Hafiz Ikram Ahmad (), or simply known by his

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Zaigham (), was a 19th-century teacher and

alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

based in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. He became prominent due to his talent in

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 ...

and

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

poetry, specialising in

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

and

marsiya A marsiya (; ) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali, his family, and his companions at the tragedy of Karbala. Marsiyas are essentially religious lamentations. Background The word ''Marsiya'' is d ...

Rekhta ''Rekhta'' ( ; ''Rekhtā'') was an early form of the Hindustani language. This style evolved in both the Perso-Arabic and Nagari scripts and is considered an early form of Standard Urdu and Modern Standard Hindi. According to the Pakistan ...

Early life and education

It is considered that Ikram was born in Rampur, Agra Presidency, while others suggest he was born in Delhi but from Rampur. His name is often preceded with the title of Hafiz, a term used by Muslims for people who have completely memorised the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

Ludwig W. Adamec Ludwig W. Adamec (10 March 1924 – 1 January 2019) was an Austrian scholar on the Middle East and Afghanistan. He was a professor emeritus in the School of Middle East and North African Studies at the University of Arizona.

(2009), ''Historical Dictionary of Islam'', pp.113-114. Scarecrow Press. .

Career

Zaigham migrated to

at some point in his life where he gained popularity. A notable piece of poetry of his include a fifty-verse long Persian

qasida The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; plural ''qaṣā’id'') is an ancient Arabic word and form of poetry, often translated as ode. The qasida originated in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry and passed into non-Arabic cultures after the Arab Mus ...

. Ikram was celebrated for his

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

capability. Nassakh, a contemporary Urdu poet of Bengal, praised his teacher, Ikram, on this; stating that a single

written by Ikram can include up to 72 Urdu poetic metres. He was also a teacher to a number of students to whom he taught Urdu poetry. Some include Nassakh, Hafiz Rashidun Nabi Wahshat, Mahmud Azad, Hakim Ashraf Ali Mast, Hamid Bakht Mazumdar, Arman and Khwaja Abdul Ghaffar Akhtar. He was also a tutor to the family of Nawab Syed Mahmud. It has also been said that Shaykh Haji Ilahi Bakhsh Bijan Siddiqi of

Danapur Danapur Nizamat or Danapur is an Indian satellite town and one of six subdivisions (tehsil) in the Patna district of Bihar state.19th-century Indian Muslims 19th-century Indian poets Urdu-language poets 1869 deaths Year of birth missing People from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh