Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq: the Khaqani of Hind

In nineteenth-century Delhi, the Red Fort was the last mark of a fading monarchy, but its mushairas were famous across India. The highest seat at these gatherings belonged to a poet who rose from a modest family, became the emperor’s tutor and was called “Malik-ush-Shu’ara”, the poet laureate. He was Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq. His language was that of the lanes of Delhi: clean, sharp and full of idiom. Many of his lines have become proverbs:

Life brought us here, so we came; death leads us away, so we goNeither our coming nor our going was by our own will

Life brought us into the world, so we came. Death led us away, so we went. Neither coming nor going was by our own choice. It is hard to state human helplessness more simply.

Life and times

According to Rekhta, Zauq was born in Delhi in 1790. His father, Muhammad Ramzan, came from a Khatri family that had converted to Islam, and the home had no particular atmosphere of learning or literature. As a child he was sent to the school of Hafiz Ghulam Rasool, who himself wrote poetry under the pen name Shauq. In his company Zauq developed a love of poetry, and the pen name “Zauq” was also given by him. Later he became a pupil of Shah Naseer, a famous master of the time.

Zauq’s childhood friend Mir Kazim Ali Beqarar was in the service of Crown Prince Mirza Abu Zafar, later Bahadur Shah Zafar. According to Rekhta, it was through him that Zauq gained access to the Fort. He began attending the court mushairas, and Emperor Akbar Shah II was so pleased with one of his odes that he gave him the title “Khaqani-e-Hind”. For a young poet this was an extraordinary honour. His stipend from the crown prince’s household began at Rs4 a month and later rose to Rs100.

As Zauq’s fame grew, his relations with his teacher Shah Naseer soured, and his rivalry with Mirza Ghalib is a well-known story in the literary history of Delhi. According to Rekhta, Ghalib wrote a sehra for the wedding of Prince Jawan Bakht, and its closing verse contained a poetic boast. The emperor took offence and had Zauq write a sehra in reply. When Bahadur Shah Zafar ascended the throne, Zauq remained his tutor and poet laureate.

Despite wealth and honour, Zauq stayed simple. According to Rekhta, although he owned several houses, he lived all his life in one small house. He died in 1854. He used to throw the drafts of his ghazals into pillow covers and earthen pots. When his pupils began collecting his verse after his death, the upheaval of 1857 broke out, and according to Rekhta his work could be printed only about forty years after his death.

Style

The strengths of Zauq’s ghazal are clean language, correct idiom and tight construction. He wrote a language close to everyday speech that did not confuse the listener. His verse has much moral and advisory content, but he binds it with example and simile so that the point goes straight to the heart. In the ode he was counted the second great name in Urdu after Sauda.

When it became common to read Zauq and Ghalib against each other, Zauq’s standing fell, but their fields are different. Ghalib is the poet of complexity of thought, Zauq of fluency of language.

Selected verse

Now, in distress, they say they will dieIf we find no rest even in death, where will we go?

Even if one lives as long as Khizr, one will know at the hour of deathHow long did we stay here? We had only just come, and now we go

Who has the world ever accompanied on the road to extinction?You too keep walking, for as long as you can

You have slain a great menace only if you have slain the base selfWhat does it count to have slain a crocodile, a dragon or a lion?

Satan was slain for refusing a single prostrationWhat good is it to have bowed your head for millions of years?

All that exists in the world exists for manThis adorned house is for that guest

Do not mingle with your own; all your own are enemies of their ownEvery reed is filled with fire for the reed-bed

In old age, the tales of youthAre like the tales of a dream

Greed for the world drags everyone about in disgraceNo one walks of himself; this carrion drags them along

O Zauq, if you have your senses, run far from the worldIn this tavern the sensible man has no business

Notes on the verses

“Now, in distress, they say they will die…” Overcome by sorrow, they say they will die. But if they find no peace even after death, where will they go? This is among Zauq’s most famous verses.

“Even if one lives as long as Khizr…” Even with a life as long as Khizr’s, at the hour of death it will seem that we hardly stayed here at all. We had only just come, and now we leave.

“Who has the world ever accompanied…” Whom has the world accompanied on the road to death? You too should keep walking for as long as you can.

“You have slain a great menace…” If you have slain the self within that urges you to evil, you have slain a great enemy. What great deed is it to have killed crocodiles, dragons and lions? True bravery is mastery over oneself.

“Satan was slain for refusing a single prostration…” Satan was ruined for refusing just one prostration, and his millions of years of prostration were of no use. That is, it is not the count of worship that matters but obedience and humility.

“All that exists in the world…” Everything in the world is for man. This adorned house has been made for that guest.

“Do not mingle with your own…” Do not trust your own people. One’s own are the enemies of one’s own, just as a reed-bed is set alight by its own reeds.

“In old age, the tales of youth…” In old age, talk of youth seems like the telling of a dream. A very true thing in a short metre.

“Greed for the world drags everyone about…” Everyone is going about humiliated by greed for the world. No one walks of his own accord; this carrion world drags them along.

“O Zauq, if you have your senses…” O Zauq, if you have any sense, stay far from the world. What business has a sensible man in this tavern?

Influence and legacy

According to Rekhta’s introduction, Zauq was considered a greater poet than Ghalib and Momin in his own time. Later the mood of the age changed, and he was dismissed as a minor poet. Today his place is being recognised again. His greatest memorial is his pupils: in prose Muhammad Husain Azad, whose “Aab-e-Hayat” is a classic of Urdu literature, and in the ghazal Dagh Dehlvi, who was covered in the eighth instalment of this series. Zaheer Dehlvi and Anwar Dehlvi were also among his pupils.

Zauq’s lines live on as proverbs, often in such a way that the speaker does not know they are Zauq’s. For a poet, perhaps the greatest success is that what he said becomes part of the language.

To readers: Which line of Zauq did you hear from your elders as an idiom? Write to us. Selected verses will be published with your name on next Friday’s page.

Next Friday: Fani Badayuni, in whose ghazal sorrow and extinction became a philosophy.