50

Article

Lamentation

Dedicated

Urdu

on Delhi

Poetry

to the
during

Declining
the

Late

Capital:
Mughal

Period

So Yamane

Introduction
The purpose of this
lamentation dedicated
during the late Mughal
In the study of Urdu
the Delhi of that time

study is to analyze some characteristics of Urdu

to the capital Delhi (Dihlr or Dillr in Urdu),
period.
literature, it has been argued that Urdu poetry in
is famous for its typical characteristics of the use

of simple words in a simple style and a pessimistic motif. This is why

Urdu poetry in Delhi during the late Mughal period is called Dabistane Dihl r, 'the Delhi School of Poetry' .1) Many Urdu poets wrote poems
on Delhi to express their grief at the declining capita1.2) These poems
were written mostly by Urdu poets in Delhi or by those who migrated
from Delhi to other places. Among them is one famous genre which is
categorized as shahr ashob, which means disturbance of the peace of a
city, and some studies have been done on it. Most studies, however, are
related to the history of shahr eishob and the fact that the poems of shahr
So Yamane, Department of Area Studies (South Asia, Urdu), Osaka University of Foreign Studies.
Subject: Urdu Literature.
Publications: Ghuldm 'Abbas Sawc-inil o Fan kii Tahqrqi Ja'iza (in Urdu), Lahore,
Sang-e Meel Publications, 1996. 295p. "Caudhri Barkat 'All Ichizoku to Gendai Urdu
Bungaku", (in Japanese), in Sekai Bungaku 4., Osaka Gaikokugo Daigaku Sekai Bungaku
Kenkyukai, 1999, pp. 281-316.

Lamentation

ashob

Dedicated

reflect the social disorder

to

the

Declining

51

Capital

of that era.3)Furthermore,

these

studies

are limited to very few individual poets who have employed this genre.4)
Another weakness of these studies is the omission of Urdu couplets of
the same motif. Since these couplets are not included in shahr iishob but
in ordinary ghazals, amatory poems, there has been a tendency for studies on shahr ashob and ghazals to be regarded as separate objects of a
study. Although a ghazal consists of several couplets and each couplet is
independent
in its own motif, it is possible to isolate those couplets
dealing with Delhi. But so far, few attempts have been made to study
such couplets. Saiyid `Abd Allah is among those who have proposed that
much attention needs to be paid to them, and he called this kind of
couplet 'ashobiya shi`r', a couplet of tumult5) But after Saiyid `Abd Allah,
little attention has been given to the comprehensive study of either these
couplets or shahr ashob. My objective is to understand these poems on
Delhi as monodies and to study their characteristics.
There are typical characteristics in the method and technical background of the metaphor of the poems, and it is through the study of their
metaphorical expressions that we will be able to analyze how the Urdu
poets utilized poetry to express their feelings about the decline of their
beloved capital.
Social Disorder
in Delhi and the Flowering
of Urdu Poetry
After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, Delhi faced many problems.
Conflicts among the successors of the emperors caused disputes and
assassinations in the Mughal Court, and invasions on Delhi by Nadir
Shah (1739) and Ahmad Shah Durrani (1749-61) brought about social
disorder in the capital. As well, after the first half of the eighteenth
century, some powers were inclined to become independent or semiindependent from the Mughal Empire. Furthermore,
the force of the
Marathas made many expeditions into Mughal territory and the British
East India Company was expanding its territory from Bengal to North
India. People in Delhi were troubled with the social disorders, and called
their troubles `riau gardiyein'6) an expression indicating that Delhi had
declined as the Mughal capital during the empire's last years. For example, Mir Taqi Mir expressed the badly damaged situation in Delhi as
follows:

52

Journal

of the Japanese

Association

for South Asian Studies,

12, 2000

Dilli- men aj bhik bhi milti nahin unhen

tha kal talak dimagh jinhen taj o takht ka (Mir Taqi Mir)')
The people who were proud of their royalty till yesterday:
Today even charity is not given to them
Sikh, Marathe, nor ueakke shah o gada sab khwahan hain
eain sehain jo kueh nahin rakhtefaqr bhiik daulat hai ytin (Mir Taqi Mir)
The Sikhs, Marathas, thieves, sharpers, kings and beggars are eager
Only the haven't are in peace here, faqr is a wealth in this world
The capital had become merely symbolic and the dynasty was losing
its control. Nevertheless Urdu literature flourished during this period.
In the middle of the eighteenth century, Urdu literature, especially poetry, took the place of Persian poetry in Delhi. Suzuki Takeshi points
out that the reason why Urdu poetry could replace Persian poetry is
related to the situation of the dynasty in Delhi. Since the dynasty had
started to decline, the status of the official language also changed because
it could not gain sufficient patronage. The importance of Persian at the
Court decreased and people and the growing power of the East India
Company began to give more attention to the lingua franca, called Urdu,
that had been used not only in daily life but also in the academic and
administrative institutions.8 From the study of tadhkiras, i.e. biographical memoirs of poets, it becomes clear that Urdu poetry gained popularity among all walks of life. For example, in Majmii` a-e Naghz by Hakim
Abu al-Qasim Mir Qudrat Allah Qasim (written in 1806), we can see
that Urdu poets belonged to all walks of life.9) In Tadhkira-e Makhzane Nikat, written by Qayam al-Din Qa'im bridpuri in 1754-55, the total
number of Urdu poets is 128.10)Then in Nikat al-Shu'ara written by
Mir Taqi Mir (1758?), some 104 poets are introduced.") In Tadhkira-e
Shu`ara-e Urdu by Mir Hasan (1785?), 304 poets are included,12) then
289 poets in Gulshan-e Hind by Haidar Bakhsh Haidari (1800-01),13)693
poets in MajmiVa-e Naghz (1806),14)671 in Gulshan-e Be-khar by Nawwab
Muhammad Mustafa Khan Shefta (1834),15) and 542 in Tadhkira-e
Gulistan-e Sukhan by Mirza Qadir Bakhsh Sabir Dihlavi.16) This increase in the number of Urdu poets shows that Urdu poetry gained
rapid popularity in and around Delhi from the middle of the eighteenth
century to the beginning of the nineteenth century, in spite of the decline of the capital.

Lamentation

Dedicated

to the

Declining

Capital

53

Of course, with social disorder in the capital, the living environment

of the Urdu poets in Delhi was forced to change. Some of them had been
under the patronage of the Court or the nobility, but because of the
downfall of the nobility, they had to leave Delhi and move to other cities,
for instance, Lucknow, so as to get the patronage of the Nawwelbs. Mir
Taqi Mir, Muhammad
Rafr Sauda, Mir Hasan, Shaikh Ghulam
Hamadani Mushafi, Insha Allah Khan Insha and Salamat 'Ali Dabir
were among them. On the other hand, some poets wrote qasi-das (odes) in
favor of some notables of the East India Company, in order to get patronage. For example, Sauda wrote qasida for Richard Johnson, who was
the chief assistant of the resident of Lucknow,17) and Sauda dedicated his
first diWain (collection of poems) to Richard Johnson.18) Beciarar found
employment at an Englishman's office, and Ghalib also presented a Persian qasida to Queen Victoria.19) On the other hand, there were some
poets who stayed in Delhi, since they belonged to the Sufi sect and
became leaders of the Sufi schools. One, Khwaja Mir Dard was a leader
of the Sufi sect Muhammadiya of Naqshbandi-ya, and Hatim, who once
was a soldier, became a Sufi because he was disappointed with the social
disorder.
The poets who left Delhi wrote many lamentations about it in the
styles of ghazal. After the Indian Mutiny (Jang-e Azadi) in 1857, two
collections of such lamentations, Fughan-e Dihli (1863)20) and Farydd-e
Dihli (1931),21) were compiled. These consist of ghazals written on the
declining city of Delhi. Fughan-e Dihli includes 63 poems on Dehli by
more than 40 poets. Faryad-e Dihli, which was published in Lucknow, is
almost a kind of revised edition of Fughtin-e Dihli, and most of the
poems were taken from it.22) Accordingly, this paper covers only the
poems from Fughan-e Dihli.
Interestingly, this kind of lamentaion is only found in the late eighteenth century or after 1857. When the East India Company occupied
Delhi in 1803 and recaptured it in 1857, and restored its stability, although Urdu poets wrote poems on Delhi, we find only a few lamentations during this period.
Now we shall look more closely at some of the more important features of the expressions in those shahr ashob or couplets.
As mentioned

above, Urdu poetry developed in Delhi after the middle

54

Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

of the eighteenth century, but the situation around the poets was growing worse. Robbery, plundering, and murder became an everyday occurrence in Delhi. Although the situation was unbearable, people in Delhi
could not forget the glorious days of the past. Delhi was not only the
administrative capital of the Empire, but also the center of Mughal culture. Urdu poets wrote many poems and couplets praising the glory of
the capital.
falak zamin o malii'ik jandb thi Dihli
bihisht o khuld men bhi intikhith thi Dihli
jawiib kahe ko thd la jawdb thi Dihli
magar khayed se dekhd to khwab thi Dihli (Dagh Dihlavi)
Delhi was a divine place
It was distinguished even in the paradise
Delhi had no match; it was a unique place
But when we noticed it cautiously, it looked like a dream
People in Delhi personified their city and called it Tiazrat Dihli',
`Saint Delhi'
. This nickname is used in Tabqiit-e Niisri23) and in the
poems by Amir Khusrau.24) The word `hazrat' is usually used to honor
a Sufi. Delhi is famous for its Sufi saints,") and it was the only city in
Mughal India so personified. This shows how the people in Delhi were
affiliated, and felt comfortable, with their city. It is easy for us to imagine
how sorry the people in Delhi felt when their beloved capital was plundered. Urdu poets there must have experienced this kind of feeling, too.
That is why their lamentations were 'dedicated' to Delhi, the poets having expressed it as a personified city.
We find three distinct types of poems (including couplets in ghazals)
on Delhi; the first consists of poems in which the word Delhi is used,
and the second, of poems in which the metaphor for Delhi is used.
These poems succeeded in including double meanings in one poem.
When one reads this kind of poem casually, one may presume that it is
simply love poetry, but if one goes deeper and recognizes the metaphor
used in this poem, one can enjoy the second meaning that shows how the
poet felt about the decline of Delhi. The use of this kind of metaphor
will be considered later. The third type consists of poems whose basic
purpose

is to show the social life of Delhi in detail, and in rather

Lamentation

satirical
type.
strict

way.

Most

Of course,
rules

belong

poems

to more than

Poems

in Which

the

shahr

poems,

dshob'

and

However

Word

lamentations

the last Caliph

there

on the occasion

poet

Urdu

literature

most

of the Urdu

and Persian,

poets

poets

lamentations

fact that people

poetry

personified

literature,

can

that

in writing
supports

period

Billah,

of Baghdad
Nu'mani
but Sa`di

or a city.27) Since

of Persian

Urdu

Sa`di

of Musta'asim

for a nation

for

we see

Sa`di of Shiraz.

in 1258.26) Shibli
to a dead person,

the influence

Delhi

as a motif

and the destruction

of the late Mughal

of Persian

of Persian

of the slaughter

Dynasty

under

are no

which

will be helpful

took Delhi

of Shaikh

it may safely be assumed

by the tradition
tions'

to write

flourished

are couplets

Is Used

Urdu

in the works

of the Abbasid

in this

as there

in detail.

when the city was plundered

by Mongols
writes that a lamentation
is to be dedicated
was the first

are also included

this classification

'Delhi'

many

of example

55

Capital

is only for convenience,

the poems

above,

Declining

But when we look at the history

the same kind

wrote

such

to discuss

poetry.

titled

one type.

As I mentioned
their

to the

this classification

in writing

in attempting

Dedicated

literature

wrote
poets

an elegies

both

and

in Urdu

were influenced
for a city. And the

the fact of writing

'dedica-

to Delhi.

The motif of the poems in which the word Delhi is used resembles
`nostalgia
,' and poets tried to describe
their feelings of regret at the
situation.
Poets compare
the situation
of the past with the present,
and
yearn for the bustle, crowds,
examples
from poems written
beginning

of the nineteenth

ve Dilli ke kuce

hain

and prosperity
of Delhi. Here
in the late eighteenth
century

are some
or at the

century.
ab sare khali

khawe se khawe the jahiin roz ehilte (Mir Taqi Mir)

These congested streets of Delhi where shoulders were striking shoulders
These cheerful streets now lie abandoned
ab khardba hu'd Jahanabad
warna har ik qadam pe yan ghar thd (Mir Taqi Mir)
Jahanabad turned into a deserted place
Once
And

it had

when

abodes

poets

think

at each
of

and

Delhi,

every
they

step
shed

tears,

or

tears

come

into

56

Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

their eyes, or flow down their cheeks.

