Imam Hussain in the Poetry of Mirza Ghalib

A Rare Photograph of Mirza Ghalib


Ghalib's Tribute to Imam Hussain

Dr.Mazhar Naqvi

Ghalib, mai-nosh honay par gar Jannat na ja sakoon,
Hasrat yehi hai kay baad-e-marg kuch kaam aa sakoon;
Eendhan bana dey mujh ko Jahannum ka, aye Khuda,
Har dushman-e-Ali (A.S) ka kalaija jala sakoon

These lines of Mirza Ghalib illustrate his love for the progeny of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad and hatred against the enemies of Ahle-Bait-E-Athar.  He is regarded not only as as the last great poet of the Mughal India but also as one of the most popular and influential Urdu poets. His poetry enjoys tremendous popularity among people in Indo-Pak Sub-Continent but surprisingly much attention has not been paid to his Salams and Marsiyas.As a result, he remains neglected as a pro-Ahle-bait Shair(Poet).How beautifully Ghalib  offers his rich tributes to Imam Hussain  is exemplified from the opening of his kalam titled as salam:

“ Salaam usay, ki agar badshah kahay usko
 Tu phir kahay, ki kuch is say siwa kahay usko
 Na badshah, na sultan, yeh kya satayesh hai
 Kaho ki khamis, Aal-aay Aba kahay usko”

(Salute to this great soul, we call him as monarch but then realizes  that word ‘Emperor  is too inferior to his exaltedness and grandeur. He can’ be compared to any  king’ , Emperor or monarch, for these words are just like a small drop before a vast Ocean. So  let us all call him (Hazrat Imam Hussain) as the part of five most sacred and pious souls of universe I.e. ‘the Panjatan’.)

He further says about the personality of Imam and shows him respect through the couplet

“  Bahut hai pa’yeey gard’y rahay Hussain buland
    Ba qadr faham hai, gar Kimiya kahay usko
 

(What to say or talk about  Imam’s personality and respect, even the soil touching their feet is more than the medicine and treatment for the diseases of soul and body)

Ghalib then also claims that Imam Husain, the grandson of Hazrat Muhammad, has such supremacy, might, power and strength for soul, for he taught us  faith and delivered true message of peace,”

 Farugay jawharay Iman, Hussain ibn Ali
 Ki, sham’aay anjumany Kibriya kahay usko

(Hazrat Imam Hussain is the promoter of  faith, so let us all call him the lamp and candle of the congregation of Allah’s blessed, Ummat.)

 After exhibiting the magnificence of Imam, Ghalib grieves over what this Ummat did to Imam at Karbala in most cruel and barbaric manner -:
 

Imam’ay waqt ki yeh qadr ki Ahl Enaad
 Pyadah Lay Chalay aur Na saza Kahay usko

Then he concludes that  Imam arrived in  Karbala to show the  true face of Islam and wanted people be aware of their responsibilities towards, Allah,his messenger and society at large but the ruling regime did not allow him to do so. He had to offer sublime sacrifice with his family and friends and thus he attained the supreme form of ‘Martyrdom’.

 Shaheed’ay tashna labay karbala kahay usko

Apart from the verses of Salam, Ghalib has also written an elegy for Imam Hussain. He writes :
 

Haan, aay baday sahar! Sh’eolah fishan ho
 ay dajla’ey khoon, chesm’ey malayek say rawan ho
 Bigdey hai bahut,baat banayay nahi bantey
 Ab ghar ko bagayr aag lagayey nahi bantey
 Tabay sukhan wa taqatey gawga nahi hum ko
 Matam mai shah’ey Deen kay,hai sawda nahi humko
 Ghar phoonknay mai apnay mahaba nahi hum ko
 Gar charkh bhi jal jayey tu parwah nahi hum ko
 Yeh khurgahey nuw payey jo mudat say bajaa hai
 Kya Kheema’ey SHABEER say rutbay mai siwa hai?

( “oh you the morning breeze, turn into burning wind and you the rivers turn to flowing blood from the eyes of the holy angels. The unbearable agony and pain which afflicted me (Ghalib) makes me to set afire my own shelter, as I am unable to speak and having no such power of mourning because the sort of mourning it deserves can’t be done by humans altogether. So let before my eyes everything turn to ashes, as people have cared least about the Prophet’s orders and Ahlul-bayt and I know that this world with its all possession is not more valuable to me than the tents of Imam Hussain. And if those shelters turn to ashes then what to save thereafter”, conveys Ghalib in a pofound agony remembering the happenings of 10th Muharram in the desert of Karbala. In another verse he says let whole of my life, my heart remain filled with the agony and pain of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS)” 

Gham’ey Shabeer say ho senaa yahan tak labrayz
 Ki rahay khoonay jigar say meri aankhey rangeen

(The translation has been done by Janab Aga Mudasir Rizvi and taken as Courtesy to further the cause of  Imam’s message in view of its beauty). 

The reason of Ghalib’s affection for imam Hussain can be attributed to his background. His father . Mirza Abdullah Baig Khan had married Izzat-ut-Nisa Begum who was a Kashmiri woman and a devotee of Panjatan. Mirza Abdulla usually stayed at the house of his father-in-law and that developed in him a great interest towards the family of holy prophet. It was further strengthened by his first job at the Imami Nawab of Lucknow, followed by employment with Nizam of Deccan who too were not opposed to Ahle-Bait.( References available on request. Photo Courtesy Google Images)