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.

‘Alī, Āqā Muḥammad. Trans. Syed Sa‘īd Aḥmad. “Tārīkh-i Fārsī Lughat Navīsī.” Urdu (Karachi), Vol. 51, No. 3 (Jul–Sept 1975).

Browne, E.G. A Literary History of Persia. Vols. I & II combined. Delhi: Goodword Books, 2002.

Dā’ūdī, Khalīl al-Raḥmān, ed. Majmū‘a-yi Nasr-i Ghālib Urdū. Lahore: Majlis Taraqqī-yi Adab, 1967.

Fateḥpūrī, Farmān, ed. Urdū Lughat (Tārīkhī Uṣūl par). Karachi: Urdu Lughat Board, 1988.

Ghalib, Mirza Asadullah Khan. Bāgh-i Do Dar. Ed. Syed Wazirul Hasan Abidi. Lahore: Punjab University, 1968.

______. Darfash-i Kāvyānī. Ed. Muhammad Bāqir. Lahore: Punjab University, 1969.

Hali, Altaf Hussain. Yādgār-i Ghālib. Karachi: Idāra-yi Yādgār-i Ghālib, 1997. (Facsimile edition, orig. 1897).

Hassan, Akhtar. Qutb Shāhī Daur kā Fārsī Adab. Hyderabad: Abul Kalām Āzād Research Institute, 1973.

Ikram, Shiekh Muhammad. Ḥayāt-i Ghālib. Delhi: Jahāngīr Book Depot, n.d.

Kashmīrī, Akbar Ḥaidarī. Burhān-i Qāṭi‘. In Kitāb Shanāsī. Eds. Akhtar Rāhī and ‘Ārif Naushāhī. Islamabad: 1986. Issue 1.

Khānlarī, Zahrā’ī. Farhang-i Adabiyāt-i Fārsī-yi Darī. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Bunyād-i Farhang-i Īrān, 1348 Sh.

Mehr, Ghulām Rasūl, ed. Qaṭ‘āt, Rubā‘iyāt, Tarkīb band, Tarjī‘ band, Mukhammas. Lahore: Punjab University, 1969.

______. Ghālib. Lahore: Sheikh Mubārak ‘Alī, n.d.

Naqvī, Sayyid Qudrat. Hangāmah-yi Dil Āshūb. Karachi: Anjuman Taraqqī-yi Urdū, 1969.

Naqvī, Shehryār. Farhang-i Jāmi‘: Fārsī bah Ing̱līsī wa Urdū. Islamabad: Rāyizanī-yi Farhangī, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1382 Sh.

Raḥmān, Sayyid Mu‘īn al-. Ishāriya-yi Ghālib. Lahore: Punjab University, 1969.

Rām, Mālik. Zikr-i Ghālib. (No publication details available).

Sabri, Imdad. Tārīkh-i Ṣaḥāfat-i Urdū. Vol. 2. Calcutta: Ḥasan Zamān, n.d.

Sabzwari, Shaukat. Ghālib: Fikr o Fun. Karachi: Anjuman Taraqqī-yi Urdū, 1961.

Steingass, F. A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary. Lahore: Sang-e-Meel, 2000 (First published 1892).

Wudūd, Qāzī ‘Abdul, ed. Qāṭi‘-i Burhān Malqab bah Darfash-i Kāvyānī wa Rasā’il-i Muta‘allaqa. Patna: Idāra-yi Taḥqīqāt-i Urdū, 1967.

______. Ghālib ba-Ḥaisiyat-i Muḥaqqiq. Patna: Khudā Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, 1995.

______. Ma’ās̱ir-i Ghālib. Rev. ed. by Ḥanīf Naqvī. Karachi: Idāra-yi Yādgār-i Ghālib, 2000.