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INTRODUCTION
ANIS AND HIS FAMILY
Mir Ghulam Husain Zahik was the great-grandfather of Anis. As he was a humorist, he took his non-de-plume as Zahik (the jester). He was a genial, kind, and lovable gentleman who was well-read in Arabic and Persian. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, he migrated to Faizabad, which was the capital of Oudh. While in Delhi, he lived near the Tahgal Mosque. He came from a well-known Syed family, whose ancestor was Imam-i-Harvi—a family endowed with the gift of poesy. The author of Gulzar mentions his stay in Faizabad in Hijri in 1196. The date of his death is not known, and there is no trace of the collection of his poems. His famous son Mohammad Hasan was born in Delhi and came to Faizabad with him. Only four lines of a Persian quatrain are extant, which proves that the author was a graceful writer with a tragic note handed down in his poetry.
faryad dilian ke ghamgurasan raftand
simianand adnan-o-gulezaran raftand
chun bue gul amanda bar pad-sawar
dar khak chuy-e-katra baye baran raftand .[1]
The style is remarkable, for the lyrical phraseology is freely employed to sustain tragic sentiments. This device has been adhered throughout to by his successors in his distinguished
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family.[2] His son, Mir Ghulam Husain—popularly known as Mir Hasan—was in Delhi in Syedwara. He was in the prime of his life when he shifted to Faizabad with his father. He was vivacious and of a very happy temperament, bubbling with humor. He was middle-statured, handsome, and fair. Strictly religious, he submitted his writings to his father and subsequently also to Khawaja Mir Dard for review and correction. When he came to Oudh, he sought the literary patronage of Mir Ziauddin, and in lyrical form he preferred the tutelage of Mirza Rafi Sauda, a great poet of this age.
In Lucknow he easily won his fame as an elegant writer whose lyrics were delightfully couched in fluent idioms and were pulsating with most fervent love melody. His romantic poem, called “Masnavi Badr Munir,” is a landmark in Urdu literature. This enchanting poem is noted for its high sensuous and passionate appeal in the simplest vernacular of the day. The spontaneity and pertness of the dialogues are amazing.
Here, Mir Hasan lifts the prevalent tone of dialogues from ribald banters to the height of refined and highly polished colloquial. The expressions, words, and turns of speech that were commonly in vogue in that age and have since become obsolete were not used by him, and even today his writings are faultless models of most accomplished Urdu. The main compendium of his poems is lost.
The author of Gulzar Ibrahimi says that Mir Hasan sent his collection of poems to him with his letters, reproduced here:
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“Of all forms of poetic writings my couplets come to eight thousands. I have also written biographies and rekhta and got my works corrected by Mir Zia.” [3]
Mir Hasan had four sons, three of whom were poets. They were Mir Mustahsan Khaliq, Mir Ahsan Khulq, and Mir Mohsin. The date of birth of Khaliq is not traceable, but in the first half of the thirteenth century, Higri—his name—is mentioned among notable poets.
Molvi Mohammad Husain Azad in Ab-e Hayat says: Mir Khaliq was educated in Faizabad and Lucknow and commenced composing verses at the early age of sixteen. Mir Hasan handed him over to Mushafi for guidance in the poetic art. He devoted himself to the writing of elegies, and greatly distinguished in himself in that brand of poetry. The early Marsias were in four lines with a “qafia” as an ending. This form became obsolete. Salams were composed in lyrical forms, and sixain replaced the quatrain in vogue of the elegies. Mir Zamir was his contemporary in the art of Marsia. The public interest created a rivalry and kept it alive for its own satisfaction, impelling these two antagonists to constantly endeavor to excel the other in originality of ideas and construction. The Marsia at this period of time did not exceed 40 or 50 stanzas, each made up of six lines. Zamir had the unique privilege of being the first author of the Marsia, which served as a model for the subsequent writers in its present approved form. His first elegy began like this:
kis noor ki majlis mein meri jalwagiri hai.
This elegy was a narrative of the martyrdom of Ali Akbar, the son of Imam Husain. Mir Zamir began the
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narrative with a prologue technically called “cehra.” He then gave the physical description of the princely hero, which was known as “sarapa,” (mentioned in actual combat as “jung”) and eventually the tragic ending in his fall on the battlefield. This literary invention revolutionized the form of versification of Marsia and became its permanent feature.[4]
The people realized the value of competition, which whetted Zamir’s and Khaliq’s intellect and created an atmosphere of duel in which they relished. In order to provoke them most, it was arranged to fix an open recitation at the same place by both these poets. A noble man, Nawab Sharafuddowla, arranged for the meeting at his place. Both were invited for the recitation, but were kept purposely ignorant of the move for a public contest by their host. An unprecedented crowd, which had never found them together at one place for recitation until the time of their tragic compositions, came to witness the event.
Zamir ascended the pulpit at one in the afternoon and continued his performance till nearly sunset. Mir Khaliq entered the arena late, thus prolonging the recitation of his contemporary, and the vociferous audience was transported to a hysterical state of crying and shouting laudations.
When the end came, Khaliq was summoned to address. It was a hopeless task to win the interest and acclamation of the satiated audience. Khaliq started the recitation in a low voice, but gradually came to his own, found his voice, and
[Photo]
Right Honorable Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru
[Photo]
Maharajkumar Mohammad Amir Haidar Khan Sahib of Mahmudabad
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soon the eager audience became responsive and afresh, the ordeal ending in an unexpected triumph for him. Every syllable was greeted with tears and loud manifestation of grief. The people became so lost in tragic melody that when they looked up, the pulpit was empty. The Majlis had come to an end, the recitation had ceased, but the shrieks and cries of the lamenting audience continued till late after it had ended. The verdict went in favor of Khaliq.
I have mentioned this episode to give the readers an idea of the public interest in Mersia and its skillful method of recitation and profoundly tragic nature of its composition. The test lay in stirring the audience to poignant feeling of grief and its liberal manifestation.[5]
Mir Khaliq had all the charms of the style of Anis. He adopted his polished, easy method and freely employed easily comprehensible similes, idioms, and turns of expression, thus making it popular. His method of recitation was combined with superb acting, in which he used postures and expression of his eyes alone. Anis inherited this magnificent method of recitation from him and indeed greatly improved upon it. He seldom raised his hands even in gesticulation and made the narrative extremely lively and realistic through the shifting of the postures and the wonder trick of the eyes.
When Khaliq came to the end of his days, he found, like Shakespeare, that his muse had left him. This sad realization has been the experience of all the great poets when old age came up them, with the exclusion of Anis.
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Shakespeare says:
Prospero: But this rough magic
I have abjure: and, when I have required
Some heavenly music—which even now I do—
To work my end upon the senses, that
This airy charm fathom in the earth,
And deeper than ever plummet sound
I will drown my book.
(Tempest, Act 5, scene 1)
“That is a noble farewell to the world he had to greatly enriched. He made the Tempest for a final gift to mankind, and, then, peacefully and without complaint broke his staff and died.” -St. John Ervine.[6]
Mir Khaliq also expressed his loss of power:
mujrai tabah kund hai lutfe baiyan gaya
danda(n) gaye ke jauhar-i-teghe zaban gaya
guzri bahar-i-umr khaliq ab kahege sab
baaghe jahan se bulbule Hindustan gaya
Shakespeare too realized that age robbed him of his poetic charms.
Prospero: Now my charms are overthrown,
And what strength I have is mine own—which is most faint:
Now I want spirits to enforce, art to enhance;
And my ending is despair.
(Tempest, Act 5, Scene 1)
Anis alone felt that the old age was the climax of his art and genius.
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ghata zoor mashiq-i-sukhan barh gayi.
zayefi ne humko jawan kar diya[7]
‘With this loss of bodily strength I have simultaneously acquired greater vigor in my verse.
Old age has really made me young.’
In an epilogue, Anis says:
bas aey anis zoof se larza(n) hain band-band
alam mein yaad-gaar rahege yeh chand band
tapke kalam se zoof mein kya kya baland band
alam pasand lafz hain sultan pasand band
yeh fasl aur yeh bazm-e-aza yaadgaar hai
piri ke walwale hain khi’zaa(n) ki bahaar[8]
‘Stop Anis! Every limb is trembling due to infirmity.
These few lines will remain memorable in the world,
What lofty lines have dropped from the pen, even in his feeble state of health,
Words that will be cherished universally and pieces that will live in human memory forever.
This is the exuberance of old age, this is the spring of the autumn.’
Mir Khaliq was twilight on the horizon, which precedes the majestic advent of the sun. God gave him a son who became well known as Anis. As his face bore extraordinary looks of manliness, his father called him Babar Ali. He was born in 1220 Hijri (1802) and died at the ripe old age of 72 (1874) in 1292 Hijri. He devoted nearly 57 years to the art of versification.
He came to Lucknow, which was the cradle of culture and art, at the suitable age of sixteen years and spent every
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moment of life till the age of forty in studies. He was intensely fond of books and learned much through self-effort. He soon learned enough to equip him for a glorious career as a great poet. Mir Anis had a great predilection for metaphysical science and had a library of his own full of rare books on abstruse subjects. He liked the society of critics and renowned writers, and they also came to him for intellectual intercourse. His family members were highly cultured, liked. and spoke the royal Urdu language, reflecting the high social qualities and traditional grace of both the courts at Delhi and Lucknow. The home dialect of Anis was a delicious blend of the dialects of the court of Delhi and Oudh. Mir Mohammad Raza Razi in Tarikh Tajul Khawatin—an historical sketch of the royal ladies of Oudh and other notable women—writes, “The most chaste wife of Mir Khaliq (mother of Anis) was well versed in Shia theological literature, and knew enough Persian to read Jamai Abbasi and teach the same. She was very punctilious in offering her prayers and in keeping fasts, and tried to live according to the rules of the Shia religion. Her dress, intonation, speech, and language were considered to be models for other ladies. The aristocratic ladies were always eager to meet her. She hated bad manners and low breeding.”
Beyond the walls of his house, Anis had the good fortune to mix with people and live in an atmosphere, which was decidedly the best from cultural and artistic points of view. To be a gentleman was considered to be the fashion of the age. The people of Lucknow loved art and refinement, and at every turn the young artist had the most
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Author
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inspiring sights of refinement, skill, and artistic upsurge in the city.
Anis Receives Military Training
Mir Kazim (Sufaid Posh) was a great expert in fencing, “Bank,” and “Binwat.” He left Delhi after 1857 and settled near the house of Anis in Lucknow. His son, Amir Ali, was also a perfect master of the above arts and took Anis as his pupil. Anis learned quickly and soon became most proficient in the use of arms. Anis used to put on specially made clothes for his exercises, as he did not like to be even semi-naked. He took regular exercise to keep himself fit and agile.
Anis Loved Solitude
Anis preferred to be left alone and sought refuge in his inner apartments where he stayed for hours. The solitude was spent in versification and reverie.
Anis was a great stickler of formalities and did not like to receive visitors without previous appointments. He sat to receive his visitors fully dressed in the traditional style. He was a most charming conversationalist and spoke with all the suavity and grace that were of the characteristics of his ineffable style in poetry. He used palanquin as a conveyance in his local movements, as was the custom of those who belonged to the learned society in Lucknow.
Anis was a Mystic
Anis found mystic delight in objects of beauty and had an aesthetic sense of spiritual significance.
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parhon durood na kyun dekh kar haseeno ko
khayal-e-sanate saneh hai pakbeeno ko[9]
‘O, why should we not give blessings when we see beautiful persons?
The pure mind things of the Creator’s art is in these beautiful objects.’
Anis was slightly tall in height and had a well-shaped and well-proportioned physique. He had a thin soft crop of hair and a beautiful face. He was of brown complexion. He had large and pretty eyes that shot forth brilliant rays. The expression of his eyes suggested thoughtful dignity. He had a long pair of mustaches and shaved his chin. He walked in measured steps.