Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir a renowned Urdu poet of the Mughal Era

      In the name of Allah (s.w.t) the most Beneficent and Merciful                                    Peace be upon Mohammad e Mustafa and his progeny                                             

                                                                               

Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir

                                                         

Mrs. FARHAT FATIMA

Research Scholar

JNTUH, College of Engineering

JNTUH, Kukatpally, Hyderabad-85

E-mail: farhat_fatima5@yahoo.com

Abstract

Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir was a renowned writer of the Mughal period.   His chief theme of verse writing was the combat of Karbala and the martyrdom of Hussain Ibn Ali {(Alaihis Salaam), the youngest grandson of Prophet Mohammad, Peace be upon him and his progeny.} His proficiency was Marsia inscription or Marsia Nigari.  He was born in 1803 in Delhi and expired in 1875 in Awadh, Lucknow.  He was one of the leading Urdu writers.  He drifted from Delhi to Lucknow to augment his career as at that time Lucknow was the heart of Urdu poetry and Literature and the centre of Shia-community who eulogized a work of piousness and sacredness to lament the martyrs of ‘The battle of Karbala’ Dabir has written at least 3,000 marsia’s apart from Salam’s (a lyrical salutation), Noha’s (dirge) and Rubai’s (quatrains) and few ghazal’s (poems). He also wrote a dot-less elegy in which he has taken pen-name Utarid which means Mercury as a replacement for his original name Dabir. His numerous letters (mostly Persian and some in Urdu) are also accessible in Libraries which educate us in diverse shades of living.   Few among the pioneer of Marsia Nigari in Awadh are the local poets of Faizabad vz. Afsurdah, Gada, Nazim Lucknawi and luminaries from Delhi are Sikander and Sauda.  Other well-known writers of Marsia Nigari or Marsia writing are Mir Zamir, Mir Khaliq, Dilgir and Fasih.

Keywords:  Battle of Karbala, Razmiya Shaiiri (Poetry depicting war), Chehra (Introduction), Rukhsat (Taking leave) Aamad (Entry into the battlefield), Shahadat (Martyrdom) and Dua (Invocation to Lord)

Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir was a celebrated poet of the Mughal era. He has penned many couplets and verses.  His expertise in poetry was Marsia Nigari or Marsia writing. His main theme of poetry was the battle of Karbala and the martyrdom of  Hussain Ibn Ali {(Alaihis Salaam means 'peace be upon him'), the youngest grandson of Prophet Mohammad, Peace be upon him and his progeny.} According to Dr. Zameer Akhtar Naqvi, a prominent orator & Urdu writer, more than twenty five anthologies on Dabir’s poetry have been written.  Mirza Dabir’s ancestry can be traced back to Iran.  His great grand father used to pen-down poetry in Farsi or Persian.  Mirza Dabir was the first poet among his ancestors who has adopted Urdu as his pen-language.

The basic requirement to be an eminent poet is to touch the heart of the reader through his verses.  Mirza Dabir was not only a distinguished poet but also was an outstanding person.  He was born in 1803 in Delhi and expired in 1875 in Awadh, Lucknow.  He was one of the leading Urdu poets.  He migrated from Delhi to Lucknow to enhance his career as at that time Lucknow was the hub of Urdu poetry and Literature and the centre of Shia-community who eulogized an act of piousness and sacredness to bemoan the martyrs of ‘The battle of Karbala’.  It is observed that an artist’s personality and character overflows in his poetry.  His way of thinking and taking things in his stride has also a glimpse in his poetry.  And looking at these things and comparing them with Mirza Dabir we find him in an elevated alcove.  He has been the owner of highly commendable character, strong ethics and values and distinguished personality. 

Dabir’s poetry left an eternal influence on Urdu Literature and Marsia in particular.  He used creative vernacular and had complete command on his idioms and phrases.  His Marsias were epical in temperament and dealt with varied range of emotions and ideas.  According to Muhammad Hussain Azad in his book titled Aab-e-Hayat, Dabir has written at least 3,000 marsia’s apart from Salam’s (a lyrical salutation), Noha’s (dirge) and Rubai’s (quatrains) and few ghazal’s (poems).  He also wrote a dot-less elegy in which he has taken pen-name Utarid which means Mercury instead of his original name Dabir. His numerous letters (mostly Persian and some in Urdu) are also available in Libraries which teach us various colours of life.

