The Hidden Garden

Sukhan generally used by one and all. The beauty of his tone and his sensitivity to love, and the courage to face human suffering will never diminish. He gave voice to silent moments that are generally ignored, and he drew memorable pictures with words that linger in the reader’s consciousness long after they stop reading or reciting a couplet or a ghazal. Mir took malleable and nearly half-baked Rekhta of the mid-eighteenth century to new heights, and with this, he reached the pinnacle of literary Urdu’s poetic and creative journey.
jalva hai mujhi se lab-e daryaa-e sukhan par
sad-rang meri mauj hai main tab’e ravaan huun
I am the spectacle on the elegant river of poetry.
Look at the colours of my curving waves!
I am the effortless flowing river of creativity, indeed.
garche kab dekhte ho par dekho
aarzu hai k tum idhar dekho
You don’t look at me,
but you should.
It is my ardent desire
that you should.
yuun araq jalva-gar hai us munh par
jis tarah os phuul par dekho
You have so much sweat
on your pretty face.
It looks like dewdrops
on a fresh flower.
dil hua hai taraf mohabbat ka
khuun ke qatre ka jigar dekho
Even the heart has become
a champion of love.
Look at the courage
of a drop of blood.
lutf mujh mein bhi hain hazaaron Mir
diidni huun jo soch kar dekho
I am filled with
countless delights, Mir.
I am worth a look
if you observe me
intently as you can.

1 n rakho kaan nazm-e shaa’iraan-e haal par itne / chalo tuk Mir ko sun-ne k moti se pirota hai (Don’t pay too much attention / to poets of the day. /Let us go and listen to Mir. /He does not use words. / He beads pearls in his poetry.)
2 Nasir Kazmi, Intikhaab-e Mir (Lahore: Jahangir Book Depot, 2001)


1 Nisar Ahmed Faruqi, Zikr-e Mir, Urdu ed. (Delhi: Maktaba Burhan, 1957), pp. 25–98. Sharif Husain Qasmi, Zikr-e Mir, Persian ed. (New Delhi: Qaumi Council Bara-e Farogh-e Urdu Zaban, 2011).
2 Mir Taqi Mir, Kulliyaat-e Mir, vol. 2 (New Delhi: National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, 2007), pp. 210–19.
3 Ibid., pp. 239–44.
4 Mohammad Husain Azad, Aab-e Hayaat (Lahore: Malik Azad Book Depot, n.d.), p. 204.
5 Ibid., p. 205.
6 Ibid., pp. 205–06.
7 Ibid., pp. 206–07.
8 Ibid., pp. 218–19.
9 Ibid., pp. 219–20.


1 Mir Taqi Mir, Kulliyaat-e Mir, vol. 1 (New Delhi: National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, 2007), pp. 85–86.


* Part II of the book is based on Gopi Chand Narang’s Usloobiyaat-e Meer (Delhi: Educational Publishing House, 2013, fourth printing).


1 Saa’dat Khan Nasir Lakhnavi, Shamim Inhonavi, ed. Tazkirah-e Khush Ma’rka Zeba (Lucknow: Nasim Book Depot, 1971).
2 Altaf Hussain Hali, Muqaddma-e She’r o Shaa’yiri (New Delhi: Maktaba Jamia, 2013).
3 At that time, qasida was considered a superior and a master genre.
4 Ghulam Hamdani Mus-hafi, Maulvi Abdul Haq ed. Tazkirah-e Hindi (Delhi: Jaam’e Barqi Press, 1933).
5 Mirza Ali Lutf, Ata Kakovi ed. Gulshan-e Hind (n.p.: Azeem Alshaan Book Depot, 1972).
6 Mustafa Khan Shefta, Tazkirah Gulshan-e Be-khaar (Lucknow: Nawal Kishore, 1874).
7 Syed Abdullah, Naqd-e Mir (Lahore: Aaina-e Adab,1958).
8 These are culture specific terms and the nearest meaning could be: clarity, flow, lyricism, mellowness; artfulness, depth and ingenuity of meaning; alliteration, musicality of words; intricate finesse; thoughtfulness and developing linkages of themes.
9 Mir Taqi Mir, Maulvi Abdul Haq ed, Nikaat-us Sho’ra (Karachi: Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu Pakistan, 1935, 1979 reprint).
10 Abdullah, Naqd-e Mir, p. 281.
11 Izafat is a connection between two words (compounded word). It is indicated as -e. It can be adjectival, otherwise it stands for possessive ka, ke, ki.
12 Mohammad Hussain Azad, Aab-e Hayaat (Lahore: Malik Azad Book Depot, n.d.)
13 A reference to Hindu epic poem Ramayana.


1 Azad, Aab-e Hayaat, p. 208.


1 Abdullah, Naqde Mir, p. 22.
2 Mansur Al-Hallaj, a Persian Sufi mystic, was beheaded for claiming Ana’l-Haqq (I’m the Truth) in 922 AD.
3 A veiled reference to Karbla tragedy.
4 Another reference to Karbla.


1 Kurha is a typical Prakrit colloquial expression which is difficult to translate in English. It is living one’s life in intense inner pain.
2 Syed Abdullah, Naqd-e Mir, p. 50.
3 Mir’s use of an ellipsis indicated within parenthesis. It is an omission of words that is understood from contextual clues.


Select Bibliography
Abdul Haq, Maulvi (Baaba-e Urdu). 2002. Intikhaab-e Kalaam-e Mir. New Delhi: Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind).
Abdullah, Syed. 1958. Naqd-e Mir. Lahore: Aaiina-e Adab.
Azad, Mohammad Husain. n.d. Aab-e Hayaat. Lahore: Malik Azad Book Depot.
Faruqi, Nisar Ahmed. 1994. Mir Ki Aap Biti (Zikr-e Mir). New Delhi: Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind).
Faruqi, Nisar Ahmed. 2011. Talash-e Mir. New Delhi: Maktaba Jamia Ltd.
Hali, Altaf Hussain. 2013. Muqaddama-e She’r o Shaa’yiri. New Delhi: Maktaba Jamia.
Kazmi, Nasir. 2001. Intikhaab-e Mir. Lahore: Jahangir Book Depot.
Lakhnavi, Saa’dat Khan Nasir, Shamim Inhonavi, ed. 1971. Tazkirah-e Khush Ma’rka Zeba. Lucknow: Nasim Book Depot.
Lutf, Mirza Ali. Ata Kakovi ed. 1972. Gulshan-e Hind. Azeem Alshaan Book Depot.
Mir, Mir Taqi. 2007. Kulliyaat-e Mir. Vols. 1 & 2. New Delhi: National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language.
Mir, Mir Taqi. Mahmud Ilahi ed. 1984. Tazkirah Nikat-us Sho’ra. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Urdu Akademi.
Mir, Mir Taqi. Maulvi Abdul Haq ed. 1935 (1979 reprint). Nikaat-us Sho’ra. Karachi: Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu Pakistan.
Mus-hafi, Ghulam Hamdani. Maulvi Abdul Haq ed. 1933. Tazkirah-e Hindi. Delhi: Jaam’e Barqi Press.
Narang, Gopi Chand. 2013. Usloobiyaat-e Meer. Delhi: Educational Publishing House.
Narang, Gopi Chand. Surinder Deol trans. 2017. Ghalib: Innovative Meanings and the Ingenious Mind. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Narang, Gopi Chand. Surinder Deol trans. 2020. The Urdu Ghazal: A Gift of India’s Composite Culture. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Shefta, Mustafa Khan. 1874. Tazkirah Gulshan-e Be-khaar. Lucknow: Nawal Kishore.


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