Ustad Zauq
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Ustad Zauq
Zauq, a long forgotten poet
By Intizar Hussain
Ghalib’s and Iqbal’s are two most familiar names for us as far as Urdu poetry is concerned. Any Tom, Dick, and Harry, a trader, a sportsman, a politician, can safely assert to be the admirer of any of these two, thus demonstrating that he has a taste for poetry. With the same ease we can safely ignore his assertion. But when a gentleman claims that Zauq is his favourite poet, he deserves to be taken seriously. The reason is that Zauq is no more in fashion. He is now almost a forgotten name in our poetry. No sane person will expect to be acknowledged as a man with a fine taste by asserting his liking for Zauq.
Of course there was a time when Zauq was held in high esteem not only in the Mughal court but in the whole Urdu world. But, alas, those were the last days of Mughal glory. During that brief period Zauq rose to the heights of name and fame, acted as the mentor of Bahadur Shah Zafar, and was acknowledged as a great qasida writer. With his qasidas he earned the title of ‘Khaqani-e-Hind’ for himself. He was fortunate not to have lived long enough to see the abdication and expulsion of his disciple king. By dying early he provided an opportunity for Ghalib to have an access to the Red Fort.
Ghalib did have an access to the court of the last Mughal king but perhaps could not command the kind of respect Zauq had gained in the Red Fort circles. The spell of the deceased poet was still there. But the end was not far off. The Mughal glory came to its final end in 1857. It was also the final end of Zauq’s spell.
When after the catastrophe of 1857, Maulana Mohammad Husain Azad collected himself with much ado and sat to write his Ab-e-Hayat, he tried his utmost for the restoration of the prestige his Ustad had once enjoyed. Ab-e-Hayat was acclaimed as a master-piece of Azad. But it could not bring back the lost reputation Zauq had once enjoyed.
Instead, Azad’s exaggerated praise for his mentor brought reaction exactly opposite to what he had intended. Soon after it, Zauq fell into oblivion from which he was never able to recover. It is after a long time that I have found someone acknowledging Zauq as his favourite poet. It is also after a long time that I have seen a scholar seriously engaged in the study of Zauq. Recently I have received from India a volume comprising a study of Zauq made by Kalidas Gupta Riza. But for this study too Zauq should feel obliged to his rival Ghalib. In fact this study, as Kalidas Gupta tells us, owes its origin to his studies in Ghalibiyat. Kalidas Gupta, who has recently passed away, is chiefly known as a Ghalibean scholar, though in addition he has a number of works of different kind to his credit.
The two books I have received from Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu of India seem to complement each other. The one is Khaqani-e-hind Zauq Dehlvi, compiled by Kalidas Gupta Riza. The other is about Gupta himself titled as Muhaqiq-e-Ghalib-Kalidas Gupta Riza, compiled by Muhammad Arif Khan and Saqib Siddiqi. The latter is a collection of articles written after his death by a number of his contemporaries. The book may be taken as a homage to the departed soul. Here we see the man portrayed as he was. While remembering him, his friends and acquaintances have depicted him so finely that he comes alive to us.
As depicted here, Gupta Riza was a liberal soul steeped deep in what he defined as Urdu culture. Talking about those committed to Urdu he says, “It matters little whether the man is an Arya Samaji or a Wahabi, as Urdu has a culture of its own.” This culture went deep in him to the point that he wrote devotional poetry of Islamic variety — naat, munqabat, marsiya — with a passion peculiar with him. The addition of ‘Riza’ in his name also speaks of the influence of Indo-Muslim culture on him. I wonder that none of the friends writing about him has cared to take notice of this addition to his name. I remember asking him about this addition. And he briefly answered, “This is because of my devotion to Hazrat Imam Raza.” But why Hazrat Imam Raza in particular? This he did not explain.
During his studies of Urdu poetry he developed a deep love for Ghalib. This led him to specialise in Ghalibiyat. But at the same time he felt himself duty-bound in relation to Zauq. The reason was that he as a poet was disciple of Josh Malasiyami, who was a shagird of Dagh, while Dagh himself was a shagird of Zauq. Because of this distant relationship with Zauq, he felt that he owes an allegiance to that great grand Ustad.
The book on Zauq may be seen as a product of this feeling of allegiance to that ancestor poet, though much of his research on him came in consequence of his research on Ghalib. However, here we have an authentic version of Zauq’s biography. He has taken equal pain to determine the correct text of the verses included in this volume.