Both Mir Baber Ali Anis and Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir were contemporaries of the Mughal era. Their rivalry is the most debated and talked about in Urdu Literature.  Marsia Nigari rose to unprecedented heights in Awadh in the era of Mir Anis and Mirza Dabir. Their rivalry led to the development of two distinct schools of Marsia Nigari or Marsia writing at its foundation.  The staunch followers of the masters identified themselves as Anisiya and Dabiriya. Even though the followers separated themselves into two groups, the two poets remained at pleasant terms and acknowledged each other with great respect.  Though both the writers were masters of Marsia Nigari or Marsia writing but they had different approach, style and colour in their verses.  If Anis’s poetry was engaging and expressive, Mirza Dabir’s poetry was little smooth, flowing and brackish

Marsia is an elegiac epic written to observe the martyrdom of Hussain Ibn Ali {(Alaihis Salaam), the younger grandson of Prophet Mohammad, Peace be upon him and his progeny} and his companions at ‘The Battle of Karbala’. When Yazid son of Muawiya declared himself as a ruler over the Ummah (Islamic state), he demanded Hussain Ibn Ali’s (Alaihis Salaam), allegiance of loyalty. Hussain Ibn Ali (Alaihis Salaam), refused him flatly and rejected Yazid’s rule, for Yazid represented everything that was against the laws of Islam.  Marsia is derivative of the Arabic utterance ‘Risa’ meaning an immense catastrophe or dirge for the departed spirit.  It was a universal expression for all but after the great catastrophe of Karbala, when on the 10^th of Moharram, Hussain Ibn Ali {(Alaihis Salaam), the younger grandson of Prophet Mohammad, Peace be upon him and his progeny} was martyred, ravenous, parched and thirsty along with his 71 relatives and companions by the disruptive and cruel forces of the despot king Yazid, Marsia became a word used wholly to portray the events of Karbala and the tragedy of Hussain Ibn Ali (Alaihis Salaam).  A marsia can be more than hundred and fifty or two hundred bunds or stanzas.  It consists of six-lines or sested with rhyming quatrain and a couplet, a couplet on a different rhyme.  Some of the pioneers of Marsia Nigari in Awadh are the local poets of Faizabad vz. Afsurdah, Gada, Nazim Lucknawi and luminaries from Delhi are Sikander and Sauda.  Other prominent poets of Marsia Nigari or Marsia writing are Mir Zamir, Mir Khaliq, Dilgir and Fasih.

Usually Mirza Dabir and Mir Anis used to depict the scenes in a marsia through symbolism of Kayenath (the creation of Allah like earth, sky, wind, fire, water and mud) and Hayat (means life) and the great characteristics prevalent in a pious person like Hussain Ibn Ali {(Alaihis Salaam), the Grandson of Prophet Mohammad, Peace be upon him and his progeny} and his family members and comrades.  Razmiya Shaiiri (Poetry describing battlefield) was first brought into Urdu Literature by Mirza Dabir and Mir Anis in their Marsia Nigari or Marsia writing though it was present in Greek, Latin and Iranian Literature since a considerable period of time.

Marsia portrayed through Razmiya Shaiiri in its customary outline has for its composition eight to ten constituents or steps. They are Chehra (Introduction), Rukhsat (Taking leave), Aamad (Entry into the battlefield), Rajaz (Chivalrous account of the family and self, addressed to the adversary), Jung (Combat), Shahadat (Martyrdom), Bain (Lamentation) and Dua (Invocation to lord), occasionally Saqqah (Praising a person who distributes water) and Sarapa ( Description of the general appearance of the warriors is portrayed) .

Let us now look at some of the constituents of marsia through the portrayal of Dabir’s and Anis's verses.

The model marsia opens up with Chehra.  It is the preliminary element of the marsia that pilots the reader or listener into the theme of the marsia through verbal sketches of the difficulties faced by the voyager in the desert, or the account of a meticulous moment of the day, or the eulogization of Allah (hamd), Muhammad (Naat) or Ali and Imams (Manqabat).  The introduction of the subject or war-hero is dealt delicately, significantly and in detail.  Dabir has portrayed in his marsia’s through appropriate ways the character rejoinders and thoughts using lyrical imagery and textual substantiation.  The following lines portray the Chehra of marsia. 

بیٹا لہو میں لال ہے  منہ  اُس  کا  زرد  ہے

زلفوں  میں  بال  بال  بیاباں  کی  گرد   ہے

واں لب  پہ  العطش  ہے  یہاں  آہ  سرد  ہے

واں نیزہ ہے جگر میں یہاں دل میں  درد  ہے

     رونے پہ شہء کے صاحبِ اولاد روتے ہیں

     وہ حال ہے کہ دیکهہ کے جَلاّد  روتے ہیں

Transliteration

Beta Laho mein lal hain Mauh uska zard hai

Zulfon mein baal baal, bayaban ki gard hai

Waan lab pe Al Atash hain, yahan aah sard hai

Waan naiza hai Jigar mein, yahan dil mein dard hai

    Rone pe sheh ke sahebe aulad rotein hain

   Woh haal hai ke dekhke jallad rotein hain (Dabir, Shamsheer e Matam 245)

My son is soaked in his red blood and his face is pale.

Each and every hair in his tresses has the dust of wilderness.

Their (in battlefield) he has words ‘o thirst’ on his lips and

 Here it is a cool breath (due to pain).

Their (in battlefield) he has a spear in his liver and

Here it is pain in my heart

      When Shah (also known as Hussain Ibn Ali) cried seeing his son’s plight all the people 

      (adversaries in the battlefield) who were parents cried.

     It is such a sorry state that even the hard hearted tyrants of the army cried seeing this scene                  (Translated by Fatima, Farhat)

In the above lines Mirza Dabir portrays the grief of a father, Hussain Ibn Ali {(Alaihis Salaam), the youngest grandson of Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him and his progeny} when his eighteen years young, handsome and chivalrous son is wounded in the battlefield. Mirza Dabir has portrayed quite skillfully the mental trauma of a father.  How the world topples up for an old father when his young son is wounded and the impact of the father’s trauma is even felt by his adversaries.

Usually the second part depicted in a marsia is Rukhsat or farewell.  It is the beautiful description of the last farewell of the chivalrous hero to the battlefield, towards the wrath of battle, towards the place where his loved ones have given their lives without any doubt in their minds.  The following lines of Mir Baber Ali Anis depict the last farewell of Hussain Ibn Ali (Alaihis Salaam),  with his four year old daughter Sakina.

فرمایا  شہ نے  ہاں سفر ناگزیر ہے

آوُ گلے لگو کہ یہ صحبت اخیر ہے

اب  آرزوئے  قرب خدائے قدیر ہے

تنہا  ہیں  ہم  سپاہِ  مخالف  کثیر  ہے

       طے ہو یہ  مرحلہ  جو  اعانت  خدا  کرے          

       جس کا نہ کوئی دوست ہو بیبی وہ کیا کرے

Transliteration

Farmaya Sheh ne haan safar e na guzeer  hai

Aao  gale  lago  ke  ye  sohbat  aakhir  hai

Ab  arzo  e  Qurbe  Khuda  e  Qadeer  hai

Tanha  hai  hum  Sipahe muqalef kaseer hai

     Tay ho ye marhala jo aeyanath Khuda kare

     Jiska na koi dost ho bibi woh kya kare (Anis, Anis Ke Marsiye 190)

Shah (also said as Hussain Ibn Ali) said yes it is foregone journey.

Come and embrace me because this is our last association.

Now my only wish is to be near to Allah the powerful.

I am alone and the opposite soldiers are numerous.

  This situation will be dealt, if God will grace me.

