act of survival—and in her hands, it becomes a powerful weapon against erasure.
Love, Family, and the Quiet Strength of Women
Beyond her sharp political and social commentary, Nigah’s poetry delves deeply into the intimate spheres of love, family, and womanhood, weaving a delicate tapestry of emotions that are at once deeply personal and universally resonant. In poems like Shaam Ka Pehla Taara and Ek Sachchi Amma ki Kahani, she captures the profound, often bittersweet nature of relationships—how they are shaped by time, distance, and unspoken longing. Her verses are filled with a quiet, aching nostalgia, a recognition of the passage of time and the inevitable transformations it brings. Yet, woven into this longing is an unshakable strength—the quiet but persistent resilience of women who continue to love, nurture, and endure, even in the face of systemic injustice and personal loss. Nigah does not romanticize suffering; instead, she illuminates the small, everyday acts of survival and tenderness that form the foundation of women's lives.
Her reflections on the emotional and social life of women find their most powerful expressions in Samjhauta, Hawwa ki Kahani (The Story of Eve), and Sylvia Plath. In these poems, Nigah moves beyond personal experience to step into the collective consciousness of womanhood, articulating the silent struggles, compromises, and invisible burdens that have been passed down through generations. The Story of Eve, in particular, serves as a piercing examination of the expectations placed upon women—how they are shaped by the desires of others, how their choices are often not their own, and how they learn to navigate a world that constantly seeks to define them. The biblical reference to Eve, the archetypal first woman, gives the poem a mythic, timeless quality, reinforcing the idea that the weight of societal expectations has long been carried by women across cultures and centuries.
By invoking Sylvia Plath, Nigah expands the scope of her poetry, positioning women’s struggles within a global, cross-cultural framework. She draws a striking parallel between the oppression of women in the East and the psychological turmoil faced by women in the West, emphasizing that, despite differences in geography and tradition, the fundamental experiences of womanhood—its joys, its losses, its constraints—remain tragically similar. Plath, whose own work laid bare the suffocating pressures of domesticity and artistic ambition, becomes a kindred spirit, a symbol of the inner battles that women everywhere continue to fight. Nigah’s poetry thus serves as both an elegy and a call to resistance, reminding us that while women may be bound by history, language, and tradition, they are also bound by a shared resilience, an enduring, unbreakable spirit.
The Art of Translation
Translation is an act of devotion, especially when dealing with poetry—a genre so deeply tied to the musicality and nuance of language. Rakshanda Jalil approaches Nigah’s work with both reverence and skill, ensuring that the poet’s essence is not lost in linguistic transition. The translated verses retain the elegance of the original Urdu, while also making them accessible to English-speaking readers who may not be familiar with the poetic conventions of the language.
By maintaining the integrity of Nigah’s voice, Rakshanda allows readers to experience not just the meaning of the words, but their rhythm, their pauses, and the unspoken weight they carry. This translation is not just an introduction to Nigah’s work; it is an invitation to feel, reflect, and engage with the many complexities she lays bare.
A Legacy Preserved, A Voice That Echoes
The Story of Eve is more than just a collection of poems; it is a chronicle of resistance, of love, of memory, and of hope. Zehra Nigah stands as a towering figure in Urdu literature, her words bridging generations and geographies. This collection, carefully curated and beautifully translated, serves as both an essential introduction to her work and a reminder of poetry’s power to shape, challenge, and heal.
For readers of poetry, lovers of Urdu literature, and those seeking voices that articulate both pain and possibility, The Story of Eve is an indispensable addition to the bookshelf. In a world where literature often erases the voices of women, Nigah’s poetry stands tall—unapologetic, lyrical, and deeply, profoundly human.
(This review first appeared on Kitaab)
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About the Book
Among the first women to gain recognition and fame in the almost entirely male-dominated field of Urdu poetry, Zehra Nigah (born in 1935) is today taller than any Urdu-language poet writing in South Asia or beyond. She is also an eagerly awaited figure on the mushaira circuit in India and Pakistan. A classicist in style, her themes are urgent and contemporary—she has been hailed for ‘saying “big” things in a seemingly conversational manner’. This selection contains her best-known nazms and ghazals, which showcase her lyricism and also her deep insight into the human condition and the social and political realities of our age and our region.
Among the gems in this collection are poems like ‘Bhejo Nabi ji Rehmatein’, ‘Mein Bach Gayi Ma’, ‘Qissa Gul Badshah’ and ‘Insaf ’ , which have as their themes sexual war crimes against women, female infanticide, repressive Shariah laws and child soldiers in a ‘religious’ war; tender, bitter-sweet poems about love and family relationships, like ‘Shaam ka Pehla Taara’, ‘Ek Sachchi Amma ki Kahani’ and ‘Qurbaton se Kab Talak Apne ko Behlayenge Hum’; and wise and moving reflections on the emotional and social life of a woman— ‘Samjhauta’, ‘Hawwa ki Kahani’ and ‘Sylvia Plath’.
Translated with regard and respect for both the poet and the English-language reader, this collection is a splendid introduction to the work of a legend of Urdu poetry.
About the Author
Zehra Nigah was born in Hyderabad, India in 1936 and migrated to Pakistan with her family in 1947. She began to recite her poetry at mushairas at a fairly young age, which was considered unusual at the time. Treading the fine line between feminism and feminine poetry, she has acquired enormous respect and popularity in a career spanning six decades. She has also published four celebrated collections of poetry: Shaam ka Pehla Tara (‘The First Star of the Evening’), Warq (‘Page’), Firaq (‘Separation’), and Gul Chandni (named after a flower that blossoms at night).
About the Translator
Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning translator, writer, and literary historian. She has published over 25 books and written over 50 academic papers and essays. Her books include Love in the Time of Hate: In the Mirror of Urdu; Liking Progress, Loving Change: A Literary History of the Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu; a biography of Urdu feminist writer Dr Rashid Jahan: A Rebel and her