Mohammad Sanaullah Dar (25 May 1912 – 3 November 1949), better known as Miraji was an Indian
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
poet. He lived the life of a
bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers.
* Bohemian style, a ...
, working only intermittently.
Early life
Born into a Kashmiri family of
Gujranwala
Gujranwala is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fourth most-populous city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Located in northern-central Punjab's Rachna Doab, it serves as the headquarters of its Gujranwala District, epony ...
and named Mohammed Sanaullah
Dar, he passed his childhood days in Kucha Sardar Shah, Mozang,
Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
. His father, Munshi Mohammad Mahtabuddin, was a railway engineer, so his family had to often move from one place to another. He lived in
Kathiawar
Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...
,
Bostan
Bostan, Bustan, Boustan or Boostan () may refer to:
Places
Iran
* Shahrak-e Bostan, Fars province
* Bostan, Isfahan, Isfahan province
* Bostan, Kerman, Kerman province
* Bostan, Iran, Khuzestan province
** Bostan District (Dasht-e Azadegan ...
(
Baluchistan
Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...
),
Sanghar
Sanghar (; English: Sānghar) is a city in Sanghar District, Sindh, Pakistan. Sanghar is the headquarters of Sanghar District and Sanghar Taluka (a subdivision of the district). The driving distance of Sangher from Karachi is 268 kilometers ...
and
Jacobabad
Jacobabad, also known as Khanger, is a city in Sindh, Pakistan, serving as both the capital city of Jacobabad District and the administrative centre of Jacobabad Taluka, an administrative subdivision of the district. The city itself is subd ...
.
Miraji began composing poetry, under the pseudonym of ''Sasri'', when he was at school. It was from his later encounter with a
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
girl, Mira Sen, who was a daughter of an accounts officer serving in Lahore, that he fell deeply in love. This left a permanent trace in his life that he adopted his pen name on her name. Though brought up in affluent surroundings, Miraji left his home and family and chose to lead the life of a homeless wanderer, mostly staying with his friends and making a living by selling his songs. Julien Columeau, a French novelist who also writes in Urdu and Hindi has authored a very unusual but engaging short novel on the life of Miraji.
Literary life
Miraji was associated with ''Adabi Duniya'' (Lahore), and later worked for
All India Radio
All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
. He wrote literary columns for the monthly ''Saqi'' (
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
) and for a short period helped editing ''Khayal'' (
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
). After
Partition, he settled permanently in
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
.
From his teenage days, Miraji felt attracted towards
Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...
. He often used
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
vocabulary in his poetry, prose and letters. He acknowledged his debt to the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
poet
Amaru and the
French poet
Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, an ...
. He also translated certain works of the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
poet,
Damodar Gupta and of the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
poet,
Omar Khayyam
Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīshābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) (Persian language, Persian: غیاث الدین ابوالفتح عمر بن ابراهیم خیام نیشابورﻯ), commonly known as Omar ...
.
Miraji is considered to be one of the pioneers of symbolism in Urdu poetry, and especially introducing
Free Verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free ...
. Along with
N. M. Rashid, he was a leading poet of the group ''
Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq'', which broke away from the classic convention of
''radeef'' and
', explored the rich resources of
blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written with regular metre (poetry), metrical but rhyme, unrhymed lines, usually in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th cen ...
and
Free Verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free ...
, rejected the confines of the socially "acceptable" and "respectable" themes, rejected the stranglehold of Persianised diction, and explored with sensitivity and skill, the hitherto forbidden territories of sexual and psychological states. He also wrote illuminating criticism of poetry and yearned to alter the expression of his age.
Works
Miraji's literary output was immense but he published very little of his poetry during his lifetime. However,
Khalid Hasan, in his article "Meera Sen's forgotten lover," records that during Miraji's lifetime four collections of Miraji's works were published by Shahid Ahmed Dehlavi, and one by Maktaba-e-Urdu, Lahore. His complete works ''Kulliyat-e-Miraji'' appeared only in 1988 edited by Dr.
