The ghazal is on the move. It has many languages to speak in and many sites to belong to. It has been discovering and refurbishing itself in all its sites. With a history of more than five centuries in India, it also tells the story of the development of Urdu as a language of literary expression and its centres of writing and reading. In its modern form, it has obliterated the distinction between the poetic and the non-poetic, the formal and the non-formal, and has gone beyond the spatial confines of a given location or centre. The ghazal is now being written in Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and Kashmiri. It is now providing new contexts of writing and reading, of linguistic liberalism, literary historiography, socio-political historicizing and critical reading. Since the Partition of India, the ghazal has flourished with remarkable linguistic vitality and thematic variety in Pakistan. Of all the languages in which it developed and matured, Urdu has proved to be the most enduring, in addition to Persian, in which it has been claiming and reclaiming itself and acquiring new terms of stylistic and thematic references.
Anisur Rahman
METAPHYSICAL BEGINNINGS
An early avatar of what came to be known as Urdu in the late eighteenth century is traceable in the works of Amir Khusrau, way back in the late thirteenth century. However, literary history records the beginnings of Urdu poetry since the Deccan rulers of Golconda that had emerged as an independent state with the decline of the Bahmani Sultanate in 1527. The two most significant of the Deccan poets—Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah and Vali Deccani—initiated the great tradition of Urdu poetry that flowered in various parts of northern India later.
Although the Mughal Empire had started declining by the end of the seventeenth century, Persian remained the language of the court, the nobility and the poets. Poetry in the new-fangled and so-called Urdu language was still in its infancy but it was vying for a place alongside the poetry written in the canonical Persian. As a language that grew out of the military camp, Urdu had closely drawn upon other languages like Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Braj, and had come to be known variously at various points of time as Deccani, Gujari, Hindi/Hindavi, Dehlavi, Rekhta and Urdu-i Mu’alla. While Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah and Vali Decanni wrote in Decanni Urdu, Mirza Mazhar Jan-e Janan wrote in Dehlavi Urdu. Although Jan-e Janan’s chosen language of poetic expression was Persian, he got inclined towards writing in Urdu as he was impressed by Vali’s linguistic innovations and saw the possibility of evolving it as a new language with great literary potential.
Poetry in the Deccan had a rich variety of sources to draw upon: it reflected the communal harmony of the land, represented its flora and fauna, absorbed the linguistic habits of its folk and recorded literartures, and finally, negotiated with the Persian influences without being unduly swayed by it. As opposed to this, poetry in the northern parts of India had a different set of conditions to fall back upon: it reflected the cultural norms defined by the continuity of Muslim rule, its court and nobility, refinement and elitism, as also the unitary dominance of the Persian literary culture. The poetry of Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah, Vali Deccani and Mirza Mazhar Jan-e Janan had a certain metaphysical aura about it which was preserved further by other poets of the south and the north. While Ashraf Bayabani, Hasan Shauqi, Mohammad Qutub Shah, Abdullah Qutub Shah, Mulla Asadullah Wajhi, Ibne Nishati and Mohammad Nusrat Nusrati represented the Deccan sensibility, Sirajuddin Ali Khan Arzoo, Najmuddin Abru, Mohammad Shakir Naji, Sheikh Sharfuddin Mazmoon, Zahuruddin Hatim and Sadruddin Mohammad Khan Fayez represented the northern sensibility.
1
Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah
Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah (1565?–1611?), popularly known and recorded in history as Abul Muzaffar Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah and Sultan Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah, was the fifth ruler of the Qutub Shahi dynasty of Golconda and the founder of the city of Hyderabad. He was born in Golconda, Hyderabad (there is no unanimity about the dates of his birth and death). The legend goes that he founded a city called Bhag Nagar after one of his beloveds, Bhagmati. Bhag Nagar later became Hyderabad once Bhagmati was renamed Hyder Mahal. He is said to have erected other monuments in the name of his other twelve beloveds, and he celebrated his romance with them in his poetry separately.
Shah who wrote in Persian, Telugu and Deccani—a variant of Urdu—is justifiably the first poet in Deccani Urdu with at least fifty thousand shers to his credit put together in his Kulliyaat. Acclaimed to be a major voice, he practised all poetic forms. He wrote on a variety of issues concerning communal life and the sentiments of the common man, their festivals and faiths, love and the pleasures of union, in a frank and disarming manner. Drawing upon Hindu culture, as also upon the Persian culture and its literary tradition, he developed a secular view of love, life and literature. A contemporary of Tulsidas, he blended the best traditions of the two streams of thought and life to impart a new halo to his poetry. His poetic merit lies in his simplicity and musicality which he appropriated to project an inclusive view of life and art. Essentially a poet of Deccan flora and fauna, Shah was a kind-hearted ruler, a passionate lover and a great patron of fine arts and architecture.
1
Piyaa baaj pyaala piyaa jaaye naa
Piyaa baaj yek til jiyaa jaaye naa
Kaheethey piyaa bin saboori karoon
Kahhiya jaaye amma kiyaa jaaye naa
Naheen ishq jis wo badaa kood hai
Kadhein us se mil biseeyaa jaaye naa
Qutub Shah na de mujh diwaane ku pand
Diwaane ku kuchh pand diyaa jaaye naa
1
I can’t ever drink my drink without my love
I can’t ever breathe; I sink without my love
I should be patient, you say, without my love
How unfair! I can’t even blink without my love
A boor indeed is one who can’t be in love
I’m no boor; I’m on the brink without my love
No counsels, Qutub Shah, none to this crazy one
I’m the one; I can’t even think without my love
2
Kahiyaa ke bosa seti haman too jawaan karo
Kahiye ke prit ki baat taman jiu ka jaan karo
Kahiyaa ke aaftaab kiran aayi qaul koon
Kahiye ke qaul jot soon likh kar rawaan karo
Kahiyaa adhar tumhare jiu koon jalaawate
Hans kar kahi ye baat nako tum bayaan karo
Kahiyaa ke haq parasti karo but pujan sato
Kahiye ke donon baat mein ek imtihaan karo
Kahiyaa ke aadmi ka murawwat naheen taman
Kahiye ke bus hai ishq tumhara nihaan karo
Kahiyaa ke aashiqan koon dukhaane ka bhed kya
Kahiye ke aashiqi mane goongee zabaan karo
Kahiyaa ke mad gulaabi jalaadewe jeeu koon
Kahiye azal se must hoon tum naasamaan karo
Kahiyaa ke marhamat ki nazar soon nawaaz mujh
Kahiye hamaari panth mane jaanfishaan karo
Kahiyaa tumhaari sewaa Ma’ani ka daulat hai
Kahiye ke tum bhi sewaa baraabar shahaan karo
2
Make me young with a kiss, my love, I said
If it’s love, breathe life into breath, she said
The sun has shown, rays say their say, I said
If words be rays, write the rays and send, she said
Look, your delicate lips sear my heart, I said
She giggled in jest; don’t tell me that, she said
Bow down to the real God, not an image, I said
Then why don’t you test me in both, she said
You don’t respect a man, you don’t, I said
You don’t know what love, hide your love, she said
Why put your love in pain, why so, I said
If in love, seal your lips, my love, she said
That pink wine sears my heart, my breath, I said
Well, I’m myself drunk since eternity, she said
Be kind to me, do me a favour, I said
Then shed your life for that very love, she said
; Being at your feet is all that I cherish, my love
Then you should better serve the lords, not me, she said
2
Vali Deccani
Vali Deccani (1667?–1707?) whose name is variously recorded in history as Shamsuddin Mohammad Vali, Shams Valiullah, Valiuddin Vali and Vali Mohammad Vali, is generally recognized in literary history as Vali Deccani and, at times, Vali Gujarati. The accounts of his place and dates of birth and death remain unconfirmed. Said to have been born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, or Aurangabad, Maharashtra, he travelled to the far ends of the south and the north, including Delhi. He lies buried in the city of Ahmedabad where his grave was vandalized during the infamous riots of 2002.
Vali lived in a time of political and social turmoil but sought his intellectual sustenance from the larger mystic traditions of India. He considered literature as a way of negotiating between the physical and the spiritual. The figure of the lover in his poetry represents both the worlds of the sensual and the non-sensual. Even though well versed in the Persian literary tradition and Deccani and Hindi phraseology, Vali surprised the literary circle in Delhi with his non-Persianized Urdu divaan and its linguistic freshness, which till then was called rekhta, a language of the lesser literary kind, not quite fit for sober poetic expression. His choice for the plebeian idiom and his effort to blend it with other linguistic and literary traditions of the north and the south altered the stereotypical notions of those who championed the purity of language as a necessary condition for serious literary expression. A master image-maker and an innovator of refreshing similes and metaphors, Vali has come to be categorized as a canonical figure in Urdu poetry.
