Dehli's Jama Masjid

[Afzal A. Khan]

Naazireen-e-giraami,

In the past, I think I have written about certain
historical monuments.

Today, I would like to write something about the
Jama Masjid of Dehli City.

It may please be noted that I am using "Dehli" as the
city's name, rather than the widely used spelling "Delhi".

The reason is quite simple. When the Mosque was
built, the city was known as "Dehli" --- "Delhi"
is a nomenclature that came into vogue much later.



****************


First, some historical details about the Mosque and
its construction........

It was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah JahaN and the
construction took about 6-7 years (beginning in 1650 and
ending in 1656). The cost of construction at the time
was one million rupees. It was inaugurated by Imam Syed
Abdul Ghafoor Shah Bukhari, who (as the name implies)
hailed from Bukhara.

The Mosque stands across the road from the Red Fort.

There are three great gates and two 40 metres high mina-
rets, constructed with strips of red sandstone and white
marble. The courtyard can accommodate more than 25,000
people. There are three domes on the terrace. On the
floor, a total of 899 black borders are marked for the
worshippers.

Arguably the largest mosque in the sub-continent is
located in Lahore. It is called the Badshahi Mosque.
It was built by Emperor Aurangzeb. And its structural
plan is similar to that of Dehli's Jama Masjid.

The Dehli Mosque has had a chequered history. After the
1857 Mutiny was brutally suppressed by the Britishers,
they wanted to demolish the Mosque but, fearing widespread
repercussions, they chose not to execute that nefarious idea.


****************


An interesting story is narrated about the Mosque that, after
its completion, the Emperor decreed that the first prayer in
the Mosque should be led by someone who had not missed even
a single prayer for the preceding 20 years. {I am not sure
about the exact period, though.}. And when no one came
forward claiming to have fulfilled that condition, the
Emperor himself came forward and led the prayers.


****************


I consider myself fortunate that I have had the privilege of
offering prayers in that historic Mosque.


BTW, it may be mentioned here that the well-known Urdu Baazaar
of Dehli is located very near the Jama Masjid. On visits to
Dehli, I used to buy quite a few books (some of them quite rare)
from the shop-keepers in the above baazaar).

And since I hardly looked like a College student, the shop-keepers
would gently enquire whether I was involved in some Research activity
! !!


****************


And here is a poem about this magnificent Mosque.



Masjid-e-Jame', karooN kya KHoobiyaaN teri bayaaN
Shaan-o-shaukat dekh kar chakkar men haiN sad aasmaaN

Kya tira ai'zaaz hai, kaisi tiri tauqeer hai
Dil par har insaan ke kaNda tiri tasveer hai

Jazb hai Shah-e-JahaN ka dil tiri t'ameer men
KHwaab us ka bhar raha hai raNg is ta'beer men

ChaRkh-e-chaharrum ka hai tu ik 'aks -- ik partau hai tu
Sho'la-e-eemaaN, chiraaGH-e-aagahi ki lau hai tu

Aatish-e-'irfaaN ke raNg-e-surKh men Dhaali huwi
'Azmat-e-Ka'ba hai saNg-e-surKh men Dhaali huwi

Shaahid-e-Mutlaq ka hai tu ya koi raNgeeN KHayaal
Mo'jiza eemaan ka hai ya koi saHr-e-Halaal

Hai is aaine se ik raaz-e-nihaani aashkaar
SaNg-e-aHmar se hai dun'yaa-e-ma'aani aashkaar

Sar pe apne chaadar-e-Husn-o-zia Daale huwe
RuKh pe apne hai naqaab ik mah`laqa Daale huwe

Tu KHayaal-o-KHwaab hai shaayad kisi mai~KHwaar ka
Ya rabaab-e-zuhd ka naGHma koi Thehra huwa

Tere manzar ki Khushi men GHum ki aamezish bhi hai
Qah'qahoN men qatra'haaye ashk ki rezish bhi hai

Tere meenaaroN pe haiN jo marmareeN si dhaariyaaN
Aatish-e-GHum ki haiN in se phooT'ti chingaariyaaN

Bel~booTe teri maHraaboN pe haiN go dis~nasheeN
Muntashir hai in men teri KHaatir-e-aN'doh'geeN

Hauz tera ashk-e-KHoneeN ka laba'lab jaam hai
Waaqe'ii tu ik shikaar-e-gardish-e-ayyaam hai




****************




Afzal

[Khalid Siddiqui]

Aadaab:
Beautiful poem. Who wrote it and when?
Thanks.
Best wishes.
Khalid

[Afzal A. Khan]

K. S. Saheb,

I am sorry but, right now, I am unable to recall the
name of the poet.....

But does it really matter ?

I mean it could have been written by, say, Jigar
Moradabadi or Josh Malihabadi --- though neither of them
actually wrote it.

So, I believe that one should appreciate the poem itself
and also to ponder over the sombre message that has been
conveyed therein.

With regards,



Afzal

[Raj Kumar]

On Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 1:16:45 PM UTC-7, Afzal A. Khan wrote:

> And here is a poem about this magnificent Mosque.
>
>

> ChaRkh-e-chaharrum ka hai tu ik 'aks -- ik partau hai tu
> Sho'la-e-eemaaN, chiraaGH-e-aagahi ki lau hai tu
>

***nazm Khuub hai, albatta mundaraja-baalaa she'r ka pahla misr'a (lafz 'chaharrum/chahaarum' ki vajah se) Khaarij-az-baHr ho rahaa hai. is lafz ki bajaaye agar 'paNjum' yaa 'haftum' kahaa jaaye to yeh naqs duur ho jaataa hai.

Please double-check.

R.K.***

[Khalid Siddiqui]

Actually it doesn't matter. I was just curious.
Best wishes.
Khalid

[Afzal A. Khan]

It is quite correct that the misra' does not fit
the metre.....

The source where I had come across this Nazm sometime back
had the word "chaaram/chaarim/chaarum" (or something like that)
in Urdu script.

I don't quite know the exact meaning of the above "word".

Maybe Naseer Saheb or someone else can do the needful.

I did the "next best thing" --- i.e. changed the word to
"chahaarrum" !


****************


The reference here is of course to "the sky" which is
supposed to be the arch-enemy of mankind in general and
"love~birds" in particular.


****************


Other references of a similar nature can be found in Urdu
and Faarsi poetry......

Mirza Ghalib says :

Raat din gardish men haiN saat aasmaaN
Ho rahega kuchh na kuchh, ghabraaeN kya



****************


Hazrat Ameer Khusrau (AR), who lived around 800 years back,
had written a masnavi, known as "Masnavi-e-Nuh~sipehr"

As the name implies, he reckons the number of "aasmaaN" to
be nine.


****************


Waiting for Naseer Saheb, and other friends, to come up with a
"solution"....




Afzal

[Naseer]

janaab-i-Afzal SaaHib, aadaab

yaad-aavarii kaa bahut bahut shukriyah.

Thank you for posting this fine poem on Jaami3 Masjid Dehli. When I read it, like Khalid SaaHib, I too wondered who the poet was. I then thought you would have provided the poet's details, had you known them. I agree with Khalid SaaHib that it is good to know the poet's name. I also agree with you that, in the absense of this information, one need not dwell on the creator but on the creation! For what it's worth, I did try my level best to find the poet's name but alas, my "search powers" have greatly diminished!!

When I read the nazm, I too wondered why you had written the word as "chahaarrum". The double "r", I thought, is most likely to be a typo. Of course, I do not have the inside knowledge which you and Raj Kumar SaaHib have about such matters as "vazn". Otherwise, I would have not waited for Raj Kumar SaaHib to point out this defect!:-)

Now coming to your question. Can I ask you and Raj Kumar SaaHib, if writing it as "charx-i-chaarum" would put it in meter? I say this because this is how you found it and there is such a construction. This charx/sky (charx-i-chahaarum/chaarum - The fourth sky) is associated with Hazrat 'Isa (PBUH) and according to one source (Nur-ul-LuGhaat), the sun resides here. According to Urdu LuGhat it is "vuh aasmaan jis meN chaaNd kaa vujuud paayaa jaataa hai...ise Hazrat 'Isa se bhii manxuub kiyaa jaataa hai). So, take your pick!

A few examples that I have been able to locate in the depths of the net!:-)

khole havaa meN taa'ir-i-zarriiN ne baal-o-par
baiThaa vuh charx-i-chahaarum ke baam par

Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabiir

You may know that Allaamah Ghulam Ahmed Parvez is know for his Qur'anic tafsiir "outside the box". Apparently, the Christians believed that Jesus (PBUH) was residing in the fourth sky/heavan and taunted the Muslims that their prophet lay in his grave in Madina! In his exposition of the Qur'an, chapter 3 vs 52-58 he mentions a na3t in which there is the following shi3r, which it seems is a response to the Christian taunt.

rah ga'e charx-i-chahaarum pih janaab-i-3iisaa
tai kiye haft samaavaat ke maidaan tuu ne

Ibn-i-Insha also has used this "tarkiib".

tum charx-i-chahaarum ke sitaare hu'e, logo
taaraaj karo zindagiyaaN ahl-i-jahaaN kii

(I hope I have copied this shi3r correctly)

Naseer

[Naseer]

Further to my last...

Looking at Dabiir's shi3r, it does appear that the "taa'ir-i-zariiN" (the sun) has its abode in the "charx-i-chahaarum".

I meant to quote a couple of more examples....showing charx-i-chahaarum's association with Jesus.

One from Amir Mina'ii..

vuh to hai charx-i-chahaarum pih yih pach muHalle par
sach hai 3iisaa se bhii baalaa tiraa mazduur rahaa

And this one from the maestro, Naushad Ali.

us masiiHaa kii jo furqat meN huuN royaa shab-bhar
ban ga'e charx-i-chahaarum ke sitaare aaNsuu

Naseer

[Afzal A. Khan]

MuHibbee,

Aap ke 'is' (ya phir "in") tafseeli jawaabaat ka bahut bahut
shukriya.

While I compliment you for this painstaking research, let
me also pat myself on the back !!

Had I not invoked your assistance in resolving this issue,
we would still be in the dark !!


Afzal

[Raj Kumar]

---------------------------------

> ChaRkh-e-chaharrum ka hai tu ik 'aks -- ik partau hai tu
> Sho'la-e-eemaaN, chiraaGH-e-aagahi ki lau hai tu

***mundaraja-baalaa she'r par Khaaksaar ne kahaa tha k is ka pahla misr'a (lafz 'chaharrum/chahaarum' ki vajah se) Khaarij-az-baHr ho rahaa hai. is lafz ki bajaaye agar 'paNjum' yaa 'haftum' kahaa jaaye to yeh naqs duur ho jaataa hai.

Please double-check.***

javaab meN, Afzal sahib ne kahaa:

{It is quite correct that the misra' does not fit

the metre.....

The source where I had come across this Nazm sometime back
had the word "chaaram/chaarim/chaarum" (or something like that)
in Urdu script.

I don't quite know the exact meaning of the above "word".

Maybe Naseer Saheb or someone else can do the needful.

I did the "next best thing" --- i.e. changed the word to
"chahaarrum" !}

At this point, Naseer sahib came to our rescue and wrote:

{Now coming to your question. Can I ask you and Raj Kumar SaaHib, if writing it as "charx-i-chaarum" would put it in meter? I say this because this is how you found it and there is such a construction. This charx/sky (charx-i-chahaarum/chaarum - The fourth sky) is associated with Hazrat 'Isa (PBUH) and according to one source (Nur-ul-LuGhaat), the sun resides here. According to Urdu LuGhat it is "vuh aasmaan jis meN chaaNd kaa vujuud paayaa jaataa hai...ise Hazrat 'Isa se bhii manxuub kiyaa jaataa hai). So, take your pick!}


***shukriya, Naseer sahib. lafz “chaarum” does the trick. Not only does it put the misr’a in baHr, it also adds a valuable term to our vocabulary.

Naseer sahib, even though I tend to believe everything you say as correct, still --- to follow the Ronald Reagen Rule of “trust but verify” ;-) --- I double-checked with Platts and found “chaarum” to be quite a genuine word, a contraction of “chahaarum” just as “chaar-dahum” is of “chahaar-dahum”. However, since these two words have different weights (22 and 122, respectively), one is not replaceable by the other.

In any case, the problem at hand is solved and leaves us indebted to you and to your innumerable resources.

Khair-aNdesh, Raj Kumar***

[Naseer]

muHtaram Raj Kumar SaaHib, aadaab.

I have to confess that on this occasion I did look up Platts for "charx" but did not find "charx-i-chahaarum" under the "charx" entry. Then I resorted to other dictionaries and found both "charx-i-chahaarum" and "charx-i-chaarum" in Urdu LuGhat.

http://udb.gov.pk/result.php?pn=3&search=%DA%86%D8%B1%D8%AE

I was already aware that in Persian, chahaar also exists in the form of "chaar". Afzal SaaHib indicated that in the Urdu script the word was چارم. So, I concluded the tarkiib in the nazm would most likely be "charx-i-chaarum". Now, you have confirmed that this fits, vazn-wise, perfectly.

Thank you for having some belief in me! You know I would n't have said what I said without having done appropriate homework.

Naseer

[Khalid Siddiqui]

Aadaab:
I am confused with the meaning of the words 'tiraa mazduur' and 'pach' in the couplet by Amir Mina'ii. How are these words pronounced? Mazdoor means a laborer, but it don't make sense here. Please clarify.
Thanks.
Best wishes.
Khalid

[Naseer]

aadaab Khalid Saahib.

I was hoping one of the learned people in ALUP would come to your aid as I had similar thoughts about the word "pach". In other words, I did n't have a clue what a "pach muHallah" was. Platts gives, the following entry for "pach" which does not appear to be very helpful.

H پچ पच pać [S. पक्ष], s.f. Support, countenance, protection, defence; partisanship ( = paćh; ḥimāyat); prejudice, bigotry; pertinacity, obstinate adherence (to, -kī).

ٗUrdu LuGhat provides similar meanings as above as well as...

"kiichaR, daldal yaa paanii meN kisii chiiz ke girne kii aavaaz, bi_l3umuum takraar ke saath musta3mal.

So, here is my "take" on the shi3r, but please accept it with a pinch of salt!

vuh to hai charx-i-chahaarum pih yih pach muHalle par
sach hai 3iisaa se bhii baalaa tiraa mazduur rahaa

vuh = Hazrat 'Isa 3alaihissalaam

yih = mazduur = the poet/ the lover

tiraa = refers to the beloved. Perhaps the lover is the beloved's employee (just as RaaNjhaa was Heer's)

pach-muhallah/maHallah = A quarter of town whose lanes are muddy with standing water in places. As people walk through them, they make a splashing sound.

The poet/the labourer who lives in this quarter and walks though this squelching mud regards himself far superior than Jesus who has his residence in the fourth heaven, doing perhaps nothing at all for his beloved (God).

"pach" also means "paan kii piik thuukne kii aavaaz, 3umuum-an takraar ke saath musta3mal". So, take your pick.

Naseer

[Khalid Siddiqui]

Aadaab:
Thanks for the information.
Best wishes.
Khalid