The Poet: Mirza Khan Daagh Dehlavi مرزا خان داغ دہلوی was born in 1831 in Delhi. His father passed away when he was very young, following which his stepfather took care of him. His stepfather was Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur مرزا فتح المُلک بہادر (also called Mirza Fakhru مرزا فخرو ), who was a son and heir to the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar بہادر شاہ ظفر. Following the unsuccessful War of Independence of 1857 (called Indian Mutiny by the British) and the cruelty of British towards Indians, especially the Muslim elite and those connected with the Mughal Court, life was not easy. In 1865 Daagh left Delhi for Rampur where he lived for over 25 years. Following an invitation from the Nizam of Hyderabad, he moved to Hyderabad, Deccan in 1891. There he became the poetry teacher (ustad) استاد of the Nizam of Hyderabad. There he passed away in 1905.
Daagh belongs to the Delhi School of Urdu poetry. He uses simple language and ideas, which makes his poetry very refreshing. He was also a poetry teacher (ustad) استاد for Allama Muhammad Iqbal علّامہ محمّد اقبال, one of the foremost Muslim thinkers of the 20th Century. Iqbal, during his early years of writing poetry while he was still in Sialkot, used to mail ghazals to Daagh for islah اصلاح (correction). After a few ghazals, Daagh sent back the ghazals to Iqbal, saying that they did not need any correction. Shaikh Abdul Qadir (editor of the Urdu literary magazine Makhzan مخزن), writing the preface for Baang-e Dara بانگِ درا (the toll of the bell), Iqbals first published book of poetry, mentions that Daagh himself mentioned to him once that he was very proud that he did correction for Iqbals ghazals. In Baang-e Dara, Iqbal wrote a poem titled Daagh following Daagh's death. Few verses from that:
داغ
چل بسا داغؔ آہ میّت اُسکی زیبِ دوش ہے
آخری شاعر جہاں آبادؔ کا خاموش ہے
اب صبا سے کون پوچھے گا سکوتِ گل کا راز؟
کون سمجھے گا چمن میں نالۂِ بلبل کا راز؟
لکھّی جائیں گی کتابِ دل کی تفسیریں بہت
ہوں گی اے خوابِ جوانی تیری تعبیریں بہت
ہو بہو کھینچے گا لیکن عشق کی تصویر کون؟
اٹھ گیا ناوک فگن ، مارے گا دل پر تیر کون؟
اشک کے دانے زمینِ شعر میں بوتا ہوں میں
تو بھی رو اے خاکِ دلّی داغؔ کو روتا ہوں میں
اے جہاں آبادؔ ، اے سرمایۂِ بزمِ سخن
ہو گیا پھر آج پامالِ خزاں تیرا چمن
وہ گُلِ رنگیں ترا رخصت مثالِ بُو ہوا
آہ خالی داغ سے کاشانۂِ اُردو ہوا
تھی نہ شاید کچھ کشش ایسی وطن کی خاک میں
وہ مہِ کامل ہوا پنہاں دکنؔ کی خاک میں
اٹھ گۓ ساقی جو تھے ، مے خانہ خالی رہ گبا
یادگارِ بزمِ دہلی ایک حالیؔ رہ گیا
علّامہ اقبالؔ : بانگِ درا
Thus Daagh was a historic link between the pre-colonial Mughal period and the twentieth century.
He was very proud of his Urdu language:
اردو ہے جس کا نام ہمیں جانتے ہیں داغ
سارے جہاں میں دھوم ہماری زباں کی ہے
The Singer: Mehdi Hassan Khann خان مہدی حسن was born in Luna, Rajasthan, India on 18 July 1927 in a family musicians. His first techers of music were his father استاد عظیم خان Ustad Azeem Khan and his uncle استاد اسماعیل خان Ustad Ismail Khan. After partition of the Indian Sub-continent, he moved to Pakistan in 1947. He first started working as a bicycle shop and later became an auto mechanic. He first sang on Radio Pakistan in 1950s. He passed away in کراچی Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, on 13 June 2012, following a long illness. He has been awarded 3 of the highest civil awards (Hilal-i Imtiaz ہلالِ امتیاز, Tamgha-i Imtiaz تمغہِ امتیاز, and the تمغہِ حسنِ کارکردگی Pride of Performance Award) by the Government of Pakistan.
خاموش تماشائی
KhamoshTamashai
7 май 2009
