Karbala Poetry by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in a rare painting 

Dr.Mazhar Naqvi

His “temper is capricious and fickle, his days and nights are passed in the female apartments and he appears to have resigned himself to debauchery, dissipation and low pursuits”. This is how the British have portrayed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah-the last ruler of Awadh kingdom. What the British did to assassinate character of Wajid Ali to annex his kingdom, Independent India too has been following the suit. A Delhi based company has named an aphrodisiac after him and successfully selling it for over three decades. The wrong done to Nawab Wajid Ali needs to be corrected, for he was a great worshipper and azadar who always strived to live in accordance with code of conduct prescribed by Islam. Shah was a creative, difficult and interesting person. He started taking keen interested in poetry and other forms of art after the British did not allow him to run his kingdom firmly and finally dethroned him in 1856 on the charge of ill-governance. He spent his last days in Calcutta(now Kolkata) with sheer number of followers cramped into his premises, however, gave some impression of pomp—the grounds hosted over 7,000 people, household guards, and dozens of disgruntled begums, not to speak of a menagerie of monkeys, bears, and 18,000 pigeons.

In his small state in Matiyaburj locality, Shah built an imposing Imambara and mosque where he offered his prayers regularly. He used to compose elegiac poetry while covering the distance between his palace and mosque or Imambara. While there is no dearth of material portraying Shah as a womanizer and man of low character, little effort has been made to his contribution to elegiac poetry and emergence of composite culture in his kingdom. The  book published  by National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, New Delhi on literary contribution of Shah has spared only three out of almost 700 pages to his marsiya and Nauha writing. This has been done despite admission of the fact that Shah was a poet of caliber and his elegiac poetry was comparable to great poets of his era.

For example, see Kalam of Shah on Janab-e-Sakina, the little daughter of Imam Hussain :

“Bano ne Kaha Main Tere Qurban Sakina

Khol Ankhon ko Aur Baap ko Pahchan Sakina

Do bunde jo the Kano Mein Hilte the Tab  

Takti thi har ek chehre ko anjan Sakina

Baiyat ka bahan tha faqat qatl tha manzur

Shabbir pe para bahistaan hai Sakina “

Similarly Shah remembers the plight of survivors after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain :

“Karbala mein jab ghari Shaam e Ghareeban ho chuki

Aur sahar manind zulf shab e pareshan  ho chuki   

Kokab e Zahra pe jab abre shahadat cha gaya

Chandni maili hui aur dhoop uryan ho chuki

Aftab e deen gahan mein aa gaya hai hai

Roshni teri bas ab mahe taban ho chuki  

Ansuon ko silsila baqi rahe aie doston

Binte Zahra Shaam mein Majuse Zindan ho chuki”

 Shah’s marsiya writing has been criticized on two counts. He wrote marsiyas in hurry and as a result compromised with quality on certain occasions. Secondly, he did not pay much attention on the opening of his marsiya known as chehra(face).So his marsiyas fail to catch attention the way writing of other eminent poets does. However, such shortcomings don’t belittle Shah as marsiya writer in the backdrop of what he suffered in his life and adversely affected his writing.

Shah was a generous man. He not only wrote elegiac poetry but also patronized poets and artists. He held in high esteem Marsiyanigars, Sozkhwans, Nauhakhwans and Azadar-e-Imam. He offered rewards to them and praised marsiya writers and reciters in these words :   

“Kya kahne jo marsiya kahe hain

Jo marsiyakhwan hai parh rahe hain

Mazmoon bhi bandish bhi maqool

Beshubah ye marsiya hai maqbool

Dee haq ne ye tabanhfaiz buniyad

Shagird  jo ho wahi hai ustad

Alam mein jo ye Sukhan na hota

Mumtaz kabhi ye fan na hota “ ,  

 Born in 1822, he wore his hair in ringlets and dressed in robes. He succeeded to the throne of Awadh in 1847, a state carved out of the crumbling Mughal empire, Less than a decade after he was told in 1856 that his kingdom would be absorbed into British territory, the Shah cried, “Why have I deserved this? What (crime) have I committed?” There was no clear answer, but one hint lies in the fact that the East India Company owed him large amounts in debt. Why bother repaying a loan when liquidating your moneylender was a more comfortable option? This is how he had to leave Lucknow and settle at Calcutta, leaving him a depressed and isolated man. But he did not forget martyrs of Karbala in the most trying circumstances and did much to promotion of Azadari in his new abode. A leading Zakir-e-Ahlebait recently dubbed all the rulers of Awadh as womanizers. He should have not done so, for his own forefathers had enjoyed patronage of Nawabs when they embarked upon the mission to turn Azadari in mass revolution in Awadh. As a scholar of international repute, he should see the passion of Nawabs for Azadari and not their private lives that have been portrayed with lies by the British authors. More so,no disrespect should be shown to someone who died in 1887 and Islam is avedrse to such utterance.(References available on request. Photo courtesy Google Images)