Dihli pe rand dal- hai karta hun jab nig-dh
main is kuhan kharlibe ki- ta`m-fr ki taraf (Mir Taqi Mir)
When I imagine the rehabilitation of Delhi
I mourn on this wasteland
yad-e Dihli se to ji apnc7 bhar ata hai
ha'e ve sairen, ye tiflan-e khush iiin-a-zkali:6in (Mushafi)
With the remembrance of Delhi my heart becomes grieved
Oh where have those recreations and the sweet-toned young singers gone
kare hai dhikr MIT kei ko't jab
meri ankhon se girta- hai lahu tab (Mir Hasan)
Whenever someone talks about Delhi
Blood tears flow from my eyes
The poets still felt uneasy after they migrated to the other cities , even
though they could get patronage in a stabilized city . They recollect scenes
and memories of their beloved capital Delhi, and they even regret their
migration. We can feel what a strong nostalgia the `Delhites' had in their
minds.
jab aya main diy-dr-e Lakhnari men
na dekhd kunh bandr Lakhnaft men (Mir Hasan)
When I got to the land of Lucknow
I didn't witness any charm or delight in that state
In Fughan-e Dih1F on the occasion of Indian Mutiny in 1857, we can
see many shahr ashob poems, too. The poets abandon themselves to grief
over the situation of Delhi. They describe the concrete and clear facts in
their poems.
yeh sarkashi- huT Merath kr fauj men jis dam
na kiirtit-s ko klitei hue the jo brahm
yahan vo ii'e to aya thil- sab kii na-k men dam
jo afsar un ke the pahle kiy-cisar un kii qalam
hue vo qatl jo di-wil-n-e 'am ke age
firishte chor zamin iisman ko bhage (Sozdn)
When the troops in Meerut became rebellious
The same who had not been annoyed slashing the cartridges
With the arrival of these troops the citizens became sick of them

Lamentation

Dedicated

to the

Declining

57

Capital

First the officers were beheaded

They were slain in front of the Diwan-e'Am
With this tragedy the angels fled to the sky
Asad Allah Khan Ghalib, one of the most famous
literature also describes the situation.
shahr-e Dihli ka dharra dharra-e
tishna-e khun hai har Musalmein
Each and every grain of dust in
Today is thirsting for the blood

poets in Urdu

khak
ka (Ghalib)
Delhi
of the Muslims

It is worth noting that Ghalib mentioned 'Musalman' apart from 'Hindus', although poems of the early nineteenth century never stated that
only Muslims had been looted. Mir, Mushafi, and Mir Hasan lamented
over Delhi as `Delhites', not as Muslims. They only regretted having
missed their charming city.
Interestingly, some poets do not describe clearly why Delhi was destroyed, but instead, they are wondering about its destruction, or write
that'evil eyes' brought about the situation.
jigar ho tukre fasana hai vo bala us ka
har ik makan o makin khak men mild us ka
waqar jitnei barh tha, ghata siwa us ka
hazar haif ki ab nam bhr mita us ka
du'a-e bad kisr aise hi pur-jafei kr lagi
yagin jan ki us ko nazar bald ki
(Sozan)
The grieved story of Delhi can cut the liver into pieces
All the dwellers and the dwellings have rolled in the dust
The dignity the city had achieved had fallen greatly
Alas alas even its name is no more
It was destroyed by the wicked prayer of someone very cruel
Believe me it was ruined by the evil eyes of the sky
parr hain einkhen wahan jo jagah thi nargis ki
khabar nahrn kiise khei ga'r nazar kis ki (Dagh Dihlavi)
Some evil eyes had razed the beds of narcissus
God knew whose evil eyes had devoured them
As the concept of 'evil eyes' is usually used for a human being, we may
say that using it for Delhi is a typical example of the personification of

58

Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

the city. This usage shows that poets seem to be helpless in the situation
and grieve at the unavoidable ill luck of the capital. The poems start by
admiring the capital, then 'evil eyes' cause the destruction of the city,
and after that, poets pray to Allah for its restoration.
likhun kahiin talak al-Qissa hal-e barbadi
likhun kahlin talak is iismiin kr jalladi
kisi ko qaid-e mihan se nahth hai iizadiki deigh diigh hai dil har ko'i hai farylidt
ilahfphir ise dblid o shad dikhla de
ilahi phir ise hasb-e mureid dikhlei de (Dagh Dihlavi)
In short how can I pen the tale of this devastation
And for how long can I write the cruelty of the hardhearted
Nobody is trouble-free in the world
Every heart is scarred and everyone is a plaintiff
Oh God make the city habitable and cheerful again
And let us see it again according to our wishes

sky

iliihT kar de phir ab:cidbiigh-e Dih1F ko

kar apne fazl se roshan ariigh-e Dihlf ko
may-e nishat se bhar de ayligh-e Dihlf ko
dilon se khalq ke to dho de diigh-e Dihli ko
du`a hai tujh se yahi de musabbib al-Asbith
kar apne abr-e karam se vo biigh phir shadb(`Aish)
Oh God rehabilitate the garden of Delhi
And with your grace enlight the lamp of Delhi
O thou fill the goblet of Delhi with the mirth-exciting
liquor
And cleanse the sorrowful shock of Delhi from the hearts of the people
I have to pray you o thy causer of causes,
With the cloud of your virtues, enrich its fertility again
In Fughiin-e Dihlt, there are poems with a rhyme on the word 'Delhi'.
Because the rhyme is repeated over again, the poem has the effect of
being written as a prayer. This is why Mirz Qurban Beg Salik calls
these poems `nauha' , which means 'moaning'.
Poems of Double Meaning
In the poems on Delhi, there are many poems with a double meaning ,
where one meaning is love and the other is the poet's feeling about the
decline of Delhi.

Lamentation

Dedicated

to the

Declining

Capital

59

The origin of this double meaning is not clear, but we can see that this
usage can be divided into three types. The first is `Thiim', a genre in
Persian poetry employing double meaning. The second is a Sufisminfluenced expression, "ishq-e 1.1aqiqr (true love, love, with God) and
"ishq -e majazi (feigned love, love with this world) in one couplet. The
third is ' slesh' or ' doha' in local literature, especially in the Deccan. According to E.G. Browne, Them 'depends on the employment in a verse of
two or more ambiguous terms, which from their juxtaposition, appear to
be used in one sense, while they are really intended in the other.'") This
style became popular among Urdu poets in the middle of the eighteenth
century. The expression of love in Sufism had long been a central motif
in Persian poetry, and Muhammad
Husain Azdd points out that there
was also the influence of local traditions of dohii on Thiim.29)We have no
definite information on what was most influential on the use of double
meaning in Urdu poetry, but it seems reasonable to suppose that Urdu
poetry itself had been influenced by these kinds of usage, and had already had a traditional background of the metaphor of double meaning.
Examples of metaphor in Urdu poetry include a beloved described as a
tyrant (zalim) or an idol (sanam), and the characteristics of the beloved
are represented by metaphors such as eyes of narcissus (nargis), lips of a
bud (kali), and the elegant body of cypress (sarv). Although this kind of
metaphor was utilized from the beginning under the influence of Persian
poetry, these metaphors are still in use with the same meaning. Urdu
poets, though, utilized the tradition of metaphor to express their deep
sorrow over Delhi, and it is notable that this kind of metaphor about
Delhi is used only for the limited place and a limited time.
We can see two kinds of special metaphors in poems on Delhi. The
first is a metaphor of ' eaman' , 'a flower garden', or 'bagh' with the same
meaning, and the second is WU','a heart'.
The metaphor of Oaman has traditionally been used in Urdu love
poetry; it means the heart of a lover (poet), which is always destroyed by
the beloved. Love in Urdu poetry never succeeds, and the beloved of a
flower gatherer (gulOrn) gathers all the flowers from Oaman. A lover's
heart is destroyed totally without flowers, and autumn (khiziin), a season
of grief and ruin, comes instead of spring, a lovely season (bahiir).
Urdu poets utilized this metaphor for Delhi. That is why when one
reads this metaphor, one feels that this is a traditional love poetry with a

60

Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

traditional metaphor, but at the same time, the poem

Oaman of Delhi was destroyed in a brutal way and there
behind in the city. Actually, the word Oaman had already
the meaning of a country in a metaphor in Dakni Urdu

shows that the

is nothing left
been used with
poetry:

aj ghamndk hain Oaman ke gul

balki dil nith hain saman ke gul (RD hi)")
Orchard flowers are dolorous today
Nay rather the. Jasmine flowers are broken hearted
Muhl al-Din Qadri Zor points out that the word Oaman is effectively
used as a metaphor of Deccan (Dakan in Urdu), since both Oaman and
Dakan have the same rhyme.") These poems were written at the end of
the seventeenth century, around the fall of Golkonda by Aurangzeb in
1695. Urdu poetry in the Deccan was introduced to Delhi at the beginning of the eighteenth century. That is why it seems reasonable to suppose that at the same time, the metaphor of naman was also introduced to
the poets in Delhi. Let us examine some couplets written on Delhi using
this metaphor.
caman

kharab

kya

ho khizan

ka khana

kharab

na gul rahii na bulbul hai beighbein tanha (Flatim)32)

The fall has ruined the garden; it should be ruined too
Only the gardener-neither
the rose nor the bulbul-remains

there

sabii se har sahr mujh ko la/di le Nis a-if hai

caman men ah gulcin ne yeh kis bulbulka dil tora (Sauda)
Every morning I experience the smell of blood in the breeze
Alas the heart of a bulbul is injured by a guliin
kiya khizan d'i naman men shajar o gul jata rahli
cain aur mere jigar ka sabr bha jata raha (T alib)
A ruthless

fall

arrived,

Also

away

the

gone

the
peace

plants
and

and

patience

flowers

disappeared

of myself

jahan caman men nasheman the bulbulon ke Zafar

hazar hazf ki wan ashiyan-e zagh bane (Zafar)33)

The place where Bulbuls nested in the garden
Alas what a pity! The crows now dwell there
Sauda
couplet.

uses

the word

bagh, `a garden'

instead

of caman

in the following

Lamentation

Dedicated

to the

Declining

61

Capital

bagh-e Dail men jo ik roz hu'd merd guzar

na vo gul hi nazar aya na vo gulshan na bahar (Sauda)
One day I passed through the garden city Delhi
Neither flowers nor garden nor the spring existed there
In this couplet, the word 'beigh-e Dihri clearly means not only 'a garden', but also the city of Delhi itself.
The important

fact is that when we see the word naman in Dakni

poetry, and if this poetry is written on the Deccan, we can imagine that
caman

is a metaphor

for Deccan.

And

when

we

see the same

word

in the

poetry on Delhi, we see caman as a metaphor of Delhi. So this eaman is

a special metaphor showing a particular location. In the couplet using
the metaphor of eaman by the last emperor of the Mughal Empire,
Bahadur Shah Zafar II, we can see the word 'qafas' , which means a bird
cage in the following couplet. A bird, which had been able to enjoy the
season of spring in the garden, has now became a captive in a birdcage.
pahuncenge kyon kar naman tak ham qafas se Mut kar
taqat-e parwaz apne bad o par men kuch nahin (Zafar)
How can I get back to the heart of the garden after my release from
the cage
Incapable to fly are my feeble wings
It is not clear when this couplet was written, and that is why it is
possible that this `qafas' does not mean Delhi but Rangoon, but we can
clearly say that this symbolic metaphor is helpful for us to understand
how constrained the last emperor felt in those days.
The second metaphor is dil' , and this metaphor has also been used in
Urdu love poetry very often. As mentioned above, a beloved always
destroys a lover's heart in both Persian and Urdu poetry. Urdu poets
utilized this metaphor for Delhi as well, since the word dil has associations with Delhi because of its similarity of sound with DillF. Furthermore, dil is described as a place to live in, for example, a place (ja'e), a
village (nagar, basti), a town (shahr), or a state (mulk, diydr, saltanat), or
dil is an inhabited (iibiid) place. More importantly dil was the center of
both a person and a country. In Farhang-e AsafTya, a famous Urdu
dictionary compiled in Delhi, it is explained that the word 'Duni is the

62

Journal

of the Japanese

Association

for South Asian Studies,

12, 2000

dil and War al-Khilizfa' (capital) of Hindustan, or `taksiilr ghar' (true

home) of Urdu.34) The following is a part of a poem by Dagh Dihlavi,
where Dagh explains clearly that Delhi is not only the center (dil) of
India, but also of the world.
yeh shahr vo hai ki har ans o fan kd dil tha
yeh shahr vo hai ki qadrdein kii dil tha
yeh shahr vo hai ki Hindustan kd dil tha
yeh shahr vo hai ki siire jahan kd dil tha
raid na adhi -yahan sang o khisht ki sfirat
bani hu'i till jo sari bihisht ki sfirat (Dagh Dihlavi)
This is the city dear to everyone
This is the city dear to every appreciator
This is the city that was the heart of India
This is the city that was the heart of the whole world
The magnificent buildings which had resembled heaven
Have all but lost their magnificence
But dil has become a destroyed (kharlib , ujrii , lutd) place. We can say
that these similarities are the common attributes between dil and Dilli,
and this is the reason why poets succeeded in utilizing this word very
symbolically.
The importance of dil and the concept of its being a center of a body
and a country are clearly shown in the following qasida. Dil is described
not only as a nickname of Delhi, as 'the center of the world', but also as
`a house of Allah'
.
dil-e jahan tha Dilli se mudda`ii hai hai
na samjhe dil men tilangan-e pur-jafel hai hai
ki dil ko bolte hain khana-e khudd hai hai
khudii ke ghar ko bigekii sitam kiya hai hai
nahin jahein men wallah is jafa ki -pandh
jo intiqdm ho is kii to bas khudii ki panah (Zahir)
Delhi meant the heart of the world
Alas the cruel hearted Tilangas couldn't understand its meaning
The heart is known as the house of God
Oh what a pity the house of God is wrecked
I swear my God in the world there should be no refuge for these tyrants
And if revenge is sought then only God could provide a shelter
The following serve as examples

of the metaphor

of dil:

