Muhammad Husain Azad

Muhammad Husain Azad (1830-1910) was an Urdu writer, who is regarded as the best Urdu prose writer. He wrote prose as well as poetry but he is mostly remembered for his prose. His contribution and impact is immense to Urdu literature and prose in particular.

He is famous for his masterpiece Aab-e-Hayat (meaning elixir of life). It is regarded as the most often printed and most widely read book of Urdu because of its numerous qualities, which makes it a constant companion or a book of reference for an ardent Urdu lover.

He was born in Delhi in a highly educated Persian immigrant family. His mother died when he was four years old. His father was Maulvi Muhammad Baqir (c.1810-1857), was a man of versatile talents, and was educated at the newly founded Delhi College. Besides his many other activities he worked in the British administration. In early 1837 Maulvi Muhammad Baqir bought a press and launched the Dihli Urdu Akhbaar (Delhi Urdu Newspaper), which was probably the first Urdu newspaper in north India. Maulvi Muhammad Baqir was executed for siding with Mughals and joining the rebellion in 1857.

Muhammad Husain Azad was the only son of Maulvi Baqir and was married to Aghai Begum daughter of another Persian immigrant family. Following his father's death and a period of turmoil in Delhi, Azad migrated to Lahore in 1861. After struggling for years he gradually settled down in Lahore and started teaching at newly founded (1964) Government College, Lahore,and later at Oriental College, Lahore, found under the auspices of Anjuman-e-Punjab (Punjab Society).

In Lahore he came in contat of Dr. G. W. Leitner who was the Principal and founder of Anjuman-e-Punjab. Anjuman-ePunjab's mission was solely cultural and academic, Anjuman arranged public lectures, set up a free library and reading room, compiled educational texts and translations in Indian languages, and established Lahore's famous Oriental College. The Anjuman was actively supported by leading British officials of the time and was considered a grat success. In 1866 Azad became a regularly paid lecturer on behalf of the Anjuman; in 1867 he became its secretary.In 1887 he managed to set up the 'Azad Library', which earned him praise and earned the title of 'Shams ul-ulamā' (Sun among the Learned). After undergoing great personal, health and mental loses, Azad died in Lahore in 1910, at the age of eighty.

Around 1845 he was enrolled at Delhi College in Urdu-medium 'Oriental' section, which offered Arabic and Persian rather than English. He keenly pursued his studies for about eight years before graduating in 1854.

By: Gulraiz Kamal

Ustad Ibrahim Zouq

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

Asadullah Khan Ghalib

Hui muddat ki "GHALIB" mar gaya par yaad aata hai.......!!!

Woh har ek baat pe kehna ke yoon hota to kya hota……..

Mirza Ghalib was born on 27 December 1797  in Agra into a family descended from Aibak Turks who moved to Samarkand after the downfall of the Seljuk kings. His paternal grandfather, Mirza Qoqan Baig Khan was a Saljuq Turk who had immigrated to India from Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan) during the reign of the Ahmad Shah (1748–54). He worked at Lahore, Delhi, and Jaipur, was awarded the subdistrict of Pahasu (Bulandshahr, UP) and finally settled in Agra, UP, India. He had 4 sons and 3 daughters. Mirza Abdullah Baig Khan and Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan were two of his sons. Mirza Abdullah Baig Khan (Ghalibs father) got married to Izzat-ut-Nisa Begum, and then lived at the house of his father in law. He was employed first by the Nawab of Lucknow and then the Nizam of Hyderabad, Deccan. He died in a battle in 1803 in Alwar and was buried at Rajgarh (Alwar, Rajasthan). Then Ghalib was a little over 5 years of age. He was raised first by his Uncle Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan.
Mirza Nasrullah Baig Khan (Ghalibs uncle) started taking care of the three orphaned children. He was the governor of Agra under the Marathas. The British appointed him an officer of 400 cavalrymen,fixed his salary at Rs.1700.00 month, and awarded him 2 parganas in Mathura (UP, India). When he died in 1806, the British took away the parganas and fixed his pension as Rs. 10,000 per year, linked to the state of Firozepur Jhirka (Mewat, Haryana). The Nawab of Ferozepur Jhirka reduced the pension to Rs. 3000per year. Ghalibs share was Rs. 62.50 / month. Ghalib was married at age 13 to Umrao Begum, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh (brother of the Nawab of Ferozepur Jhirka). He soon moved to Delhi, along with his younger brother, Mirza Yousuf Khan, who had developed schizophrenia at a young age and later died in Delhi during the chaos of 1857.[4]
In accordance with upper class Muslim tradition, he had an arranged marriage at the age of 13, but none of his seven children survived beyond infancy. After his marriage he settled in Delhi. In one of his letters he describes his marriage as the second imprisonment after the initial confinement that was life itself. The idea that life is one continuous painful struggle which can end only when life itself ends is a recurring theme in his poetry. One of his couplets puts it in a nutshell……. 

By: Gulraiz kamal