  What will a man do, oh daughter! If he has no friend (Translated by Fatima, Farhat)

In the following lines when Imam Hussain Ibn Ali’s (the youngest grandson of Prophet Mohammad, Peace be upon him and his progeny) seventy one companions departed this world fighting valiantly with the unruly forces of Yazid (Caliph of Damascus). Eventually Hussain Ibn Ali (Alaihis Salaam), was alone with no one to support him; fatigued, thirsty and wounded he came to his tent to bid the final farewell or Rukhsat to the women folk.  His four years old daughter Sakina asked him, are you going to the battlefield father? Whoever has bid their last farewell or Rukhsat since morning and gone to the battlefield has not returned. Than Hussain Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam),  took his daughter in his lap and said ‘yes my dear child, I am going to a journey of no return.  Come and embrace me and say your last farewell to me as we will not meet again'.  He further says that he wants to be near his almighty God and the present situation is out of his hands as he is alone and the adversaries outnumber him in thousands.  This situation will be dealt rightly if God will help him as he has no friends here.

The next part of the marsia is usually Aamad or entry of the war-hero into the battlefield.  The scene usually describes the war scene like the adversary soldiers are clad in brightly colored uniforms, carrying weapons and drums. They have well-groomed war-horses and resplendently dressed cavalrymen. Among this scene is the entry of the war-hero who has the qualities of leading an open fair fight against a well-prepared rival. At times this section also depicts an elaborate description of hero’s horse and sword.   The following verses of Mirza Dabir portray the Aamad of the war hero.

کس شیر کی آمد ہے کہ رن کانپ رہا ہے

رن  ایک  طرف  چرخ کُہن کانپ رہا ہے

ہر  قصر  سلاطین  زمن  کانپ  رہا  ہے 

رُستُم   کا   بدن زِیر کفن  کانپ  رہا  ہے

       شمشیر بکف دیکهکے حیدر کے پسر کو

       جبرئیل  لرزتے  ہیں  سمیٹِ ہوئے پر کو

Transliteration

Kis Sher ki aamad hai ke  runn kaanp raha hain

Runn  ek  taraf  charqe kohan kaanp raha hain

Har  qasr  salateein e zaman  kaanp raha hain

Rustom ka badan  zair e kafan kaanp raha hain

        Shamsher bakaf dekhke Hyder ke pisar ko

        Gibrael laraztein hain samete huwe par ko (Dabir, Rekhta)

Which tiger’s advent is it that the battlefield is shivering?

Leave alone the battlefield, the whole universe is shivering.

Every reporting person and kings of age are shivering.

Renowned hero’s body under the shroud is shivering.

   When he saw the son of Hyder armored with sword.

   Gabriel shivered pulling together his wings (Translated by Fatima, Farhat)

In the above lines Mirza Dabir portrays the Aamad or entry into the battlefield by Hussain Ibn Ali’s  (Alaihis Salaam), younger step brother Abbas Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam).    Mirza Dabir has chosen very striking terminology to describe the entry of Abbas Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam).  According to Mirza Dabir, ‘He was not only the commander of Imam Hussain Ibn Ali’s army but also he is said to be the most gallant and gracious soldier in the army of Hussain Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam).  His personality had such an aura that when he entered the battlefield all the soldiers of the enemy camp started shivering even the angels and creation started shivering. All the commanders in the adversaries’ army started shivering.  Even the brave dead soldier’s body shivered in his shroud. Because the son of Hyder (also known as Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad-Peace be upon him) was looking so impressive in his get up of Armour and sword that even Gabriel (the arch angel of God) shivered seeing his aura.’

Shahadat is also one of the constituents of marsia.  Shahadat or Martyrdom is a great act of love in response to God’s immense love.  A martyr has calmness and courage in confronting suffering and death. God’s grace will not suppress or suffocate the freedom of those who face martyrdom; and on the contrary it enriches and exalts them. Mirza Dabir depicted the Shahadat of Hussain Ibn Ali (Alaihis Salaam).

Whilst Imam Hussain Ibn Ali’s intense eye detected symptoms of crumbling and dishonesty cropping up in the system of Muslim society and the Islamic state and thus he felt impelled to resist these forces even if it required treading a path of war.  When the forces of Yazid stopped Hussain Ibn Ali (Alaihis Salaam) at Karbala he did not bend down to their demands because for him fighting a fare war and dying in the process was better than bending down to the unjust demands of the ruler.  The following are the melancholic lines of Marsia; they are illustrating the Shahadat of Imam Hussain Ibn Ali’s son Ali Akbar.

ناگاہ   سوئے   لاشِ   پسر   جا پڑی    نظر 

چلائے  دِل  کو  تهام  کے  سلطانِ   بحروبر

سوتے ہو کیا دهرے ہوئے  رُخسار خاک  پر

اکبئر اٹهو کے گهوڑے سے گرتا ہے اب پِدر

         بُهولے پدر کو نیند میں قربان آپ کے

         آئو نمازِ عصر  پڑهو ساتهہ  باپ کے 

Transliteration

Nagaah  suwe  lashe   pisar  ja  padi nazar

Chillaye  dilko  tham  ke  sultane bahrobar

Soate ho kya dhare huwe  rukhsar qakh par

Akbar otho ke ghode se girta hai  ab  pidar

    Bhole pidar ko neendh mein qurban aapke

    Aao namaze asr padho saath baap ke (Anis, Anis Ke Marsiye 493) 

Unintentionally his glance went towards his son’s corpse and settled

The king of Bahrobar (i.e. king of ocean and earth) holding his heart with his hands; shouted

Why are you sleeping son keeping your cheeks on the dust

Get up Akber your father is falling from the horse

      My life be sacrificed on you oh son, you have forgotten your father in sleep.   

     Come and pray Namaz e Asr (evening prayers) with your father. (Translated by Fatima, Farhat)

  

In the above band or stanza of marsia, Mir Anis describes the last moments of Imam Hussain Ibn Ali’s battle in a very beautiful and nostalgic way.  While fighting unintentionally his glance fell on the corpse of his eighteen years old son Akber and Hussain Ibn Ali (Alaihis Salaam), the King of Ocean and Earth cried and shouted at his son, get up my son and help your father oh Akber! Your father is falling from the horse.  Should anyone sleep so deeply? Come and join your father in his evening prayers.

The subsequent constituent of Marsia is Dua.  Dua according to Islamic terminology is the act of supplication.  It is calling out to God and in simple words a conversation with God, our Creator, our Lord, the All Knowing, and the All Powerful.  The Arabic root meaning of the word Dua is to call out or to summon.  Dua has been called the weapon of the believer. It affirms a person’s belief in God and is essentially submission to God and a manifestation of a person’s need for God.  It is said that calamities and disasters are a test for a person and this is a sign that Allah loves him, because this calamities are an exam for the believer.  The following lines of the marsia portray the Dua (Prayer) of Hussain Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam), when his infant son was martyred.

کهینچا گلے سے بچے کے آہستہ شہ نے تیر

اور   ہاتهوں  پر  بلئند  کیا   لاشئہ   صغیر

گردن جهکا  کے  بولے کہ  اے  خالِقِ قدیر

مقبوئل   ہو حسیئن   کا    یہ    فدیہ   اخیر

      ششمائہ  کوئی  کُشتہ  تیرِ  ستم  نہیں

      یہ بے زبان ناقئہ صالح سے کم  نہیں

Transliteration

Khaicha gale se baccheke aahista shahne teer

Aur haaton par balund kiya  laashaye saghir

Gardan jhuka ke bole ke  ai khalekhe qadeer

Maqbool  ho  Hussain  ka ye Fidya e Aakhir

    Shashmaha koi kushtaye teere sitam nahin

    Ye bezubaan naqaye saleh se kam nahin (Dabir, Shamsheer e Matam 258)

From the neck of the child Shah slowly drew the arrow

And on hands he raised the corpse of the little one

He bowed his head and said oh! The Creator, the Almighty

Accept this Hussain’s last ransom

      Does the killing of a six months infant is not tyranny

      This speechless infant is equal to the she-camel of Prophet Saleh (Translated

      by Fatima, Farhat)                                   

Mirza Dabir very melancholically describes the scene of Imam Hussain Ibn Ali’s pain and grief when the tyrant Yazid’s forces killed his six months old baby Ali Asghar. Hussain Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam), has taken his son on his lap and showed him to the Yazidi forces and said ‘If I have wronged you than punish me but give water to this infant as he is thirsty since three days’.  Seeing the plight of the infant many soldiers started to cry than the commander of Yazidi forces Ibn Saad ordered Hurmala Ibn Kahil Al Asadi Alkoofi, the best arrow shooter of their contingent to shoot arrow at Ali Asghar.  Hurmala took out his bow and arrow and aimed at Ali Asghar which brought instant death to the child. 

The king of ocean and earth, Hussain Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam), raised his son in his lap up towards the sky and made a Dua or prayer to Allah. Oh Almighty, Oh Creator this is Hussain Ibn Ali’s (Alaihis Salaam),  last gift in the way of saving Islam.  Hussain Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam), further speaks to Allah; these people have killed my six months old infant which is a tyranny.  My little one (infant Ali Asghar) is equal to the she-camel of Prophet Saleh.  (There is an old fable in the eleventh chapter of The Holy Quran that there was a prophet in ancient Arabia named Saleh (Saleh means Pious one).  He used to guide the people of Thamud to belief in the numerous miracles of Allah.  They told Prophet Saleh to tell his Allah to show them a miracle and Allah sent for their tribe a she-camel for their sustenance.  Pasture was considered a free gift of Allah.   The camel would be a trial to see if the arrogant and greedy would let the camel graze peacefully or slay her.  Thus the people of Thamud slayed the innocent camel and thus brought Allah’s wrath as they did not even repent to Allah in the given three days time. Thus in the above verse Hussain Ibn Ali (Alaihis Salam), Prophet’s grandson compares his six months old infant Ali Asghar to be as innocent as the She-camel of Prophet Saleh.

The era of Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir came to an end with his expiry on 6 March 1875 (aged 71) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He is buried in Awadh, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. His poetry is exemplified by sensual imagery, most notably is the marsia nigari through its varied components like Chehra (Introduction), Aamad (Entry into the battlefield) and Sarapa (General appearance of the noble personalities). His verses are intended to emphasize intense emotions and stress on natural imagery.  Today, his marsia’s (six lined verses) are most popular and most considered and eulogized in Urdu Literature and Shia religious mourning gatherings.  Dabir along with Anis influenced two key features of the socio-cultural existence of the Indian sub-continent. One is literature and other is azadari tradition {mourning of Hussain Ibn Ali  (Alaihis Salaam) of the sub-continent. The Marsia’s, Salaam’s and Noha’s he composed during his lifetime are considered as masterpieces of Urdu Literature.

Works Cited

Dabeer, Mirza Salamat Ali Shamsheer e Matam (Hissaye Awwal) 1st^th Edition Kutub Qanaye Hydri 245 (1988) Print

   ---.  Shamsheer e Matam (Hissaye Awwal) 1st Edition Kutub Qanaye Hydri 258 (1988) Print

Hussain, Saliha Abid Anees Ke Marsiye (Hissaye Duwam) 2nd Edition Taraqqui Urdu Bureau 190 (1990) Print

                 - - -     Anees Ke Marsiye (Hissaye Duwam) 2nd Edition Taraqqui Urdu Bureau 493 (1990) Print

Dhawan, R.k & Puri, Sumita Indian and Comparative Literature New Insights Prestige Books International 2016 ed.Fatima,Farhat Mir Baber Ali Anis: A Living Legend of Urdu Literature 41 Print

Dabeer, Mirza https://rekhta.org/marsiya/kis-sher-kii-aamad-hai-ki-ran-kaanp-rahaa-hai-mirza-salaamat-ali-dabeer-marsiya01/08/2016 Web

Trivedi, Madhu The Making of the Awadh Culture Primus Books, Delhi 2010 Print

The Holy Quran The Final Testament Trans. Agha Pooya Yazdi and S.V.Mir Ahmed Ali, Elmhurst, New York, Fifth U.S Edition Tahrike Tarsile Quran, Inc. 2005 (62: 11) Print.  

English Translation and Transliteration is done by Fatima, Farhat Research Scholar JNTUH, Kukatpally - Hyderabad.  

This paper has been published in IJELLH - International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities (UGC approved Journal) ISSN-2321-7065. Impact Factor: 5.7 Volume V, Issue XII December 2017 Pg. 29-39. www.ijellh.com