Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer

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'Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer'

Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer
Born 1803
Delhi, India Flag of India
Died 1875
Burial place Lucknow
Occupation Poet
Religious beliefs Islam, Shia

Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer (1800/1803-1875)

Contents

[edit] Life

Mirza Dabeer was born in 1803 in Delhi. He was a leading urdu poet who excelled and perfected the art of Marsia writing. He is considered the leading exponent of Marsianigari or marsia writing along with Mir Anis. He started reciting marsia since childhood during muharram ceremonial gatherings called majalis (singular-majlis). He started writing poetry under the tutelage of Mir Muzaffar Husain Zameer[1]. Dabeer himself was an erudite scholar of his time. He migrated from Delhi to Lucknow, where he found suitable environment to develop and demonstrarte his skills in marsia writing. According to Maulana Muhammad Husain Azad in Aab-e-Hayat quoting Tazkira-e-Sarapa Sukhan, there is confusion regarding his father's name because of two different names mentioned in Tazkira as- Ghulam Husain /Mirza Agha Jan Kaghazfarosh. Mirza Dabeer passed away in Lucknow in 1875 and is burried there.

[edit] Works

According to Muhammad Husain Azad in Aab-e-Hayat: Mirzā Sahib died on the 29th of Muharram, A.H. 1292 [[[1875]]-76], at the age of 72 years. In his lifetime he must have written at least three thousand elegies. Not counting his salāms and nauhas and quatrains. He wrote a dotless elegy (be-nuqta) of which the opening verse is:


Hum tale-e-Huma murad hum rasa hua

My far-reaching imagination has the same fortune-star as the Huma

In it, he used (the dotless) Utārid or Atarid Jupiter instead of Dabeer for a pen-name. And there's no doubt that with him elegy composition in India reached its conclusion. Now no such time will come, nor will such accomplished persons be born (Frances W. Pritchett translation).

List of Marasi by Dabeer:

  1. Kis sher ki Amad hai ki Run kaanp raha hai
  2. Dast-e-Khuda Ka Quwat-e-Bazoo Husain hai
  3. Jab Chaley Yasrab Se Sibte Mustafa (SAW) Soo-e-Iraaq
  4. Bilqees paasbaan hai ye kiski janaab hai


Although Dabeer's poetic expression found expression in the genre of marsia but he made use of other forms of urdu poetry, viz., salaam and rubai, he seldom wrote ghazals too. A couplet from one of his salams is a clear example of his genius comparable to Ghalib:

     “Hurr fida pyaasa jo Shah par ho gaya;
      Ai salami, qatra tha samandar ho gaya!”


Meaning:

                "When the thirsty Hurr (willingly) sacrificed
                  his life for the Shah (Hussain);
                (Know) O salami, (O pilgrim)) In truth
                 the drop became the entire ocean!"


Naqaash naqsh, Kaatib o Khat, Baani o Bina,

Bood o Nabood, Zaat o Sifat, Hasti o Fana,

Aadam Malak, Zameen Falak, Gard e Kimiya,

Duniya o Deen, Hadoos o Qidam, Banda e khuda,

Sab, Shahid e Kamal e Shahe Mashraqain hain,

Jab Tak Khuda Ka Mulk hai, Malik Hussain hain.

[edit] Dabeer and Anees Rivalry

Anis and Dabeer rivalry is the most debated and talked about rivalry in Urdu Literature. Their rivalry led to the development of two distinct styles/schools of Marsia-nigari or marsia writing at its inception. The staunch supporters of each of the masters identified themselves as "Aneesiya" and "Dabeeriya". The impact of rivalry was so intense that the followers could neither free themselves from their influence nor surpass either master's brilliance. Although the populace divided themselves into two separate groups the two poets remained at cordial terms and acknowledged each other with great respect. When Anis died in 1874, Dabeer penned the folllowing couplet as a tribute to the departed poet:

      Aasman Be Mah-i-Kamil Sidrah Be Ruhul Amin 
      Toor-i-Sina Be Kalimullah Mimbar Be Anis

[edit] Legacy

Dabeer, along with Anis, left an everlasting influence on Urdu literature and marsia in particular. Marsia, in its content and matter, allowed the two masters to demonstrate their artistry and command of Urdu language and idiom. At the same time epical nature of marsia covered and dealt with entire range of emotions and ideas. It has both mystical and romantic appeal. All the contemporary and succeeding generations of poets who adopted marsia as the genre of poetic expression and also others who took to other forms of poetry found it difficult to break away from the trends and standards set by these two masters. The names of Dabeer and Anis are inextricable whenever Urdu Marsia is mentioned. In short, marsia attained its zenith under the poetic genius of Anis and Dabeer. Marsia became synonymous with the names of these two masters and also the form-musaddas- adopted by them became synonymous with the identity of marsia. Dabeer along with Anis influenced two major aspects of the socio-cultural life of the Indian sub-continent. One is literature and other is azadari tradition of the sub-continent.

[edit] Urdu Literature

[edit] Muharram and Azadari in the Indian Subcontinent

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mohammad Husain Azad- Aab-e-Hayat

[edit] See Also

Mir Babar Ali Anis

Marsia

Azadari

Ashura

[edit] Suggested Readings

1.Rooh -e- Anees (Muqaddma): Masood Hasan Rizvi

2.Urdu Marsia ka Irteqa: Maseehuz-Zaman

3.Mawazina-e-Anees -o- Dabeer: Shibli

4.Anees Shanasi: Gopi Chand Narang

5.Mirza Slamat Ali Dabeer: Mohd Zaman Azurdah (1981)

6.Intekhab-e-Marasi : U. P. Urdu Academy.

7.Muntakhab marasi-i Dabir by Dabir (1980)

8.Javahir-i Dabir: Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir ke 14 marsiye (1986)

9.Mirza Dabir ki marsiyah nigari by S. A Siddiqi (1980)

10.Mu'azanah-yi Anis va Dabir: Mutala'ah, muhasabah, taqabul by Irshad Niyazi (2000)

11.Talash-i Dabir by Kazim Ali Khan (1979)

12.Urdu Marsiya by Sifarish Hussain Rizvi

13.Urdu marsiye men Mirza Dabir ka maqam by Muzaffar Hasan Malik (1976)

14.Sha'ir-i a'zam Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir: Tahqiqi mutala'ah by Akbar Haidari Kashmiri (1976)

[edit] Links

  • [1] Aab-e hayat link to Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer
  • [2] SALAM-E-DABEER
  • [3] MASNAVIYAT-E-DABEER
  • [4] MUJTAHID-E-NAZM MIRZA DABEER (HAYAT SHAKHSIYAT AUR FUN)
  • [5]
  • [6] Jab Chaley Yasrab Se Sibte Mustafa (SAW) Soo-e-Iraq
  • [7] Masters of Marsia-Anees and Dabeer
  • [8] Mir Anis & Mirza Dabeer: the battle is still on
  • [9] Reliving Karbala: Martyrdom in South Asian Memory. By SYED AKBAR HYDER . New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 (Link o google books)
  • [10] Hadees-e-Dil Marsia Number
  • [11]Remembering Karbala Once Again-Selected Marsias of Meer Anis and Mirza Dabeer Translated by Syeda B. Raza
  • [12] History and Influence of Marsia on South Asian Culture
  • [13] The Year of Mirza Dabeer By Hasan Abidi
  • [14] Abstracts from Marsia by Dabeer
  • [15] Mir Anis and Karbala
  • [16] Brief introduction to Urdu Marsia
  • [17] Brief history of urdu poetry