KARACHI: A few weeks back, a statement by distinguished Indian zakir and scholar Ayatollah Allama Aqeel-ul-Gharavi regarding Mir Anees and Mirza Dabeer— the two of the greatest elegiac poets who wrote about the tragedy of Karbala in the Urdu language — stirred up a controversy. Many of the poets’ followers took issue with the comment made by the scholar. In that connection, an event titled Urdu ka risa’i adab, tareekh-o-tanqeed was held at the Arts Council of Pakistan on Sunday evening.

Delivering the keynote address on the occasion, Ayatollah Allama Aqeel-ul-Gharavi said those who had come to the event would be familiar with its background and therefore he’d like to start his speech by two lines from Ghalib:

Baqadr-i-zarf hai saaqi khumar-i-tishna kami bhi

Jo tu darya-i-mai hai to main khumyaza hun saahil ka

[Cupbearer, the intoxication of thirst is proportionate to the ability to imbibe

If you are the river of wine, then we are the stretch of its shore]

He said ever since he started writing for journals, one thing has remained constant: dissatisfaction with the present and the quest for a bright future. It’s in his nature, whether people accept it or not.

Scholar Aqeel-ul-Gharavi says the greatness of the two poets is unchallenged, but life moves on

“To decide that the door to a particular art form is closed indicates a society’s willingness to decline. I see children playing cricket in the street and it’s claimed that the greatest cricketer in the world is Imran Khan. If I say to a child that who is Imran Khan, you can go beyond him, achieve more feats… It won’t be an insult to Imran Khan but it’s the acceptance of his greatness and at the same time a way to train (tarbiat) the child,” he said.

Mr Gharavi said the Almighty has place the ground beneath us so that we don’t fall further but He’s also put the sky over heads so that we rise as high as we can. “If someone doesn’t accept this vision, then what can I do?”

The scholar again quoted Ghalib:

Hai kahan tamanna ka doosra qadam ya Rab

Hum ne dasht-i-imkaan ko aik naqsh-i-pa paya [O Lord, where is the second step of desire

The desert of possibility is a single footprint]

He argued if Ghalib could say this about another universe, then can’t we expect of our society to have another Anees or Dabeer. “On the one hand there are linguistic possibilities and on the other, possibilities regarding the meaning of the subject or intended sense. Also, there is a third part which is to do with our understanding of religion.”

Referring to certain stanzas in the poems of both poets, he said some of them should have been questioned (girift mein lena chahyey tha) at the time of their creation. Consequently, poets of a lesser degree emulated that kind of poetry.

He reemphasised that Mir Anees and Dabeer’s greatness is unchallenged but life moves on. “You never know if tomorrow someone appears in the US, Canada, Lucknow or Karachi and write Karbala’s razmiya… Mir Anees and Mirza Dabeer’s achievement (karnama), which was objected to by some, is that they placed Imam Husain and the ahl-i-baet in the culture of Avadh. It’s quality poetry but Karbala wasn’t like that.”

Earlier, Dr Aqeel Abbas Jafri, in a thoughtfully and sensitively worded paper, introduced Mr Gharavi to the audience. He raised the question whether devotional literature was beyond criticism. He said it’s criticism that’s enriched Urdu literature.

Prof Mazhar Abbas recited a few stanzas from Mir Anees’s poetry.

Firasat Rizvi read a paper on Urdu marsiya, aaghaz aur irtiqa at the event, which was moderated by Javed Hasan.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2024