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
Naatqein band hain sun sun ke balaaghat meri
Rang udte hain wo rangeen
hai ibarat meri
Shor jiska hai wo darya hai tabeeyat 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