Saturday 15 October 2016

Marsiya Writer Mirza Dabeer Needs Fair Treatment



Dr.Mazhar Naqvi
Imamis have not been much fair to Mirza Salamat Ali Dabeer. First, they unnecessarily pitted him against Mir Anees in 19th century India and now paying no attention towards preservation of his work. Although he is better known as a leading  exponent of marsiya writing along with Mir Anees, Dabeer also excelled in the art of other forms of Urdu poetry. Being a Shair-e-Ahlebait, he refrained himself from writing Ghazals but his Salams surely indicates his mastery over ghazal writing. A couplet from one of his Salams exemplify clearly that his poetic skills are comparable to Ghalib. The couplet says “  
“Hurr fida pyaasa jo Shah par ho gaya
Ai salami, qatra tha samandar ho gaya!”
Translation in English:
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!



It is indeed strange that Dabeer has remained neglected from the point of research on his work despite having a considerable following in Lucknow during his life time. In the era of Anees and Dabeer, their followers were divided into two formidable groups known as ‘Anneesiye and Dabeeriye’. Though the poets never criticized each other, their followers always tried to establish supremacy of Anees over Dabeer or vice-versa. While much work has been done on Anees, Dabeer remains neglected till date. No complete or  authentic text of Dabeer’s poetry is available and even critical work on him too is buried in the files of literary journals.he has remained ignored even after publication of Maula Shibli Nomani’s great work titled ‘ Mawazana-i-Anis-o-Dabeer’. There is dearth of material even on his son as well who himself was an excellent marsiya writer and trained by his illustrious father. Dabeer surely deserves much better treatment. Born in 1803 in Delhi, he had started reciting marsiya since childhood during Muharram gatherings. He began writing poetry under the tutelage of Mir Zameer. He moved  to Lucknow following its emergence as a great center of Azadari under the patronage of Awadh Nawabs. He found suitable environment in Lucknow and excelled at a time when Anees was considered unparalleled. Research on him is needed because considerable amount of his work has not seen light of the day. His work is a treasure and master piece of elegiac poetry and hence, deserves to be preserved and protected. Such endeavor is also required because of the poor condition of his last resting place in Nakhas area.(References available on request. Photo Courtesy Google Images).      

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