Ghani Kashmiri Mirza Muhammad Tahir


 

          The 17th century poet Ghani Kashmiri is among the most famous persian poets that the subcontinent has produced. He lived during the reign of Aurangzeb and died in the early years of the 18th century. Even during his lifetime his fame transcended the borders of India and he was acknowledged in Iran as one of the great masters of persian poetry. In India he exerted a great influence on the development of persian and urdu poetry and the great urdu poet Mirza Ghalib translated more than 40 of his couplets into urdu.

         Mahjoor refers to him in his famous poem ‘Arise, O’ Gardener’:

Litterateurs of Iran will bow

To you in reverence

if you create a poet with powers of

magical narration like Ghani.
 

Mirza Ali Saib, a famous persian poet of Iran, unable to understand the meaning of a famous verse - in which Ghani had intermingled both Persian and Kashmiri words - travelled all the way to Kashmir to meet him.

         The verse, contained in "Dewan-e-Ghani", reads:

Like the potter's thread, your tresses made me dazed and senseless,
severing the head (pot) from the body (lump of clay).
 

When the Iranian poet arrived the poet was not home yet the doors of his house were open. Iqbal refers to this incident thus:

That nightingale of poetry, Ghani,

Who sang in Kashmir’s paradisal land,

Used, while at home, to shut up all the doors,

But leave them open while away from home.

Somebody questioned him concerning this.

"O charming bard," he said, "Why do you do

This strange thing, which nobody understands

The meaning of ?"

Ghani, who had no wealth

Except his gift of poetry, replied:

"What people see me doing is quite right.

There is nothing of any value in my house

Except myself. When I am in, the house

Is to be guarded like a treasure-house.

When I am out, it is an empty place,

Which nobody would care to walk into."

An example of Ghani's urdu poetry :

"Dil yun khayale zulf mein phirta hai n'ara zan
Taarik shab mein jaise koi pasban phire"

Ghani Kashmiri is almost forgotten in his native Kashmir today, while ironically his writings are prescribed study material for scholars in Iran - where he is regarded as a greater poet in persian than Iqbal. In this context the efforts of Dr. Tafazul Hussain to preserve his legacy are commendable and need our support. Visit his website at : http://www.geocities.com/taffazull/ .

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These pages were conceptualised and implemented by Dr. Bakshi Jehangir ©2002 and beyond.