Appendix 2

A Brief History of Urdu Poetry

Poetry is an intensely personal, emotional genre making it difficult to explain intellectually; however, the following defining aspects of poetry are instructive. Poetry is: an expression of the heart, human experience, feelings, and thoughts. q an expression of facts using appropriate words. q a description of life rendered with imagination and emotion q the most popular literary genre. q a creative source for civilization, constitution, and different arts and crafts. q a concoction of all knowledge and craft. q an element of surprise to us. q an art through which a poet can excite the emotions and feelings of others. q an expression of an ordinary event in an illuminating, evocative writing style that creates a sharp reaction in the heart and mind of the reader. Poetry is universal in that every language on the planet carries with it some poetic elements. Although languages differ significantly in the manner of expression, the nature of poetic expression remains remarkably consistent, indicating that poetry is more of a human phenomenon than syntactical expression. From expressions of love for a woman to revolt against a regime, poetry carries an element of subtlety and spontaneitysomething created by the environs of the poet. To understand a great poet, therefore, we must first look into his mind and his subjective awareness of the milieu. Since hlib, undoubtedly the
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greatest poet of the Urd language, expressed himself mainly through his love sonnets, it is imperative that we examine the art of love sonnets, the language in which they are written, and the environs that prompted these poetic expressions to better understand how hlib became a master of this genre. In this chapter, we will examine the roots of the Urd language, Urd poetry, and particularly the genre of love sonnets, hazals, in Urd. The following chapters will look at the life, the works and the poetry of hlib. Urdliterally camp in Turkishis a mixture of languages and dialects. Muslims brought various languages to India, and diluted Indias languages freely with words from their own. When Delh was the seat of the Muslim Empire in the late 12th century, the languages around Delh, mainly Brij Bhasha and Sauraseni, became heavily mixed with Persian, the lingua franca of the Muslim rulers. Other languages that found their way into the languages of India were Turkish, Arabic, and, later, English. Whereas much of the vocabulary of the original languages (Sauraseni, for example) changed, the basic grammatical structure remained intact. In the 13th century, the language of India became widely known as Hindvi, Hindi, and Brij Bhasha and was written in the original Devanagri script [the Sanskrit script]. The name Urd was given to this thriving regional language in the period of the Muhal Emperor Shah Jehan (1627-1658). The language was introduced to the southern province of India, Hyderabad Deccan, by the armies and followers of the Tughlaq and Khilji Kings in the 14th century. Affected by the dialects of the south, the language became known as Deccani (after Hyderabad Deccan), having adopted the Persian script and replaced Persian in offices as the official language. Since the language was rendered in the Devanagri script for quite some time around Delh, it had been erroneously assumed that the first Urd poet was Amir Khusro (1253-1325) from the Deccan. The fact is many northern poets had already been writing Urd poetry, namely

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Kabir Das, Mira Bai, Guru Nanak, Malik Mohammad Jaisi, and Abdul Rahim hn Khanan, who lived much earlier than Amir Khusro. Before Amr husro (1253-1325), the language of poetry was primarily the vernacular Brij Bhasha. Amr husro interspersed it with Persian as the first school of hazal poets emerged in the Deccan during the 15th and 16th centuries. Early hazal was somewhat free of structure and made use of rather simple and blunt expressions as we see in the works of the Qutub Shah poets of the Deccan. V (1668-1744) contributed al much to the structure of hazals. When the works of V reached al Delh in 1720, the town was in an uproar and, within a decade, Urd became a language of poetry. The works of many minor poets like Hatim, Naj, Mazmn, and Abr actually formed the groundwork for Urd poetry in the 18th century in Northern India, particularly Delh. Urd hazals became heavily Persianized and ushered in their golden age, beginning with Mr T Mr. The simplicity of emotions expressed aq in earlier hazals underwent a metamorphosis, leading to the works of hlib, perhaps the most difficult to read of Urd hazal poets. This transition, taking place from the 15th to 18th century, was due not only to the maturity of technique but to changes in the social order as well. For India, the 18th century was an age of transition. The last of the strong Muhal Emperors was Aurangzeb (1707), after whom the empire disintegrated. The capital was invaded and destroyed by Nadir Shh and Ahmad Shah Abdal, followed by others. Finally, the British crept in with their deceptive plans. All of this altered the aura of the empire, which in turn stifled human thought. The uncertainties of the time raised many questions and a revival of the arts and literature ensued for India in the 18th century, a sort of renaissance period. Urd poetry benefited significantly from this revolution of thought. The doubts and the uncertainty of the 18th century continued into the 19th century, and the mutiny of 1857 against the British left many indelible marks on the social and cultural scene of Northern India, all reflected melancholically by many poets, hlib among them. New constructions of language