Lamentation

Dedicated

to the

Declining

Capital

63

dil o Diill donon agar hain kharlib

pe kueh lutf is ujre nagar men bhi hai (Mir Taqi Mir)
My heart and Delhi both are disgusted
But a joy is there even in this ruined city
dida-e giryan hamiird nahr hai
dil khardba jaise Duna shahr hai (Mir Taqi Mir)
Like a stream are our tear-shedding eyes
And just like the city of Delhi my heart is a wasteland
Mir Taqi Mir was fond of using the word dil. According to Majfd
Yazdani, Mir used the word dil in more than one fifth of all his couplets,
which means a total of 2354 couplets included the word dil, among
10270 couplets.35)Of course most of the couplets using dil simply express
love alone, but when Yazdani extracted all the couplets that included the
word dil from all the other couplets, he also found some instances of it as
a metaphor for Delhi.') Here we can see some examples of the metaphor
of dil by several poets.
dil ko `usshaq ne aisei kiya viran zidim
muddat ab edhiye is shahr ko baste baste (klatim)
Thou cruel one so badly thee abandoned the heart of lovers
To dwell again the city of heart needs a long long time
mulk-e dil iiblid kyon Hatim kei karta hai khareib
kya men basti khush ati- hai tujhe virangi (1-1tim)
Why do thou bring to ruin the joyful city of klatim's heart
Do you enjoy the abandoning of my living city
dil ki-virani kei kya madhkfir
yeh nagar sau martaba lutii gayei (Mir Taqi Mir)
How I mention the destitution of my heart
This abode for the uncountable times was despoiled
shahr-e dil eih 'ajab J.-6-1'e
thi par is ke ga'e
aisel ujra ki kisrt tarah baselya na gayii (Mir Taqi Mir)
A wonderful place was the city of heart,
But after her departure
So badly was devastated and could not be rehabilitated.
dil ki-eibadi-ki is had hai ki kharlibi ki na pfinh
jana jetta hai ki is rah se lashkar nikla (Mir Taqi Mir)
So terribly plundered are the abode of my heart

64

Journal

It appears
abad

of the Japanese

a savage

shahr-e

army

Association

has

for South Asian

rushed

dil tha usi shahryar

through

Studies,

12, 2000

it

tak

pahunna na ko'i phir is ujre diyar tak (Sauda)

The city of heart remained spirited till my crowned head
Nobody got to this city of ruins after her
mulk-e dil qatl kar ke Sauda kii
lashkar-e husn yfin palata hai (Sauda)
After slaying the heart land of Sauda
The army of beauteous has returned victoriously
rone ki Sauda tathrr kya kahfin main

`alam ke dil ko jin ne khun -ab kar diya (Sauda)

O Sauda how can I express the deep effects of your weeping
It has turned the heart of the world into pure blood
rahta hai khdk o khfin men sadd lutta hu'd
mere gharib chi ko ilahei yeh kya hu'd (Taban)
O what has happened to my humble heart
It is always rolling about in blood and dust
abeld mulk-e dil vo yaro kahan rahegizjis ja pe dard o gham kei nit karviin rahegii (Shah `Alam Thani Aftab)
O my friends this land of heart how can it remain alive
The caravans of pain and grief are always encamped on this soil
Shahr Ashob and Ashobiya
Shi`r
In the study of shahr ashob, Saiyid `Abd Allah made the origin and
history of shahr ashob clear. According to him, shahr ashob is a kind of
poetry in Turkish and Persian literature which praises the beauty of a
boy and creates a disturbance in the city among lovers.") Then the motif
changed and in eighteenth century India, shahr ashob became a popular
genre of Urdu poetry, describing satirically the social disorder of the
city. And we can see many shahr ashob poems in Urdu in the style of
ghazal. Most were written on Delhi both in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries and after the fall of Delhi in 1857. But exceptionally, Nazi-r Akbarabadi wrote it on Akbarabad, i.e. Agra.38) Here we see
the work by Sauda, which shows how he described the situation of Delhi
in a satirical way.

Lamentation

Dedicated

to the

Declining

Capital

65

ghord le agar, naukari hain kisii ki

tankhdh ka phir `dlam-e bala pe makiin hai
guzre hai sada-yiin `urf o dana ki khatir
shamshFrjo ghar men to sipar baniye ke yahiin hai
If they own a horse and are employed by someone
Their chance of payment would remain beyond the universe
To provide the grass and grain to the horse,
Some times they keep the sword at home
But the scabbard is pledged to the moneylender
sipahi rakhte the naukar amir daulatmand
sau amad in ki to jagir se hu'i hai band
kiya hai mulk ko muddat se sar-kashon ne pasand
jo ek shakhs hai ba'is sfibe ka Hid-wand
rahi na is ke tasarruf men faujdarT-e Kol (Sauda)
The chiefs and the nobles kept the soldiers in service
But the revenue from their estates has been cut off
The country for a long time in the grip of refractories
One who is the master of twenty-two provinces
Has lost even the faujdeiri of Kol
Sauda's satirical shahr ashob was able to show that the poet was not
totally disappointed with the situation, but that he seemed to have composure and courage.
There are many Urdu couplets on Delhi in Urdu ghazals, and Saiyid
`Abd Allah named these couplets iishobiya shi`r' , which means 'a couplet
of tumult', as mentioned above. Here are some examples:
jis sar ko ghuriir aj hai yan tajwari ka
kal us pe yahin shor hai phir nauha-gari ka (Mir Taqi Mir)
Someone who is proud of his kingship today
Tomorrow will be a cry after his demise
nam aj koT nahtn letei hai unhon ka
jin logon ke kal mulk yeh sab zer-e nagin thii (Mir Taqi Mir)
No one mentions the names of those crowned heads
Who were the sovereigns of this land just yesterday
shiihein ki kuhr-e jaweihir thi kheik-epa jin ki
inht ki ankh men phirtr suld'iyein dekhi (Mir Taqi Mir)
These kings, the dust from whose feet was regarded as the collyrium
We witnessed their eyes being blinded with needles