1
Ab judaayi na kar Khuda soon dar
Bewafaayi na kar Khuda soon dar
Mat taghaaful ko raah de ai shokh
Jag hansaayi na kar Khuda soon dar
Hai judaayi mein zindagi mushkil
Aa judaayi na kar Khuda soon dar
Aashiqaan koon shaheed kar ke sanam
Kaf hinaayi na kar Khuda soon dar
Aarsi dekh kar na ho maghroor
Khudnumaayi na kar Khuda soon dar
Us soon jo aashnaa-i daar naheen
Aashnaayi na kar Khuda soon dar
Rang-e aashiq ghazab soon ai zaalim
Kuhr baayi na kar Khuda soon dar
Ai Vali ghair-e aastaana-i yaar
Juba saayi na kar Khuda soon dar
1
Don’t part with me for now, fear God
Don’t break my love your vow, fear God
Don’t turn your face, my playful love!
Don’t let them raise eyebrows, fear God
Life, in parting, is tough indeed
Don’t part, don’t disavow, fear God
Don’t slay your love, don’t shed his blood
Don’t smear your hand for now, fear God
Don’t see the mirror, don’t be so proud
Don’t brag, don’t paint your brow, fear God
He knows not what gallows, what gibbet
Don’t kiss his hand or brow, fear God
Strange are the ways of love for sure
Don’t shock my love for now, fear God
Don’t bow to a friend or foe, don’t you
Restrain, O Vali! Don’t bow, fear God
2
Kiyaa mujh ishq koon zaalim ne aab aahista aahista
Ke aatish gul koon karti hai gulaab aahista aahista
Wafadaari ne dilbar ki bujhaayaa aatish-e ghum koon
Ke garmi daf’a karta hai gulaab aahista aahista
Ajab kuchh lutf rakhta hai shab-e khalwat mein gul roo soon
Khitaab aahista aahista jawaab aahista aahista
Mere dil koon kiya bekhud teri ankhiyaan ne aakhir koon
Ke jiun behosh karti hai sharaab aahista aahista
Hua tujh ishq soon ai aatesheen roo dil mera paani
Ke jiun galtaa hai aatish soon gulaab aahista aahista
Adaa-o naaz soon aataa hai wo raushan jabeen ghar soon
Ke jiun mashriq se nikle aaftaab aahista aahista
Vali mujh dil mein aataa hai khayaal-e yaar-e beparwaa
Ke jiun ankhiyaan manein aataa hai khwaab aahista aahista
2
I was all aflame in love; she won my heart bit by bit
Just as the flame makes a bud bloom, bit by bit
My love is surely kind; she quelled my flaming fire of grief
Just as the flaming rose cools the searing heat, bit by bit
It’s a rare delight to speak with love on a quiet night
Seek a reply hint by hint; send a reply, sigh by sigh
Your glance, at last, made my impatient heart lose control
Just as the wine makes one lose all control, sip by sip
Your blazing face has won my heart for good, my dear love!
Just as a rose softens like fire, petal by petal
My love walks out with a radiant face and charming grace
Just as the glowing sun shows up from the East, ray by ray
Vali, the thought of your careless love draws you now to her
Just as sweet dreams draw to dreamer’s eye, image by image
3
Mirza Mazhar Jan-e Janan
Mirza Mazhar Jan-e Janan (1698?–1781), also known by his title, Shamsuddin Habibullah, was born in Agra according to one source, and in Kalabagh in Malwa, according to another. His father had migrated from Deccan to Agra, where Jan-e Janan received his early education before his father came to Delhi and was rewarded with a high position by Emperor Aurangzeb. Jan-e Janan inherited from his father the taste for a life of Sufistic leanings, which he carried to the greatest heights and emerged as a major Sufi of the Naqshbandi order. He had a large number of disciples who venerated him for his incomparable merit as a Sufi and a poet. He commanded equal respect among those in the royalty and the nobility. Shah Waliullah, the great Islamic scholar of his time, held him in very high seteem for his rare understanding of Islam and the traditions of the Prophet. Sources testify that on account of a difference in matters of religious faith and his unreserved expression of his conviction, he was brutally attacked and killed by a fanatic. He lies buried in Delhi but only those would know who recognize his spiritual and literary worth.
Jan-e Janan came to be acknowledged as a major poet in both Persian and Urdu, although the volume of his work in Urdu is far less than in Persian. He privileged the Persian modes of expression and made way for the enrichment of Urdu as a literary language. He did not pay much attention to the art and artifice of poetry but chose a natural and direct mode of expression. As he brought the refinement of Persian to Urdu poetry, he chose to reject the oblique and the obscure in thought and language, bringing poetry close to natural human perception and understanding. His idiom echoed the contemporary idiom of his location but it also harked back to the Deccani dialect. Jan-e Janan has left behind a Persian divaan called Divaan-e Mazhar, three collections of his letters, and an anthology of select poetry from classical Persian masters called Khairat-e Jawaahir.
