A presentation based on the Book : Anis and Shakespeare by Syed Ghulam Iman ( 1950 publication) for lovers of both English and Urdu Poetry.

1. Panegyrics are written for living one, and elegies are
meant to extol the virtues of the dead.
Har katraho nachiz, gauher ho nahi jata
Jiske pas asa ho, use Musa nahi khete
Har hat ko aakil yadbeza nahi khete
Halat pahan ke bhi na razalat ki boo gayi.

2. 'MAN'
Shakespeare:
What a piece of work is man!
How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties!
In form and moving, how express and admirable!
In action how like an angel! In apprehension,
How like a god! The beauty of the world!
Paragon of animals! and yet to me,
What is this quintessence of dust.
MIR ANIS
Harja teri kudrat ke hein lakho jalvein
Heran hu ke do ankhein se kya kya dekhu
Gulshan mein saba ko justazu teri hein
Bulbul ki juban pe guftagu teri hein
Har rang mein hein zalva teri kudrat ka
Jis fuul ko sunghta hun bu teri hein.

3. Brevity is the soul of wit
Bas ei anis taweel se behtar hein ikhteyar
Virtue itself turns vice, when misapplied.
Nure khuda ki madhe bashar ki hein kya mazal
Phoncha kahi n khel malak ka jahan khayal
LIFE
Why what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust,
And, live we how we can, die we must.
Gafil tuje kyu khawais duniya e dani hein
Paiband zameen har koi darvesh o gani hein
Kis bag pein asab khiza a nahi zata
Gul konsa khilta hein jo murza nahin jata.

4. Resignation and patience
Hota agar n katl to aati n kya azal
Gar aaj bach gaye to yehi marhala hei kal
Rehne ki yeh jaa na taharne ka hei mahal
Duniya mein sabr se nahi bahter koi amal.
We cannot but obey
The powers above us - could I rage and roar
As doth the sea she lies in, yet the end
Must be as it is. Perciles - Prince of Tyre
Hum log to majboor hei, mukhtar vahi hei
Mushkil mein garibo ka madadgar vahi hein

5. Life
Tifli dekhi, shabab dekha hamne
Hasti ko habaab ab dekha hamne
Jab band hui ankhen to aqida yeh khula
Jo kuch dekha so khavab dekha hamne.
Grave
If I die,
I will encounter darkness as a bride, and
Hug it in my arms.
Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells
Here grows no damned grudges,
Here no storms,
No noise but silence and eternal sleep.
mar mar ke musafir ne basaya hein tuje
Rukh sab se fira ke muh dikhaya hein tuje
Kyun na lipat kar ke tuj se sou eh kabr
Mein ne bhi jan kho kar paya hein tuje.
Moral order:
There is divinity that shapes our ends. Shakespeare
hum log to majboor hein, mukhtar vahi hein.

6. Faithful Companion
Rushtam utha na sakta tha sar is ke samne
sero ke kapte the jigar unke samne
fiki thi roshnie kamar in ke samne
urta tha rang rue sahar unke samne
baksha tha noor haq ne harek khus sifaat ko
hota tha din jo ghar se nikal te the rat ko
The celestial gift with which Anis was endowed were employed by him to
narrate the actions and virtues of the heroes of Karbala.
I would like to narrate a single incident from his life, which will give
an insight into his personality.
Anis had become very famous in his lifetime. When called to recite before
Wajid Ali Shah – the emperor of Oudh, after hearing the compatriot and
rival Mirza Dabir, reciting verse in praise of the emperor, Mir Anis
recited a quatrain in praise of Imam Ali (S.A.) thus:
Gaiyr ki madhe karun she ka sanakha ho kar
Mujrahi apni hava khou Sulaiman ho kar

7. Written in old age.
Piri ke valvalemein, khiza ki bahar hein
(this is the exuberance of old age, this is the spring
of autumn)
Some of his beautiful couplets :
Har katraho nachiz, gauher ho nahi jata
Jiske pas asa ho, us-e Musa nahi khete
Har hat ko aakil yadbeza nahi khete
Harja teri kudrat ke hein lakho jalvein
Heran hu ke do ankhein se kya kya dekhu
Gulshan mein saba ko justazu teri hein
Bulbul ki juban pe guftagu teri hein
Har rang mein hein zalva teri kudrat ka
Jis fuul ko sunghta hun bu teri hein.
Presentation by
Asgar Fakhrudin – www.hikmaah.com