66

Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Naww-cib na Khan ko'i rand shahr men baqi

Nawwdb jo Gujr hai to Mewiiti- bhi Khan hat (Mushafi)
Neither a real Nawwith nor a Khan remained in the city
The remaining Nawwab is a Gujr, the Khan is a Mewati
but-khana o masjid men jo phalli- hai khareibi
naqus ka nala na mu'addhin le adhlin hai (Mushafi)
The temples and the mosques are equally disrupted
The cry of naqus and the call of prayer is discontinued
do car tilange jo khare rahte hain un se
bas qal'a ke ntne lit tak ik aman o aman hai (Mushafi)
Peaceprevails only under the walls of the fort
Where a few tilangas are posted to maintain law and order
pidar ke samne bete ko qatl ha,e kiya
gham d'e yiid na kyon kar janab-e Asghar lea
yeh Karbala kii namfina dikhatt hai Dihlt
pidar ko na `sh-e pisar par rula-ti hai Dihli (Mubin)
Alas the son was killed in front of his father
It reminds us the tragedy of Asghar
Delhi is showing the scenario of Karbala
It makes the father mourn on the dead body of the son
kahiye na unhen amir ab aur na waztr
Angrezon ke hath pe qafas men hain asfr
jo kunh vo parha'en sau yeh munh se bolen
bangle kt mama hain yeh Pftrab ke asir (Jur'at)
Don't call them now ministers or nobles
They are caged by the British
Whatever is instructed they utter that
These animated dolls are the starlings of Bengal
Musalmanon

ke melon ka- hu'd hai qul

puje hai jog-miiya aur debt

nishan bil-qt nahtn hai saltanat ka
magar han nam ko Aurangzebr (Ghalib)
The Muslim festivities are ended
Now the Jogmaya and debt are worshiped here
No authority of Sultanate exists any more
The so-called kingship is just symbolic
ghar se bazar men nikalte hue

Lamentation

Dedicated

to the

Declining

67

Capital

zahra hota hai ab insiin kd (Gilalib)

In Delhi one dreads
Leaving his house to enter the bazar
kitnii hai bad-nasib Zafar dafn ke liye
do gaz zamin bhi na mili kii-e yar men (Zafar)
O

Zafari

Not

What

a hard

lot

to get even a few yards

burial

space

in the lover's

alley

Conclusion
From
that

these observations,

Urdu

poets

influenced

Delhi.

their

beloved

The

basic

concept

concept

seems

and they
of these

is that when

of traditional

double meanings
the style of shahr
of tragedy

to write
different

location

the late Mughal

period.

wrote

point

on Delhi.
shahr

inconsolable
This

poets

to write

poets wrote
of Urdu

could

poems

much

poetry.
and

this

on Delhi,

too.

on Delhi,
such

had

not forget

of their

poems

poetry,

they took

as the

use of

of a limited

to Allah
feelings

over

style also gives

the metaphor

helplessness

wrote

Those

they

us an impression

that

lamentations
they

wrote
that

the traditional
of naman
capital

of

shedding

tears,

In this way, they

wanted

poems

and
indi-

can be seen in the

while

Urdu

encour-

metaphors

of the capital.

shi`r. When

Delhi,

utilized

usage.

capital

capital

time, that is, the declining

for the restoration

ashob or ashobiya

beloved

they

is the reason

the traditional

poets

to take the declining

as their

on it. Thus

is the peculiar
The

poets

of Delhi

This

from

cate the limited

or praying

they

very
of them

is, we can say, 'nostalgia',

Urdu

lamentation

with a new motif.

third

were

and some

in one couplet,
or the use of traditional
metaphor,
or
eishob. Since Urdu poetry has a traditional
background

aged them

couplets

in Delhi

of Delhi,
left Delhi,

in love, it was easy for Urdu

dil' became

very clear. The first is

chose the city as a motif

Urdu

The personification

The

they

patterns

as a motif.
usage

period

poems

to have caused

second

advantage

become

of the decline

But even though

capital,

points

late Mughal

by the situation

to leave

The

of the

several

to express

in a satirical
poets

were

their
style.

not com-

pletely in despair over Delhi. Thus, we can feel that strong nostalgia lies
at the root of all the poems on Dehli.
When we look at the lives of Urdu poets, we feel their courage in
seeking

patronage.

They

migrated

and wrote

odes for new patrons,

even

68

Journal

of the Japanese

Association

for South

Asian Studies,

12, 2000

for Englishmen, so as to earn patronage, but at the same time, they wrote
odes for their beloved capital Delhi. Although poets could not get any
patronage by writing poems on Delhi, they could not help writing them.
Such poems were written by most of the poets of the time, and at least
one collection of them was compiled.
Leaving poetry and turning to prose works that were written in both
Persian and Urdu by Urdu poets in the late Mughal period, we can see
some examples written on the situation in Dehli. For instance, in Daryae Latafat, Insha Allah Khan Insha explained that most of the cultural
heritage was brought to Lucknow by the people who migrated from
Delhi.39) Or in Khutfit-e
Ghalib expressed deep sorrow at the
destruction of Delhi in and after 1857." Ghalib's expression of lamentation in his letter is so impressive that his letter seems to be a kind of
shahr ashob in prose.
Judging from these, it is no exaggeration to say that there was a common awareness of a strong nostalgia for Delhi among not only Urdu
poets belonging to Delhi, but also the people in Delhi in the late Mughal
period. Added to this is the most important fact that this kind of poetry
has been read with deep sympathy by Urdu readers until the present
time, and they have a common feeling for Delhi of that time . Furthermore, we can see examples of such a motif in modern Urdu poetry; that
is to say, modern Urdu poets have written poems to express their regret
about social problems
by using other metaphors.
For example ,
Muhammad
Iqbal wrote a poem on Delhi using the same metaphor of
dil,41) and Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Nasir Kazmi wrote poems and ghazals
related to the disturbance that preceded independence in 1947, as well as
the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, by using other metaphors .')
The use of metaphor to express political motifs in poetry has been adopted
into Urdu literature since the last century particularly.
khardba Di li kei dah &Ind bihtar Lakhnaii
wahin main kiish mar jatii sareisTma na ata
The wasteland of Delhi was much better
Alas I could have died there and not left

se thiiyahlin (Mir Taqi Mir)

than that of Lucknow
in distress

This shows the deeper involvement and grief of Urdu poets regarding
Delhi even after migration to Lucknow from Delhi.