1
Ye dil kab ishq ke qaabil rahaa hai
Kahaan humko dimaagh-o dil rahaa hai
Naheen aataa kisee takiye ooper khwaab
Ye sar paaon se tere hil rahaa hai
Khuda ke waaste us ko na toko
Yehi ek shahr mein qaatil rahaa hai
Naheen maloon ko manzil rahaa hai
Ghanimat jaan qaatil jaan-e Mazhar
Ye maqtoolon mein tuk bismil rahaa hai
Na uthhnaa ghar se Mazhar ka na jaaye
Koee milne ke kab qaabil rahaa hai
1
This poor heart never deserved your kind love, none
I didn’t have the head or heart for your love, none
No dreams visit my pillow, no delusions, none
Only your feet touch my head, never your dreams, none
Don’t bother him, for God’s sake, don’t ever bother
&n
bsp; That is the only love left in town, none else, none
I have crossed over both life and faith, and now
I am at your threshold; I know no other, none
It’s God’s will, O assassin, that Mazhar alone
Writhes and wriggles, as he does, none else none
Mazhar doesn’t move; he doesn’t ever leave his abode
No good now, he is no good; none can see him, none
2
Gul ko jo gul kahoon to tere roo ko kyaa kahoon
Dar ko jo dar kahoon to us aansoon ko kyaa kahoon
Mujh per huaa hai tang sajan arsa-i sukhan
Boloon nigah ko tegh to abroo ko kyaa kahoon
Muddat se us khayaal ke aaya hoon beech mein
Gar moo kahoon kamar ko toh gesoo ko kyaa kahoon
Rone se tujh firaaq ke aankhein meri gayein
Dubaa ye khaandaan us aansoon ko kyaa kahoon
Diwaana kar liya hai meri jaan-o tan ke tayein
Maali teri bahaar ke jaadu ko kyaa kahoon
Kartaa hai jaur jo ewaz apne hi yaar ke
Mazhar tere sitamgar-e badkhoo ko kyaa kahoon
2
If I call the blossom a blossom, what shall I call your face?
If I call the fear a fear, what shall I call your tears?
The realm of words is vast indeed; it has now shrunk on me
If I call your looks a sword, what shall I call your curly brows?
I have long tried to find a name, I have never got one
If I call your waist curling hair, what shall I call your tresses?
I have shed tears in parting; I have lost my vision, Love!
When my world is drowned and gone, what shall I call my tears?
It’s both my body and my soul that go to you in your praise
O Gardener! What shall I call the magic of your spring?
He who chooses to oppress none else, only his dear friends
Tell me, Mazhar! What shall I call this unfair friend of yours?
TOWARDS ENLIGHTENMENT
The eighteenth century in Urdu poetry, generally identified with Mirza Mohammad Rafi Sauda and Mir Taqi Mir, marked the beginnings of a golden period. It made remarkable strides in two directions: first, it refined and enriched Urdu as a language of poetry; and second, it cultivated poetry as a precious art that evolved with a great care for craftsmanship. This age saw the emergence of Urdu as a virile medium of poetic expression in several parts of northern India. Following the tradition laid down by the three major poets—Mohammad Quli Qutub Shah and Vali Deccani in the Deccan, and Mirza Mazhar Jan-e Janan in Delhi—poets like Mirza Mohammad Rafi Sauda, Mir Taqi Mir, Siraj Aurangabadi and Khwaja Mir Dard, along with Mir Soze and Qayam Chandpuri, empowered Urdu as a language of poetry, which so far had been dominated by Persian. They showed clear signs of mature literary imagination with their unique ability to evolve and situate their new-found metaphors and symbols in newer linguistic configurations. Even while they drew upon the Persian literary stock, they distinguished themselves by making individual interventions at the level of language and disengaging from deliberate attempts at writing allusive verse. The ghazal of this age was, thus, able to redefine the idea of love and the figure of the beloved, both in secular and spiritual terms. Importantly enough, while these poets worked towards the evolution of ghazal as a popular form, they also moved towards developing other forms of poetry after the Persian models, like qasida (panegyric), marsiya (elegy), mathnawi (rhymed narratives) and hajwa (lampoon), and laid the foundations of what became the canonical forms of poetry in the ages to come.