Ab
to ghabra ke ye kahte hain ke mar jayenge
Mar
ke bhi chain na paya to kidhar jayenge
Zauq was a prominent
contemporary of Ghalib and in the history of Urdu poetry the rivalry of the two
poets is quite well known. During his lifetime Zauq was more popular than
Ghalib for the critical values in those days were mainly confined to judging a
piece of poetry on the basis of usage of words, phrases and idioms. Content and
style were barely taken into account while appreciating poetry
He was born at Delhi in 1789. His father, Shaikh Mohammed
Ramzan was a lowly placed soldier in the Mughal army. It was no less than a
miracle that Zauq, without having the proper treatment on account of the penury
of his family, survived the attacks of a dreaded malady like small pox nine
times during his childhood. His father had no means to equip his son with the
best available education of the time. He was sent to a maktab (elementary
religious school) that was run by Hafiz Ghulam Rasool. Hafiz himself was a poet
and used Shauq as his nom de plume. Under his influence the young Mohammed
Ibrahim also got attracted towards poetry. Hafiz provided the required encouragement,
took him as his pupil in poetry too and suggested Zauq as his nom de plume.
Though Zauq could not complete the course of the maktab, he got hooked to
poetry. In those days Shah Naseer was the most famous master poet of Delhi.
Zauq began showing his ghazals to Shah Naseer for improvement. Naseer
recognized the natural talent and made him his pupil. Gradually, Zauq began
participating in the mushairas. His natural bent of mind towards poetry coupled
with his singular obsession to excel in the pursuit brought him fame and
fortune. He would be better appreciated in the mushairas than his mentor. Shah
Naseer got very annoyed with the growing popularity of Zauq. He threw him out
of the group of his pupils. Zauq, thereafter, relied only on his talent and
continued writing poetry with a vengeance.
Another poet, Meer Kazim Husain Beqarar, a friend of Zauq's
was appointed the mentor of the Crown Prince Zafar, who later ascended the
throne. Through him Zauq could got the chance to enter the royal court. He also
started participating in the royal mushairas. When Beqarar took up the job of
Meer Munshi (Head Clerk) in the Office of John Elphinstone, Crown Prince Zafar
appointed Zauq as his mentor with a monthly salary of Rs. 4- that was
ultimately raised to Rs. 100- when Bahadur Shah Zafar ascended the throne. He
remained the poet laureate of the Mughal Court till his death in 1854.
Zauq’s reputation in Urdu poetry is because of his eulogies
that reflect his command over the language and his expertise in composing
poetry in extremely difficult meters. Since he got associated with the royal
court right from his teens and remained there till his death, he had to write
mostly eulogies to seek the patronage and rewards from the princes and the
King. His mentor, Shah Naseer, would also pay attention only to the linguistic
eloquence and mastery over prosody. Zauq also emulated the example of his
mentor. Such style of poetry suits eulogy writing. Many critics regard him a
great eulogy writer next only to Sauda.
His ghazals also have some literary values. Since Bahadur
Shah Zafar was fond of using simple and colloquial diction, Zauq too composed
his ghazals using simple words, phrases of everyday use and similes rooted in
the common culture. His ghazals are also notable for their spontaneity. Zauq
was a deeply religious man. In his ghazals too he would deal with religious and
ethical themes. Therefore, his ghazals lack lyricism and appear to be the
verses of a preacher.
Major portion of Zauq’s poetical output got lost because
mutiny of 1857. Maulana Mohammed Husain Azad compiled a slim volume of his
poetry with the help of his pupils like Hafiz, Veeran, Anwar and Zaheer that
contains twelve hundred couplets of Ghazals and fifteen Eulogies.
By: Gulraiz Kamal
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