Mir Anees and his service to Imam Husain (a.s.)

Debal Khuzai says that I entered in the presence of my chief and my master Ali ibn Moosa Reza (a.s.) and saw him sitting in dreary mourning gathering with his companions who were surrounding him. When he saw me coming he said to me, welcome O Debal, welcome O our helper with his hands and his tongue…

Ref: Bihar ul Anwar Vol 45 Pg. 257

As we all know that Debal Khuzai was a famous poet and companion of Imam Reza (a.s.). Imam Reza (a.s.) addresses him as a helper with his tongue because he used to recite poems and elegies in praise and sorrow respectively for Ahle Bait (a.s.).

In Urdu language, elegy is called as Marsiya.  The word Marsiya is derived from the Arabic word (root  ر- ث -ی ), meaning a great tragedy or lamentation for a departed soul. Whenever we see, read or hear the word Marsiya, the name that strikes us first at least in this sub-continent is none other than Mir Anees. Urdu Marsiya found its birth in Lucknow which was; and is still today one of the biggest centers of Shia population in India. The believers, in order to remember the tragedy of Imam Husain (a.s.) and his companions in Karbala and the ladies in the streets of Kufa and Shaam recited Marsiyas. This form of poetry reached its peak at the time of Mir Anees and his contemporary Mirza Salamat Ali Dabeer. While there were other key contributors before and after them viz. Mir Taqi Mir and Josh Malihabadi to name a few. However, in this article we shall restrict our discussion to the contribution of Mir Anees only.

Mir Babbar Ali Anees was born in year 1802. His father was Mir Khaleeq who himself was a poet and litterateur. There is no doubt that Mir Anees had great influence of his family which boasted 22 poets. Mir Anees has proudly introduced himself and the constellation of poets in his family in the below mentioned lines

Namak-e-Khwaan-e-Takallum hai Fasaahat meri
Naatqein band hain sun sun ke balaaghat meri

Rang udte hain wo rangeen hai ibarat meri
Shor jiska hai wo darya hai tabeeyat meri

            Umr guzri hai isi dasht ki saiyaahi mein
            Paanchvi pusht hai Shabbir ki maddaahi mein

The last line indicates that all his forefathers were poets of Ahle Bait (a.s.). Though Mir Anees knew the art of writing poems from a very young age his inclination was towards writing poems on worldly affairs. It is mentioned in the preface of ‘Intekhab e Mir Anees’ that while he was a teenager, he had written many poems on worldly affairs. As soon as his father came to know about it, he reprimanded him by saying that you have got your tongue and power of writing through Ahle Bait (as), hence you should write and recite poems only for them. This was the turning point for him and he dedicated his entire life in the service of Sayyidus Shohada (a.s.).

Mir Anees has written  more than ten thousand Marsiyas which does not include Salaam and Nauhas. Each of these Marsiyas would run from 80 to 220 stanzas of Musaddas (Six liner poetry) narrating the atrocities and the sorrow of people of Karbala. Nowadays, only a few stanzas of a given Marsiya are recited before any Majlis.

Mir Anees broadened the scope of Marsiya by including, realistic scenes of the battlefield, describing the face and physique of the warrior, emotional conversations of the Ahle Haram, perfect descriptions of the landscape, and occasional comparisons of situations and personalities in addition to the customary lamentation and mourning.

Mir Anees was a master of simple, natural utterance, with a superb command on the language, which was always adequate to express a large variety of moods, scenes, characters and situations. He is specially notable for presenting the same scene or situation, over and over again, in different words or phrases, without letting it appear monotonous. Let us have a look at one of innovative way of speaking about shahadat of Imam Husain (a.s.)

Teero pe teer aa chuke bus ai Husain bus

Zakhmo pe zakhm khaa chuke bus ai Husain bus

Laashe pe Laasha laa chuke bus ai Husain bus

Hum tumko aazma chuke bus ai Husain bus

Sar ko jukado khanjar e bedaad ke liye

Kuch imtehan chod do Sajjaad ke liye

Another significant contribution of Mir Anees was that he has used unique titles for Aba Abdillah (a.s.) and introduced words which the urdu language was unaware of.

There is a book soon to be launched with the named ‘1000 titles of Imam Husain (a.s.) ’. All these titles are compiled from the Marsiyas of Mir Anees and the titles he has used for Sayyidush Shohada (a.s.). Given below is a small example

Is dabdabe se lashkar e paima shikan me aaye

Jaise shikar khelne ko sher bann me aaye

Ya bulbul ishtiyaq me gul ke chaman me aaye

Ghul pad gaya ‘Hato, Asadullah rann me aaye’

Agli safein ulat gayi yun pichli fauj par

Jis tarah mauj girti hai toofan me mauj par

With regards to new words in Urdu, kindly read the two lines from a very famous Musaddas below

Husain jab ke chale baad e do pahar rann ko

Koi na tha ke jo thaame lagaame TAUSAN ko

The word Tausan which means a war horse was introduced in Urdu vocabulary by Mir Anees.

Its been more than 150 years that Mir Anees departed for the celestial world but yet his Marsiyas are unmatched in eloquence, simplicity and yet heart rendering. Today, many Zaakirs and famous Nauhakhwans use lines from the Marsiya of Mir Anees in their speeches and Nauhas.  He has inspired non Shias and non Muslims to recite his Marsiyas which gave additional exposure to the event of Karbala. The marsiyas of Mir Anees are part of Urdu syllabus in many curriculams.

Mir Anees changed the way and scaled to new heights in the path of how Masaeb of Karbala are recited through poetry. No one else can give a more befitting tribute to him other then his greatest contemporary and the one who can be compared to him i.e. Mirza Dabeer. After the death of Mir Anees, Mirza Dabeer dedicated these two lines for him

Aasmaa be Maahe Kaamil, Sidra be Roohul Amin

                                                Toor e Siina be Kaleemullah, Mimbar be Anees