Lamentation

Dedicated

to the

Declining

Capital

69

Notes
1) See Hashmi, Nur al-Hasan, 1965 (orig. 1949, Karachi), Di11Tka Dabistan-e Sha'iri
Lahore, Ishrat Publishing House; Muhammad Hasan, 1989, Dihli men Urdu Sha`iri
ka Tandhibi o Fikri Pas-manar. Delhi, Urdu Academy. Hashmi divided the school
into five eras and showed in full detail that how its characteristics could be seen in
the poetry of Delhi School, especially in the study of its language and style. And

2)

3)

4)

5)
6)

7)

Hasan makes it clear that Urdu poetry in Delhi is a mixture of both Persian and
Indian local literatures according to some Urdu translation of couplets by Shaikh
Sa`di of Shiraz and some couplets under the influence of dohd, a popular form of a
local poetry. Hasan laso discussed the influence of Sufism on Urdu poetry, but his
study is limited to the period until the mid-eighteenth century, especially the era of
Mir Tag". Mir, as a background for the following period.
See, for example, Dhu al-Fiqar, Ghulam Husain, 1966, Urdu Sha'iri ka Siyasi our
Samaji Pas-man3wr. Lahore, Punjab University; Jalibi, Jamil, 1987, Tarikh-e Adabe Urdu, Vol. 2. Lahore: Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab.
See, for example, Saiyid `Abd Allah, 1965, "Shahr Ashob ki Tarikh," Mubrihith.
Lahore, Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab; Na`im Ahmad, 1968, Shahr Ashob. Delhi, Maktabae Jarni`a. Iqtida Hasan, 1995, 'Later Mughals as Represented in Urdu Poetry: I; A
Study in the light of the Shahr Ashobs from Hatim, Sauda and Nazir', 'Later
Mughals as Represented in Urdu Poetry: II; A Study of Qa'im's Shahr Ashob',
Later Moghuls and Urdu Literature. Lahore: Ferozson's Ltd. pp. 51-74, pp. 75-87.,
F. D. Nasim, Ikhtatamiya, 1999, Baravin Sad" Hijri men Dilli Ka Sha`irana Mahaul,
Lahore: Urdu Academy, pp. 317-322.
Mirza Adib, 1980, "Mir ka Marthiya-e Dihli" Nuqfish, Mir Taqi Mir Number, Vol.
2. Lahore, Nuqush Press. Mirza Adib named couplets on Delhi by Mir `marthiyae Dihli', which means 'a lamentation on Delhi.' Although marthiya has become an
established genre of epicedium sung in commemoration of Hasan and Husain during Muharram in Urdu literature, it may be suitable to call the poems on Delhi
`marthiya -e Dihli , i.e. 'a lamentation on Delhi' synthetically. For the further study
of marthiya, see Mirza Amir 'Ali Beg Jonpuri, Vol. 1 in 1985, Vol. 2 in 1986,
Tadhkira-e Marthiya Nigaran-e Urdu. Vol. 1-2. Lucknow: Sarfaraz Press.
Saiyid `Abd Allah, op. cit.
Hari Ram Gupta, 1961, "Role of Delhi", Marathas and Panipat. Chandigarh, Panjab
University, pp. 321-345. `Nau gardiydn' means Nadir Gardi, Shah Gardi, Jat Gardi,
Gujar Gadri, Baluchi Gardi, Rohilla Gardi, Maratha Gardi, Mughal Gardi, and
Turk Gardi.
Mir Taqi Mir, 1986, Kulliyiit-e Mir. ed. by Kalb-e 'Ali Khan Fa'iq, Lahore, Majlise Taraqqi-e Adab. Most of the couplets treated herein are derived from the editions
published by Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab, Lahore, except the couplets included in
Fughtin-e Dihli. And all the poems were translated into English by Dr. Tabassum
Kashmir'. See Mirza Raft' Sauda, 1976, Kulliyat-e Saudd, ed. by Shams al-Din
Siddiqi, Lahore, Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab., Mirza Asad Allah Khan Ghalib, 1992,
Diwan-e Ghalib Nuskha-e `Arshi. ed. by Imtiyaz 'Ali Khan `Arshi, Lahore, Majlise Taraqqi-e Adab., Shaikh Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi,Kulliyat-e Mushafi. ed. by
Nur al-Hasan, Lahore, Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab., Mir Hasan, 1966, Kulliyeit-e Mir

