Remembrances

Murty Classical Library of India #22

by Mir Taqi Mir, C.M. Naim (Translator)

Mir Muhammad Taqi Mir (1723–1810) is the author of six collections of Urdu poetry and widely regarded as the finest ghazal poet in that language. However, he also wrote one volume of verse and three prose works in Persian, including Zikr-e Mir, or Remembrances, a rare and remarkable example of Indo-Persian autobiography.

Remembrances recounts Mir’s ancestry, his father’s spiritual quest, and his own struggles to find education and patronage both in his native Agra and in Delhi. While the work may offer few glimpses into the author’s private life or professional literary activity, it presents a vivid picture of political events and intrigues between 1760 and 1789, when north India witnessed extensive warfare.

The Persian text, presented here in the Naskh script, includes all the author’s additions and alterations properly identified and chronologically arranged, along with a newly revised English translation. Mir concludes his autobiography with a series of jokes and witty anecdotes, some of them quite risqué, that are printed here for the first time.

Genres: Biography, Poetry, History

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1788

About the author

Meer Muhammad Taqi Meer (Urdu: مِیر تقی مِیرؔ‎—Mīr Taqī Mīr), whose takhallus (pen name) was Mir (Urdu: مِیرؔ‎—Mīr) (sometimes also spelt 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 Khudā-e Sukhan (God of Poetry).

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

میر صرف اردو شاعری کے نہیں اردو نثر کے بھی امام ہیں۔ کمال سحر انگیز نثر ہے کہ ایک لمحے کو نہیں لگتا کہ یہ کتاب صدیوں پہلے لکھی گئی ہے۔ قاری میر کے الفاظ کے معنی کھوجتا دلی اور آگرے کے گلی کوچوں میں پہنچ جاتا ہے ۔ ان گلیوں میں ہم میر کی طرح بیک وقت تماشا اور تماشائی بن جاتے ہیں۔ ہم میر کو عشق میں خوار ہوتے، وحشت میں دیواروں سے سر پھوڑتے ، فکر معاش میں در در کی ٹھوکریں کھاتے،جنگوں میں سب کچھ لٹا کر نڈھال ہوتے اور بڑھاپے میں ہر چیز سے مایوس ہوتے دیکھتے ہیں۔
کیا واقعی زندگی بے مقصد ہی گزر جائے گی۔ کیا مرنے سے پہلے فقط پچھتاوے ہی رہ جائیں گے؟ کیا پڑھنا لکھنا بھی رائگاں ہی جائے گا

[مومنہ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

[Omama. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has to be a rare autobiography of Mir, an 18th century Mughal poet; It started off with Mir telling his forefathers' life, which he seems at greater pains to describe; the accomplishments of his friends and his family. This book looks more like a memoir, originally written in Persian. Mir drew a clear picture of life, what he saw, what he felt, and wrote it with tears of blood. Interesting text, very well presented.

[Tariq Ahmad Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

اچھی کتاب ہے۔ گو میر صاحب کی لکھی گئی یہ کتاب ان کی زندگی کے مختلف پہلوئوں پہ زیادہ روشنی تو نہیں ڈالتی پر اس وقت کے مغل ہندوستان اور مختلف راجواڑوں کے حالات اور آپ کی چپلقشوں کے سمجھ گ کے لئے ایک بہترین کتاب ہے۔ اس کتاب میں اب کچھ ملے گا سوائے میر کی زندگی، ان کے خانگی حالات اور شاعری کے بیان کے