Mir Babar Ali Anis

"Anees" redirects here. For the racehorse, see Anees (horse).

Urdu poet of Mughal era Mir Babbar Ali Anees
Born	1803 Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh
Died	1874 Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Pen name	Anis
Occupation	Urdu poet
Nationality	Indian
Period	Mughal era
Genres	Marsiya, Rubai
Subjects	Battle of Karbala
Influenced Urdu poetry

Mir Babbar Ali Anees (Urdu: میر ببر علی انیس) was a renowned Urdu poet. He was born in Faizabad in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in 1803 and died in 1874.

The famous marsia writers who inherited the tradition of Mir Anis among his successive generations are Mir Nawab Ali 'Munis', Dulaha Sahab 'Uruj', Mustafa Meerza urf Piyare Sahab 'Rasheed', Syed Muhammad Mirza Uns, Ali Nawab 'Qadeem', Syed Sajjad Hussain 'Shadeed', Syed Sajjad Hussain "Shadeed" Lucknavi, Dr. Syed Ali Imam Zaidi, "Gauher" Luckhnavi the (great grandson of Mir Babber Ali Anis).

The Majlis of 25 Rajab, is historically important Majlis of Marsiya in Lucknow, in this majlis Mir Anis used to recite Marsiya. After Mir Anis well known marsiya writers of Mir Anis's family as Dulaha Sahab 'Uruj', Mustafa Meerza urf Piyare Sahab 'Rasheed', Ali Nawab (Qadeem) and Syed Sajjad Hussain 'Shadeed', inherited the legacy of reciting marsiya. Presently, Dr. Syed Ali Imam Zaidi (Gauher) Luckhnavi (grandson of 'Shadeed') recites self composed Marsiya.

Work, contribution and legacy

Mir Anis composed salāms, elegies, nauhas, quatrains. While the length of elegy initially had no more than forty or fifty stanzas, it now was beyond one hundred fifty or even longer than two hundred stanzas or bunds, as each unit of marsia in musaddas format is known. According to Muhammad Hussain Azad "The late Mīr Sahib must certainly have composed at least ten thousand elegies, and salāms beyond count. He composed as easily and casually as he spoke.".^[1]

Muharram and Mir Anis have become synonymous among Urdu lovers of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Mir Anis has been a great teacher and inspiration for generations. Undoubtedly, Urdu derives much of its strength from the Marsias of Mir Anis. Mir Anis has drawn upon the vocabulary of Arabic, Persian, Urdu/Hindi/Awadhi in such a good measure that he symbolizes the full spectrum of the cultural mosaic that Urdu has come to be. No Urdu poet from Ghalib onwards has lagged behind in showering his eulogies on Mir Anis. Mir Anis himself was aware of his contribution as he writes: "Kisi ne teri terha se aay Anis, Aroos-e-sukhan ko sanwara nahi"

"Perhaps there is no other poet in the world who has looked after the aesthetic and spiritual satisfaction of his

The first major and still current critical articulation about Mir Anis was Muazna-e-Anis-o-Dabir (1907) written by Shibli Nomani in which he said "the poetic qualities and merits of Anis are not matched by any other poet"

Shamsur Rahman Faruqi in 'How to read Iqbal?' on comparing Iqbal with Nazeer Akbarabadi says that "Iqbal was placed better because he had, among others, Bedil (1644–1720) in Persian and Mir Anis (1802–1874) in Urdu." to inherit the rich tradition of Urdu nazm. He further asserts that, "The mention of Mir Anis may surprise some of us until we realize it that Mir Anis’s marsiyas are the best premodern model in Urdu of narrative-historical, narrative-lyrical, and oral-dramatic poetry, and Iqbal’s poetry extends and exploits the possibilities created by Anis."

• Marsia
• List of famous Marsia writers

• Mir Baber Ali "Anees"
• Mirza Salaamat Ali "Dabeer"
• Mustafa Mirza(Urf)Piyarai sb."Rasheed"
• Syed Sajjad Husain "shadeed"
• Dr.Syed Ali Imam Zaidi"Gauhar"lucknavi(Great Grand son of Mir Baber Ali Anees)

References

1. ^ Aab-e-Hayat (English Translation, Translated and edited by Frances W. Pritchett, in association with Shamsur Rahman Faruqi)

External links

• [1] about Mir Babbar Ali Anis in 'Aab-e-Hayat'
• [2] The first ever website with the name of the legendary poet by Abu Talib Rizvi of India (A research on Mir Anis and His masterpiece)
• [3] The Digital South Asia Library- 5th Era of Aab-e-Hayat, Dabeer and Anis (Pritchett translation in English)
• [4] English translation of a marsiya by Anis
• [5] Yadgar e Anis-An Analysis of Marsiya of Anis by Dr Taqi Abedi
• [6]
• [7]
• [8]
• [9] Mir Babbar Ali Anis remembered
• [10] Mir Anis bi-centenary in Karachi
• [11] Mir Anis and Karbala
• [12] Chakbast ki Ramayan in Devnagri script
• [13] Master pieces of Urdu Rubaiyat by K C Kanda
• A collection of Marsia by Anees
• Marsiya collection of Mir Anees in urdu.

Persondata
Name	Anis, Mir Babar Ali
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1803
Place of birth	Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh
Date of death	1874
Place of death	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh