Born
1723
Agra
Died
1810 (aged 87)
Lucknow
Pen name
Mir
Occupation
Urdu poet
Nationality
Indian
Period
Mughal era
Genres
Ghazal
Subjects
Love, Philosophy
Influences
Amir Khusro
Influenced
Urdu poetry, Ghalib
Mir Taqi Mir (Urdu:
), (born 1723
- died 1810), whose real
name was Muhammad
Taqi ( Urdu: ),
and takhallus (pen
name) was Mir (Urdu:
), (sometimes also
spelt as Meer Taqi
Meer), was the leading
Urdu poet of the 18th
century, and one of the
pioneers who gave
shape to the Urdu
language itself. He was
one of the principal
poets of the Delhi
School of the Urdu
ghazal and remains
arguably the foremost
name in Urdu poetry
often remembered as
Khuda-e-sukhan (god of
poetry).[1]
Life
The main source of
information on Mir's life
is his autobiography
Zikr-e-Mir, which covers
the period from his
childhood to the
beginnings of his
sojourn in Lucknow.[2]
However, it is said to
conceal more than it
reveals,[3] with
material that is undated
or presented in no
chronological sequence.
Therefore, many of the
'true details' of Mir's life
remain a matter of
speculation.
Mir was born in Agra,
India (then called
Akbarabad and ruled by
the Mughals) ca. August
or September 1723 in a
family of Arab origins.
His philosophy of life
was formed primarily
by his father, a religious
man with a large
following, whose
emphasis on the
importance of love and
the value of
compassion remained
with Mir throughout his
life and imbued his
poetry. Mir's father died
while the poet was in
his teens. He left Agra
for Delhi a few years
after his father's death,
to finish his education
and also to find patrons
who offered him
financial support (Mir's
many patrons and his
relationships with them
have been described by
his translator C. M.
Naim).[4]
Some scholars consider
two of Mir's masnavis
(long narrative poems
rhymed in couplets),
Mu'amlat-e-ishq (The
Stages of Love) and
Khwab o khyal-e Mir
(Mir's Vision), written
in the first person, as
inspired by Mir's own
early love affairs,[5] but
it is by no means clear
how autobiographical
these accounts of a
poet's passionate love
affair and descent into
madness are. Especially,
as France W. Pritchett
points out, the austere
portrait of Mir from
these masnavis must
be juxtaposed against
the picture drawn by
Andalib Shadani, whose
inquiry suggests a very
different poet, given to
unabashed eroticism in
his verse[6]
Mir lived much of his life
in Mughal Delhi. Kuchha
Chelan, in Old Delhi was
his address at that
time. However, after
Ahmad Shah Abdali's
sack of Delhi each year
starting 1748, he
eventually moved to
the court of Asaf-ud-
Daulah in Lucknow, at
the king's invitation.
Distressed to witness
the plundering of his
beloved Delhi, he gave
vent to his feelings
through some of his
couplets.












Mir migrated to
Lucknow in 1782 and
remained there for the
remainder of his life.
Though he was given a
kind welcome by Asaf-
ud-Daulah, he found
that he was considered
old-fashioned by the
courtiers of Lucknow
(Mir, in turn, was
contemptuous of the
new Lucknow poetry,
dismissing the poet
Jur'at's work as merely
'kissing and cuddling').
Mir's relationships with
his patron gradually
grew strained, and he
eventually severed his
connections with the
court. In his last years
Mir was very isolated.
His health failed, and
the death of his
daughter, son and wife
caused him great
distress.[7]
He died, of a purgative
overdose, on Friday, 21
September 1810.[1] The
marker of his burial
place was removed in
modern times when a
railway was built over
his grave.[8]
Jump back a section
Literary life
His complete works,
Kulliaat, consist of six
Diwans containing
13,585 couplets,
comprising all kinds of
poetic forms: ghazal,
masnavi, qasida, rubai,
mustezaad, satire, etc.
[1] Mir's literary
reputation is anchored
on the ghazals in his
Kulliyat-e-Mir, much of
them on themes of
love. His masnavi
Mu'amlat-e-Ishq (The
Stages of Love) is one
of the greatest known
love poems in Urdu
literature.
Mir lived at a time when
Urdu language and
poetry was at a
formative stage - and
Mir's instinctive
aesthetic sense helped
him strike a balance
between the indigenous
expression and new
enrichment coming in
from Persian imagery
and idiom, to constitute
the new elite language
known as Rekhta or
Hindui. Basing his
language on his native
Hindustani, he leavened
it with a sprinkling of
Persian diction and
phraseology, and
created a poetic
language at once
simple, natural and
elegant, which was to
guide generations of
future poets.
The death of his family
members,[1] together
with earlier setbacks
(including the traumatic
stages in Delhi), lend a
strong pathos to much
of Mir's writing - and
indeed Mir is noted for
his poetry of pathos
and melancholy.
Jump back a section
Faith

Mir ke deen-o-
mazhab ka
poonchte kya ho un
nay to
kashka khaincha
dair mein baitha
kab ka tark Islam
kiya
What can I tell you
about Mirs faith or
belief ?
A tilak on his
forehead in a
temple he resides,
having abandoned
Islam long ago

[9]
What Mir was practicing
was probably the
Malamati or
Blameworthy aspect
of the Sufi tradition.
Using this technique, a
person ascribes to
oneself an
unconventional aspect
of a person or society,
and then plays out its
results, either in action
or in verse.
Jump back a section
Mir vs Mirza Ghalib
Mir's famous
contemporary, also an
Urdu poet of no
inconsiderable repute,
was Mirza Rafi Sauda.
Mir Taqi Mir was often
compared with the later
day Urdu poet, Mirza
Ghalib. Lovers of Urdu
poetry often debate
Mir's supremacy over
Ghalib or vice versa. It
may be noted that
Ghalib himself
acknowledged, through
some of his couplets,
that Mir was indeed a
genius who deserved
respect. Here are two
couplets by Mirza Ghalib
on this matter.

