<p>Delhi’s bylanes are dotted by mazaars – shrines of Sufi saints – most of the time ignored and unnoticed by passers-by. The grave of an eminent poet Khwaja Mir Dard near Maulana Azad Medical College remains in a similar situation of apathy, both from history lovers and the authorities. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Khwaja Mir Dard was born in 1719 in Delhi and died on January 7, 1785. He was a descendent of Khwaja Baha-ud-Din Naqshbandi from his father’s side, and a progeny of Hazrat Ghaus-e-Azam from his mother’s side. He studied theology with his father and learnt the art of poetry from Khan-e-Arzu. He also served in the army for some time but gave it up to lead a life of retirement and at 39 years, on his father’s death, succeeded him as the head of a sanctuary. <br /><br />Hakim Momin Khan Momin, whose grave lies nearby, was a migrant from Kashmir to Delhi. His father, Hakim Ghulam Nabi, was a physician of note and connected with the imperial court. Momin was born in 1800 and was given that name at the instance of his father’s spiritual guide, Shah Abdul Aziz. A man of pleasure in his youth, he gave up his Bohemian ways when he became a disciple of Sayyid Ahmed of Rae Bareilly. The fruits of his conversion can be studied in his Masnavi-e-Jahadiyya and a few other pieces. He died in 1851. <br /><br />Momin is said to have predicted his death in verse, as he was also a najoomi (astronomer), saying he would end up with broken arms and legs (dast-o-bazu). This is actually what happened years later when he fell from a ladder and died after nine days. His famous couplet, “Tum mere pas hote ho goya/ Jab doosra aur koi nahin hota” made his contemporary Ghalib remark that Momin could take his entire dewan and give him just this pearl of a couplet in exchange. <br /><br />Today, both the poets’ graves lay in disarray with illegal encroachments shadowing them from all sides. Only their graves, on slivers of lands, exist in the name of their contribution to literature and Sufism. They surely deserve more respect <br />from Dilli.<br /></p>
<p>Delhi’s bylanes are dotted by mazaars – shrines of Sufi saints – most of the time ignored and unnoticed by passers-by. The grave of an eminent poet Khwaja Mir Dard near Maulana Azad Medical College remains in a similar situation of apathy, both from history lovers and the authorities. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Khwaja Mir Dard was born in 1719 in Delhi and died on January 7, 1785. He was a descendent of Khwaja Baha-ud-Din Naqshbandi from his father’s side, and a progeny of Hazrat Ghaus-e-Azam from his mother’s side. He studied theology with his father and learnt the art of poetry from Khan-e-Arzu. He also served in the army for some time but gave it up to lead a life of retirement and at 39 years, on his father’s death, succeeded him as the head of a sanctuary. <br /><br />Hakim Momin Khan Momin, whose grave lies nearby, was a migrant from Kashmir to Delhi. His father, Hakim Ghulam Nabi, was a physician of note and connected with the imperial court. Momin was born in 1800 and was given that name at the instance of his father’s spiritual guide, Shah Abdul Aziz. A man of pleasure in his youth, he gave up his Bohemian ways when he became a disciple of Sayyid Ahmed of Rae Bareilly. The fruits of his conversion can be studied in his Masnavi-e-Jahadiyya and a few other pieces. He died in 1851. <br /><br />Momin is said to have predicted his death in verse, as he was also a najoomi (astronomer), saying he would end up with broken arms and legs (dast-o-bazu). This is actually what happened years later when he fell from a ladder and died after nine days. His famous couplet, “Tum mere pas hote ho goya/ Jab doosra aur koi nahin hota” made his contemporary Ghalib remark that Momin could take his entire dewan and give him just this pearl of a couplet in exchange. <br /><br />Today, both the poets’ graves lay in disarray with illegal encroachments shadowing them from all sides. Only their graves, on slivers of lands, exist in the name of their contribution to literature and Sufism. They surely deserve more respect <br />from Dilli.<br /></p>