70

Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000

Hasan. ed. by Wahid Qureshi, Lahore, Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab., Shah Alam Thani,
1997, Shah Alam Thanr Aftab. ed. by Jamil, Muhammad Khawar, Lahore, Majlise Taraqqi-e Adab. Kaukab, Tafazzul Husain Khan Dihlavi (ed.), 1954 (reprint)
(org. Delhi, 1863), Fughan-e Dihli. Lahore: Academy Punjab.
8) Suzuki Takeshi, (in Japanese) "Urudii Gazaru no Hatten to Keikou II," (The Evolution of Urdu Ghazals and Some of Its Important Features , Part II) Tokyo Gaikokugo
Daigaku Ronshu. 25, Tokyo.
9) Hakim Abu al-Qasim Mir Qudrat Allah Qasim, 1973, Majrnfi`a-e Naghz. ed. by
Hafiz Mahmad ShiranT. Delhi: National Academy.
10) Qayam al-Din Qa'im Candpuri, 1966, Tadhkira-e Makhzan-e Nikat. ed. by Iqtida
Hasan. Lahore: Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab.
11) Mir Tag' Mir, 1979 (reprint), Nikat al-Shu'ara. ed. by Maulavi `Abd al-Haq,
Karachi, Anjuman-e Taraqqi-e Ural Pakistan. According to Dr . Mu'in al-Din
`Aqil, there are 106 poets in the 'Paris Edition' of this tadhkira.
12) Mir Hasan, 1985, Tadhkira-e Shu'ara-e Urdii. ed. by Akbar Haidar Kashmiri .
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy.
13) Saiyid Haidar Bakhsh Haidari, 1967 (org. 1802, Calcutta) Gulshan-e Hind. ed. by
Mukhtar al-Din Ahmad. Delhi: `Ilmi Majlis.
14) Hakim Abu al-Qasim Mir Qudrat Allah Qasim, op. cit.
15) Nawwab Muhammad Mustafa Khan Shefta, 1973, Gulshan-e Be-khar . ed. by Kalbe 'All Khan Fa'iq. Lahore: Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab.
16) Mirza Qadir Bakhsh Sabir Dihlavi, 1966, Tadhkira-e Gulistan-e Sukhan Vol . 1, 2.
ed. by Khalil al-Rahman Da'adT, Lahore, Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab. All the tadhkiras
quoted above were written in Persian. Still more, we have another tadhkira of the
late Mughal period. It is Mirza 'Ali Lutf's, Tadhkira-e Gulshan-e Hind. (1906 (org.
1801) ed. by Maulana Shibli Nu'rnani and Maulavi `Abd al-Haq , Lahore, Dar alIsha'at-e Panjab.), that is the tadhkira written in Urdu. Actually this is an Urdu
translation from Tadhkira-e Ibrahim in Persian, by the direction of John Gilchrist of
the Fort William College. Lutf added some poets after the translation but this
tadhkira includes only 68 poets. Because of the exceptional background of this tadhkira,
this was not quoted in this context.
17) Sauda, 1976, "Qasida dar Madh-e Mumtaz al-Daula Richard Johnson", Kulliyat-e
Sauda, Vol. 2. ed. by Shams al-Din Siddiqi. Lahore: Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab, p.
329. This ode was written in 1780.
18) That is why Sauda's edition is called `Nuskha-e Jansan (Johnson Edition)'.
19) Ghalib, 1992, op. cit.
20) Kaukab, Tafazzul Husain Khan Dihlavi (ed.), op. cit.
21) Faryad-e Dihli. 1931, Lucknow, Nizarni Press. The original title of this anthology is
Inqilab-e Dihli, but the book is known as Faryad-e Dih1F.(see Saiyid `Abd Allah, op.
cit., p. 232.)
22) ibid. pp. 231-232. Saiyid `Abd Allah compared both collections in detail.
23) Minhaj-e Siraj-e Juzjani, 1954, Tabqat-e Nasirr. Vol . 2. ed. by `Abd
HabIbT
Afghani. Lahore: Majlis-e Taraqqi-e Adab.
24) Sar Saiyid Ahmad Khan, 1990, Athar al-Sanadid . Vol. 1. ed. by Khaliq Anjum.
Delhi: Urdu Academy Dill". p. 259.

Lamentation

25)
26)
27)
28)

29)

30)
31)
32)
33)
34)

35)
36)
37)
38)
39)

40)
41)
42)

Dedicated

to

the

Declining

Capital

71

See, for example, Zuhtir al-Hasan Sharib, 1988 (orig. 1977), Dail- ke Bd`rs Khwaja.
Delhi: Taj Publishers.
Gamo Reiichi, 1964, (in Japanese) Baraen: Iran Chusei no Kyoyo Monogatari.
(Gulistan) Tokyo: Heibonsha. pp. 16-17.
Nu`mani, Shibli, n. d., Shi`r al2Ajam. Vol. 2. Lahore: Anjuman-e Himayat-e Islam,
p. 69.
E.G. Browne, 1969, A Literary History of Persia, Vol. 2, p. 83. See also Ghulam
Husain Dhil al-Fiqar, 1971, "Iham-go our Digar Shu'ara", in Tiirikh-e Adabiylit-e
Musalmanem-e Pakistein o Hind. Vol. 7. Lahore: Punjab University.
Maulana Muhammad Husain Azad, 1990 (orig. 1880)Ab-e Ijayeit. Lahore, Maktabae `Aliya. or see Muhammad Sadiq, 1964, A History of Urdu Literature. London:
Oxford University Press.
A couplet by Ruhi. See Zor, Muhl al-Din Qadri, 1969, Dakni Adab ki Tarikh.
Karachi: Urdu Academy Sindh. p. 105.
ibid.
Ghulam Husain Dha al-Fiqar, op. cit.
Abu al-Zafar Siraj al-Din Bahadur Shah. 1994, Kulliyat-e ?afar. Lahore: Sang-e
Mil Publications.
Maulavi Saiyid Ahmad Dihlavi, 1987 (org. 1918), Farhang-e Asafiya. Vol. 2. Lahore:
Urdu Science Board. p. 265. In this explanation here, no example is presented about
the metaphor of Delhi.
Yazdani, M.A. Majid, 1986, Badan Neima-e Mir. Lahore: Majid Yazdani. pp. 6566.
ibid. pp. 51-58.
Saiyid `Abd Allah, op. cit.
Akbarabadi, Nazir, 1951, Kulliyat-e Nazir. ed. by Maulana `Abd al-Bari. Lahore:
Maktaba-e Shi`r o Adab. pp. 465-471.
Insha Allah Khan Insha, 1988 (Reprint), (in Persian) Daryd-e Latafat., (Urdu translated by Pandit Brij Mohan Dattaturiya Kaifi. Karachi: Anjuman-e Taraqqi Ural
Pakistan), p. 117.
Mirza Asad Allah Khan Ghalib, 1969, Khutut-e Gheilib. Vol. 1. ed. by Ghulam
Rasal Mihr. Lahore: Punjab University. p. 368, pp. 380-382.
Muhammad Iqbal, 1989 (orig. 1923) "Bilad-e Islamiya", in Kulliyeit-e Iqbal. Lahore:
Ghulam 'Ali and Sons.
Faiz Ahmad Faiz utilized traditional metaphors to express the political motif with a
strong tone. By contrast, the poems on Delhi in the late Mughal period were also
written with metaphors but they expressed a feeling of helplessness. This is a difference between them. But in Urdu literature, because of the similarity in the style and
the motif of nostalgia, Nasir Kazmi is sometimes compared with Mir Taqi Mir.
The Japanese translation of the Urdu poetry on Delhi will be introduced in So
Yamane, 2000, "Deri eno Aitou-shi" (Lamentation on Delhi), "Sekai Bungaku"
Vol. 5, Osaka Gaikokugo Daigaku Sekai Bungaku Kenkyukai Osaka University of
Foreign Studies, Osaka. This paper owes much to the thoughtful and helpful comments of Dr. Tabassum Kathmiri, Dr. Ashwani Kumar Srivastava, and Dr. Mein

72

Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 12, 2000
al-Din 'AO.
in translating

Especially I am indebted to Dr. Tabassum

Kashmir' for his assistance
the poems into English. Earlier drafts of this paper were presented at

the International
Ghalib Seminar
annual conference of the Japanese
Japan,

in October

in Delhi in December 1998 (in Urdu) and the

Association for South Asian Studies in Sendai ,

1999 (in Japanese).