WION
The Elegance of the Urdu Language
By M. Majid Ali, CPA
New York, US
The dazzling tales of Arabian Nights. The Diwan of Hafiz Shirazi. Firdausi's Shahnameh. Saadi's Bustan. Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat. Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. Nizami's epic Leyla Majnoon which predates Shakespeare by over 1,000 years in its oral traditions. So great is the influence of these oriental works even today that the Persian poet Rumi outsells Shakespeare in the United States.
Islamic literary traditions spread as the Arabs spread all over the world from their desert lands to Persia to Central Asia to Africa and beyond. And wherever the Arabs went they displayed an unparalleled genius for permanently settling on any land and intertwining their own culture with local customs and traditions while maintaining their central Islamic beliefs. Muslim courts patronized art and architecture on a grand scale. Literary traditions flourished and gradually adopted the rhythmic sweep of the Arabic script.
A time came when Persia and Central Asia basked in their glory but eventually Muslim influence in India brought that land at par with the literary and material achievements of Persia. Hafiz expressed it aptly:
This earth and sky is no more than a bleeding sieve
That sifts and sorts kingly crowns and courts
Hafiz
Urdu developed in Delhi, Lucknow, and the Deccan. From 1713 to 1905 Delhi produced such poets as Sauda, Dard, Mir Taqi Mir, Ghalib and Dagh. And from 1725 to 1875, Lucknow, which was the third cradle of Urdu, hosted such names as Mushafi, Inshallah Khan Insha, Atish, Nasik, Anis and Dabir. The development of the "mushaira" had its roots in Arabic culture where poets would gather to read their poems in competitions similar to ancient Greece and Rome. The most honored poets would preside, and the candle would be passed around to the poets in order of their rankings.
The elegant sophistication of the following lines is rendered timeless by the sheer simplicity of expression. It is a tribute to the genius of Ghalib and Mir Taqi Mir who unquestionably set the gold standard in Urdu poetry:
Hawis ko hai nishaat e kaar kiya kiya
Na ho marna tu jeenay ka mazaa kiya
Ghalib
Ibn e Mariam hua karay koi
Miray dukh ki dawa karay koi
Ghalib
Ki meeray katal kai baad, aus ni jafa say tauba
Haiy aus zud pasheman ka pasheman honaa
Ghalib
Jis Surr ko ghuroor aaj hai yaan tajoori kaa
Kul aus pay yaheen shoor hai phir noha gari ka
Mir Taqi Meer
The following unforgettable lines were uttered impromptu by Mir Taqi Meer when he first went to a mushaira as an unknown.
Kiya bood u baash poochoo ho poorab kai saaknoon
Hum koo ghareeb jaan kai huns huns pukaar kai
Mir Taqi Meer
Dilli jo aik shahar tha aalam mai intikhaab
Rahtay thay hee jahaan muntakhib roozgaar kay
Mir Taqi Meer
Aus ko falak nai loot kay weeraan kar diya
Hum rahnay waalay hain ausee aujray diyaar kai
Mir Taqi Meer
Urdu poets wrote prolifically and in a free-wheeling style about the beauty of nature and human friendship:
Aus ki aankhon ko kabhi ghor say dekha hai faraz
Soonay walon ki tarah, jaagnay waalon jaisee
Faraz
The sacrifice of Syed us Shuhada is also remembered solemnly and sincerely:
Karti rahay gee paish shahaadat Hussain ki
Aazaadi hiyaat ka yai sarmidi ausool
Zafar Ali Khan
Humor was not lost on Urdu poets, notwithstanding, their often tragic circumstances. Akbar Ilahbadi's trademark poetry is notable in this realm:
Bataaon aap ko marnay kai baad kiya hoga
Palau khain gay ahbaab fateha hoga
Akba Ilah Badi
Genius is said to be self-conscious.
Hain auur bhi dunya mai sukhanwar buhat acchay
Kahtay hain kay Ghalib ka hai magar andaaz biyaan aur
Ghalib
Urdu hai jiss ka naaam hum jaantay hain Daagh
Saaray jahan may dhoom hamaari zabaan ki hai
Daagh
But everyone did not take to Delhi and its increasingly destructive class-based culture in the waning years of the Mughal era. In the 1700s, the Afghan conqueror Ahmad Shah Abdali wrested control of Mughal lands west of the Indus but in contrast to the later Mughal rulers he remained a man of the people who adorned neither crown nor sat on a throne. His words turned out to be an ominous prophecy for the last set of Mughal rulers who were to lose their sovereignty to the British over the next century:
Live not with thy head showing in the clouds
Thou art by birth the offspring of this earth
Ahmad Shah Baba
In 1857, exactly 100 years after Ahmad Shah's occupation of Delhi, Bahadur Shah Zafar accepted the nominal leadership of the war of independence against the British. The last of the Mughal emperors, he maintained an overly elaborate and decadent court for someone whose rule did not extend outside the Red Fort in Delhi. He expresses the loss of family and crown in the following verse:
Na kissee ki aankh ka noor hoon, na kissee kay dil ka karaar hoon
Jo kissee kay kaam na aaa sakaay, may wo aik masht ghubaar hoon
Bahadur Shah Zafar
During the next 90 years as independence from British rule came closer, Urdu poets reminded Muslims of their past achievements.
Wo Qutubuddin, wo mard e mujaahid, jis ki haibat say
Yai dunya az sar no jaag authi thee khwaab ghaflat say
Hafeez Jalindhri
Yahaan Lahore mai soota hai aik gumnam koochay mai
Pari hai yaadgaar daulat e Islam koochay mai
Hafeez Jalindhri
The Independence struggles dictated that people be awakened and prepared for the struggle before them. Much of Allama Iqbal's poetry addresses these challenges. Iqbal's outstanding educational background gave him a unique standing among Urdu poets. By the time he was only 33 years of age, he had taught at Cambridge University, qualified as a Barrister from England and obtained a Doctorate in Philosophy from Germany:
Khodi ko kar buland itna kay har taqdeer say pehlay
Khoda bunday say khud poochay bata teeri razaa kiya hai
Iqbal
Kaafir hai tu shamsheer pay karta hai bharoosa
Momin hai tu bay taegh bhi larta hai sipahee
Iqbal
Mitaaya Kaisar o Kusra kai istabdad ko jis nay
Wo kiya tha, zoor e Haidar, fakr boozar, sadaq eSulaymaani
Iqbal
History will provide that the finest Urdu poetry came about from the 1700's to the early 1900's, a period well past the height of the Mughal Empire. This is comparable to Spain where the best in the arts also came about after a conclusive decline had set in. Indeed, it was decades of academic, economic and social achievement which brought about a renaissance of the arts, not the other way around. We need to start afresh and reform our traditions to fit the needs of the present. Only by allocating the major share of our resources to learning and development can we secure our economic and social stability. That in turn will assure another renaissance in the arts:
Sabak phir parh sadaqat ka, adaalat ka, shuja at ka
Liya jaey ka tujh say kaam dunya ki imaamat ka
Iqbal
(The author is a CPA working in Investment Banking)