Jameel Jalibi.Dr Jameel Jalibi again edited the Kulliyat and published in 1994 from Lahore with all his remaining works. Another collection titled ''Baqiyat-e-Miraji'' was edited by Sheema Majeed in 1990. A book titled "Iss Nazm Mein" containing Essays of Miraji was published during his lifetime.
List of works:
# "Geet he Geet" (songs)
# "Miraji ke Geet" (Poems)
# "Miraji ki Nazmen"(Poems)
# "Teen Rang" (Poems)
# "Iss Nazm Mein" (Literary criticism)
# "Kulliyat-e-Miraji" (Poems) compiled by Altaf Gauhar and published by Dr. Jameel Jalibi, Urdu Markaz U.K.
# "Baqiyat-e-Miraji" (Poems) edited by Sheema Majeed and published by Pakistan Books and Literary Sounds, Lahore.
# "Intikhab-e-kalaam"
# "Pratinidhi Shairy"
# "Seh Aatishah (poems)
# "Mashriq o Maghrib ke Naghmay
# "Paband Nazmen (poems)
# "Miraji ki Nazmen," edited by Anees Nagi (poems)
# "Nigar Khana" (translation)
# "Khemay ke aas paas" (translations)
# "Nagri nagri phira musafir ghar ka rasta bhool gaya," sung By Ghulam Ali
Personality
Miraji adopted a deliberately outlandish style in his dress, sporting long hair, a dagger-like mustache, oversize earrings, colorful headgear, an amulet and a string of beads around his neck.
Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi
Mehr Lal Soni (9 February 1913 – 19 August 1986), better known as Zia Fatehabadi, was an Indian Urdu ghazal and nazm writer. He was a disciple (shaagird) of Syed Aashiq Hussain Siddiqui Seemab Akbarabadi (1882–1951), who was a disciple ...
, his poet friend and former class fellow, recalled that the only time Miraji trimmed his long hair was when he joined
All India Radio
All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...
, New Delhi.
Death
Akhtar ul Iman
Akhtar ul Iman (12 November 1915 9 March 1996) was a noted Urdu poet and screenwriter in Hindi cinema, who had a major influence on modern Urdu nazm.
He won the Filmfare Award for Filmfare Best Dialogue Award, Best Dialogue in 1963 for ''Dh ...
, his poet friend, who was himself influenced by Miraji and
Noon Meem Rashid, and with whom Miraji spent the last days of his life in
Poona
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
and Bombay, reported that his excessive drinking, cigarette-smoking, and sexual dissipation had drained away his strength and damaged his liver. Then, there came the additional agony of his psychic ailment, for which he had to be admitted to hospital where he was given electric shocks to cure him of his insanity—a treatment which he dreaded. The end came at 4 p.m. on 3 November 1949, in
King Edward Memorial Hospital in Bombay.
Works on Miraji
* "Miraji" a monograph on the Urdu poet written by
Shafey Kidwai.
* "Miraji : Shakhsiyat aur Funn" - Doctoral dissertation of Dr.
Rashid Amjad.
[A critical appraisal of the personality and art of Miraji. http://www.sherosokhan.com/id828.html ]
* "Miraji aur Amli Tanqeed" published by Mah-e-Nau, Lahore in May, 1979. A study of Miraji's methods of literary criticism.
*"A dense tranquillity, a harsh solitude: the ‘un-natural’ modernism of Miraji" by Judhajit Sarkar, ''Journal of South Asian History and Culture,'' Vol. 15, Issue 3 (2024). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19472498.2024.2371246.
See also
*
Shabnam Shakeel
References
{{Authority control
1912 births
1949 deaths
People from Gujranwala
Writers from Mumbai
20th-century Indian poets
20th-century Indian male writers
Urdu-language poets from India