Reekhtay kay
tumhi ustaad nahi
ho Ghalib
Kehte hain kisi
zamane me koi Mir
bhi tha
You are not the
only master of
Urdu, Ghalib
They say there
used to be a Mir in
the past

Mirza Ghalib

Ghalib apna yeh
aqeeda hai baqaul-
e-Nasikh
Aap bey behrah hai
jo muataqid-e-Mir
nahi
Ghalib! Its my
belief in the words
of Nasikh*,
He that vows not
on Mir, is himself
unlearned!

Mirza Ghalib
*Shaikh Imam Bakhsh
Nasikh of Lucknow, a
disciple of Mir.
Jump back a section
Famous Couplets
Some of his impeccable
couplets are:

Dikhaai diye yun ke
bekhud kiya
Hamen aap se bhi
juda kar chale''
(She appeared in such
a way that I lost
myself
And went by taking
away my 'self' with
her)
Looked as if
rendered me
unconcious
away went leaving
me separated from
me

At a higher spiritual
level the subject Of
Mir's poem in not a
woman but God. Mir
speaks of man's
interaction with the
Divine. What affect it
has on man when God
reveals Himself to man.
Dikhaai diye yun ke
bekhud kiya When I
saw you God I lost all
sense of self Hamen
aap se bhi juda kar chale
When You revealed
yourself it separated
me from myself

Gor kis dil jale ki hai
ye falak
Shola ek subh yaan
se uthta hai''
(What heart-sick
sufferer's misery is
the sky?
an Ember rises hence
at dawn)


Ashk aankh mein
kab nahi aata
Lahu aata hai jab
nahi aata''
(From my eye, when
doesn't a tear fall
Blood falls when it
doesn't fall)


Bekhudi le gai
kahaan humko
Der se intezaar hai
apna
(Where has
selflessness taken
me
I've been waiting for
myself for long)


Ibtidaa-e-ishq hai
rotaa hai kyaa
Aage aage dekhiye
hotaa hai kyaa
(Its the beginning of
Love, why do you wail
Just wait and watch
how things unveil)


Likhte ruqaa, likhe
gaye daftar
Shauq ne baat kyaa
barhaai hai
(Started with a scroll,
ended up with a
record
How pursuit escalated
the whole thing)


Deedani hai
shikastagi dil ki
Kya imaarat
ghamon ne dhaai
hai
(Worth-watching is
my heart's crumbling
What a citadel have
sorrows razed)


Baad marne ke
meri qabr pe aaya
wo 'Mir'
Yaad aai mere Isa
ko dawa mere
baad''
(O Mir, She came to
my grave after i'd died
My messiah came to
my aid after i'd died)

Jump back a section
Mir Taqi Mir in fiction
Khushwant Singh's
famous novel Delhi: A
Novel gives very
interesting details
about the fictional life
and adventures of the
great poet. His fictional
memoirs and
confessions, especially
those about his illicit
relations with elite
women, mainly with
the wife of the
aristocrat Rias Khan
who employed him as
tutor to teach his
children, are not only
very entertaining but
also provide a lot of
insight into his mind and
heart.
Jump back a section
Major works
Nukat-us-Shura
Biographical
dictionary of Urdu
poets of his time,
written in Persian
Faiz-e-Mir Collection
of five stories about
sufis & faqirs, said
to have been written
for the education of
his son Mir Faiz Ali.
[10]
Zikr-e-Mir
Autobiography
written in Persian
language.
Kulliyat-e-Farsi
Collection of poems
in Persian language
Kulliyat-e-Mir
Collection of Urdu
poetry consisting of
six diwans (volumes)
.
Jump back a section
See also
Poetry portal
List of Urdu poets
Ghazal
Jump back a section
References
1. a b c d
Legendary Urdu
poet Mir Taqi Mir
passed away
, [The Times of
India], Rajiv
Srivastava, TNN,
Sep 19, 2010,
05.58am IST
2. Naim, C M
(1999). Zikr-i-Mir,
The
Autobiography of
the Eighteenth
Century Mughal
Poet: Mir
Muhammad Taqi
Mir (17231810),
Translated,
annotated and
with an
introduction by C.
M. Naim. New
Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
3. Faruqi, Shamsur
Rahman. The
Poet in the Poem
.
4. Naim, C. M.
(1999). Mir and
his patrons
. Annual of Urdu
Studies 14.
5. Russell, Ralph
(1968). Three
Mughal Poets: Mir,
Sauda, Mir Hasan
. Harvard
University Press.
6. Pritchett,
Frances W..
Convention in the
Classical Urdu
Ghazal: The Case
of Mir
.
7. Matthews, D. J.
(