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arose that hinged on old similes. The executioner and the rival were now the British. Christ became a symbol of the ruling elite and new meaning was afforded the kalsa (church). The waning days of the dying empire became a candle ready to be extinguished as the weak, symbolic emperor, Bahadur Shh Zafar, who himself was an elite poet, tried desperately to preserve the traditions of the Muhal Empire. Mourning over lost glory became an oft-repeated theme in Urd poetry. Urd poetry of the Indian subcontinent as we know it today did not take its final form until the 17th century, when it was declared the official language of the court. The 18th century saw a phenomenal rise in Urd poetry when Urd replaced Persian as the lingua franca of the region. Urd poetry, as it is derived from Persian, Turkish, and Arabic, acquired many poetic conventions from these languages. Just as Elizabethan English is characterized by social and regional realities, Urd holds a remarkable wealth of the conventions of many cultures and languages. This element was given a great boost in the 18th century, when newspapers and other information media were available on a limited basis. Urd poetry rose to became a more intimate form of communication as a reflection of the social and political tribulations of the time. The commonest form of communication, in line with Arabic tradition, was to read poetry in gatherings, called mushaera, in which poets would gather to read poems crafted in accordance with a metrical pattern, often prescribed beforehand. Not only did the poetry have to meet standards of word choice and the loftiness of thought, but also these strict metrical patterns. Competitions were held similar to those held in ancient Greek, Roman, and pre-Islamic Arabic cultures. However, the intensity and warmth of the mushaeras that developed in Delh were indeed unique and helped popularize Urd as the language of poetry in the Muhal Empire. A culture built around taking lessons in writing Urd poetry became fashionable for royalty, and the masters of poetry were awarded reverence worthy of kings. In all mushaeras, the most honored of the poets would preside and the candle that was passed

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from poet to poet in the order of their ranking ultimately reaching the presiding poet. This impact on the tradition of respect and new cultural traits was able to take root because poets were held in such high esteem. Royalty sought out their company and poetry was sent as gift to their aristocratic friends. Whereas the 18th century produced remarkable literature in Urd, it was often lost, since it was not until poets reached fame that their writings were collected and published. The writings of one of the greatest Urd poets, Nazir, were collected 80 years after his death, and even the works of Zauq, the teacher of King Bahadur Shh Zafar, were destroyed during the mutiny of 1857. Some of the poems written by the King in exile, Bahadur Shh Zafar, were also lost. Urd poetry is based on a system of linguistic measureit is a quantitative expression and its form is very rigid. The typical measures are nine, or more commonly eighteen, but by various permutation and combinations, they number over 800. The many forms of Urd poetry include: qasda, or ode of praise. q manav, or long reflective poem and tale in verse. q maria, or elegy. q qita, or fragment, a four-line quatrain. q ruba, or a quatrain with specific rhyme and topic, made famous in the West by the works of Omar Khayyam. q hazal, a lyrical poem of 6 to 26 lines, often longer; the word hazal is derived from the Arabic word tahazzul, or conversation with ladies (or expression of love for women). The word hazal also means the agonized cry of the gazelle. The literal meaning of hazal is to talk to or about women or to express love to them through the description of the condition of heart. Whereas many poets have specialized in writing one of the above types, most have attempted hazal, the most popular form, and those who have achieved the greatest fame have been poets of hazal. Since each
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verse of a hazal entails an independent segment and complete description of the topic (though a chain of verses may share the same theme), a great deal of ability is needed to express in few words the most complex emotions. Also, since the topic of hazal is not novel and because most people in their lifetime experiences affection toward the opposite sex (or the same sex, as often portrayed), the style of expression in the hazal has to be unique to make an impact. As a result, it is easy to write a common verse but quite another thing to create a unique one. hazal became the most popular form of Persian and Urd poetry, whereas qasda was popular in Arabic poetry. asda finds its roots in tribal sentiments. The rise of Islam saw a decline in the tribal structure of communities and more sophisticated, livelier expressions of society; the lover and the beloved became accepted themes in poetry. This tradition survives today, though in the chronological transition many aspects of mysticism have also surfaced. The hazal also maintains a rather platonic sense as well; juxtaposed to corporeal love, the spiritual love expressed in Urd hazal coexists with the mundane. Understanding an Urd hazal can be a daunting task for anyone, particularly those who are removed from the Indo-Persian and Arabic scene. The force of the images, dreams, and the strength of the analogies, combined with the subtleties of words as used colloquially, set the mood of the hazal, making it virtually impossible to translate into another language. English, which, though rich in vocabulary and conceptual symbolism, remains inadequate in expressing the nuances of a distant culture and language. [The same would hold true if one were to translate Shakespeare into Urd.] All of this combined with the extreme brevity of a two-line verse, makes the form very difficult to understand and interpret. The poetry of hlib, the topic of this book, is a classic example. A good hazal has to be experienced through allowing it to sink init cannot be read only once; it entails a slow imbibing process before the spirit of the thoughts expressed begin to uncompress and

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an abstract expression takes shape visually. The deconstruction of an apparent thought in a hazal is a slow process entailing peeling the layers like that of an onion. The hazal is made up of shers (verses) that consist of two hemistiches each, and may be called couplets with the difference being that the two lines rhyme only in the opening verse, or where they form a qita (quartrain) or a continuous hazal. (The word sher is derived from the Arabic meaning of wisdom and hence the sher, sheri, mushaera, all representing intelligence, reasoning, knowledge, and consciousness.) A verse has qf and radf the rhyming and repeating , words, except in the first verse, matl, in which the qf and radf are the same. The last verse is called maqt, wherein the poet normally uses his pseudonym (tahallus), often to create a meaning out of it or to construct a clever thought. The meter is also very specific for hazals. A distinction from Western poetry arises here as the shers do not relate to one another and are often singularly complete in the thought, theme, or feeling they portray. Though hazals often carry a theme, they can contain such drastic changes in expression that it catches the Western reader off-guard. The measure of a hazal remains the same, and the rhyming scheme is aa, ba, ca, and so on. The popularity of Urd hazals comes from its varied themes. The high etiquette required in writing hazals and the thematic limits placed on the poet. The most common subjects found in the hazal include the love of the poet for his beloved, her (his, see later) indifference, the broken heart, the cruelty of fate, the difficulties in passing nights spent in separation, the impermanence of human glory, the instability of life, the meaning of God, and so on. Many similes are used to describe the varied images and themes that form the core of Urd hazals. The nest is the lovers heart, wherein the lightning (cruelty of fate) strikes; the nightingale (bulbul) loving the rose; the moth burning itself on the candle; the snare and the hunted bird; and

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the dagger of beloveds eyelashes all are common motifs. Also intertwined in the poetic narrative are references to biblical prophets: Jacobs patience and his suffering for Joseph; the beauty of Joseph; Zuleh, the wife of Potiphar; Solomon the wise; Jesus the giver of life; Moses challenge to God to show Himself. As well, scores of anecdotal stories and themes are oft repeated: Qaroon, the rich man who was hanged for not paying taxes; the discovery and taste for good wine of the Persian Kings Jamshed, Kaikobad, and Kaikhusro of Zoroastrian days; Alexander of Macedonia; Shrn and Farhd, the legendary lovers of Persia, and their Arabic counterparts, Lail and Majnn; the warrior Sultn Mahmd Ghazn and his beloved slave, Ayazthese are some of the themes that must be well understood by the reader of Urd poetry. In addition, the poet has many personalities, some of them figurative, that require resolution; there is a pr who serves as a guide or mediator, trying to dissuade the lover from his insanity; the prayer cloth and the black string worn by religious men; the wine, the tavern, the goblet, the decantersuch images are ubiquitous. The more sublime topics include descriptions of monism, dialogues with God; and the assertion of Sufi doctrines. The Glossary describes the details of these and many more topics common to Urd hazal. A deep knowledge of the holy book of Islam, the Quran, finds many references in hlibs hazal, as do the vedantic beliefs and Hindu philosophy of life. Despite the diversity in topics of the hazal, the most significant mood remains melancholy and love-sickness; a heart full of sadness is the prevailing theme, and rules for this were actually laid down by Arab critics Ibn-e Rasheeq and Ibn-e Quddama in the 10th and 11th century; Persian poetry, which has had the greatest influence on Urd hazal, reinforced this theme. Held in supreme regard is the beloved and no expression could belittle the beloved. (However, see below how hlib got away with this.) The hazal carries a sense of nobility, idealism, sensuousness (not necessarily a sensual aura) wherein the lover is

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inseparable from the loved. It is more like 16th and 17th century English lyrical poetry, wherein metaphors play a significant role. Take for example T. S. Eliots Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock: Love adduced in Urd hazals is always one-sided, unrequited love, idolizing and idealizing in the same breath. The Urd hazal poet is not merely creating a hazal from its many blocks (shers), but also representing the times he or she lives in. The vision of the poet as affected by his or her surroundings is overtly reflected in the hazal, a concept akin to Shelleys concept wherein the poet is the unacknowledged legislator of mankind. hlibs hazals have also been compared to the devastating couplets of Alexander Pope. A rather touchy situation for the Western reader of Urd poetry arises in how the male gender is relied on for the beloved. Translations, including this one, are made difficult in this sense. (As a result, I have addressed the beloved as female). The roots of this convention go back to the ancient Persians and Greeks; the Persians, with their homosexual preferences, found the young Turkish boys taken in as slaves very attractive. In the 18th and the 19th centuries, it was fashionable to have these young companions as confidants and cupbearers (saq) to the point where royalty began to profess their love for them rather openly. As a result, the poetry, which at that time was mainly for the consumption of the royalty, began to express the love of a male for a male. (The Western gay movement finds its beginning in the late 20th century.) Soon it became fashionable to address the beloved as male and the tradition continues. In brief, the Urd hazal finds its roots in the melancholic romantic era of the Muhal period. It was through the rise of Urd hazals as a medium of expression that the Urd language rose to its significant height of popularity and evolution in a very short time.