- Mirza Muhammad Rafi Sauda
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Contents
Life
Sauda was the leading Urdu poet of his time. His name Mirza Muhammad Rafi. Sauda was born in A.H. 1125 [1713-14][1]. His accomplishments were a cause of pride to the city of Delhi. His father Mirzā Muḥammad Shafī was from the aristocratic family of Kabul. His ancestors were soldiers by profession. Mirzā Shafī came to India by means of trade. According to some, he got his pen-name 'Sauda' from his father's profession (saudāgar). "But the truth is that the poets of Asia, in every country, live and breathe through love; and saudā [=madness] and dīvānagī [=madness] are born together with love. Thus madness too is a cause of pride to lovers. So with regard to this he chose 'Saudā' as his pen-name, and thanks to saudāgarī [=merchandising] the verbal device of punning came as a 'special free offer' into his poetry."[1]
He was raised and educated in Delhi. His house was in the Kabuli Gate area, which was destroyed in the destruction of Delhi in 1857.
Sauda originally wrote poetry in perian but on Khan-e-Arzu, his senior and mentor persuasion started writing in Urdu.
Saudā was first the pupil of Sulaiman Quli Khan 'Vidad',and then of Shah Hatim. Shah Hatim in the introduction to his volume in which gives a list of his pupils, has recorded Sauda's name with great pride and He outlived Sauda. He was not a pupil of Khan-e-Arzu, but benefited from his company.
With time he gained fame and recognition, even during his lifetime his ghazals were on the lips of folks of Delhi. He found patronage in the Mughal king of the time, since he was a man of great pride and honor left the royal court forever over an argument with the king over poetry. But he found numerous patrons among nobles of the time. His fame reached Nawab Shuja ud Daula of Awadh and he got invitation to leave Delhi for Lucknow. At the age of 60 or 66 years he left Delhi, and stayed for some time in Farrukhabad, with Navab Bangash. He wrote a number of odes in praise of the Navab. In A.H. 1185 (1771-72]), he arrived in Lucknow in the court of Navab Shuja-ud-Daulah for first and the last meeting with the nawab and never went back till Asif-ud-Daulah became nawab of Lucknow. He was invited once again to the court of Awadh by Asif-ud-Daulah with gifts and honors and he remained associated with the nawab till his death in A.H. 1195 (1780–81), when he was 70 years of age according to hijri calendar. When Shah Hatim heard the news, he wept profusely and said, 'What a pity, my champion of poetry has died'.
Work and contribution
Hakim Sayyid Aslah-ud-Din Khan compiled Sauda's complete works and also wrote an introduction for it. According to Muhammad Husain Azad, his work comprises Urdu odes (Qasidas), some Persian odes, twenty-four masnavis and many tales and versified anecdotes, then a short volume of his Persian poetry. Then volume of Rekhtah comprises many incomparable ghazals, and opening verses, quatrains, extended-line poems (musatazads), verse-sets, chronograms, riddles, lover's complaints, repeated-line poems, quintains(mukhammas-he has composed everything. In every form of sauda's poetry there are satires that "turn the hearts and livers of his enemies sometimes to blood, sometimes to kabobs." And finally there was an anthology of Urdu poets which is not found now. Muhammad Husain Azad says, "...from start to finish it's an exemplary model for Urdu poetry and literature."
He wrote ghazals, qasidas (Ode/panegyric), marsias(elegies), salams and hajvs (lampoon/ satire). Muhammad Husain Azad compare's Sauda to Persian poet Anwari, he writes, 'If Saudā can be compared to anyone, it is Anvari, who is the lord of idiom and language, and the king of ode and satire.'
His marsias were different form later marsia writers like Anis and Dabeer, each stanza consists of four-liners or four verses known as ruba'i or quatrain.
He was master of hajv (satire/lampoon) in Urdu, none is considered his equal till this date. His satire reflects his wit and mischief, every page of the collection of satires has sufficient matter for those who like to laugh. This shows exuberance and liveliness of his temperament. He also wrote prose but his prose is considered quite difficult and lacks natural flow and spontaniety of his poetry.
See also
- Anis
- Dabeer
References
- ^ a b Muhammad Husain Azad- Aab-e-Hayat
External links
Categories:- People from Delhi
- People from Lucknow
- Urdu poets
- Indian poets
- Indian Shi'a Muslims
- 1713 births
- 1781 deaths
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