MUSIC has a long history in the subcontinent. A large number of books were written on music here and till the revolution of 1857 most of them were in Persian as it was the language used in most of the official, literary, educational, religious and cultural writings in those days.
After that, books on music were written in Urdu and other languages of the subcontinent but not in Persian since the British had replaced Persian as official language. Naghma-i-qudsi is, perhaps, one of the last few books written in Persian in the subcontinent on music. Written in 1853 by Ameer Meenai (1829-1900) in Persian, Naghma-i-qudsi is in fact a commentary on Saut-ul-mubarak, another book on music written in Persian by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Akhter (1822-1887), the last ruler of Awadh (Oudh).
The manuscript of Naghma-i-qudsi — though preserved very dearly for over one-and-a-half century by Ameer Meenai’s descendants — could not be published. One of the reasons was that Persian is a language not much in use now and it is difficult to find scholars who know Persian well. Secondly, during the search for experts the Meenai family realised that those who knew Persian did not know much about music and those who were considered an authority on music knew little or no Persian. So the manuscript remained unpublished. Ultimately, a few years ago, Israel Ahmed Meenai, Ameer Meenai’s grandson living in Karachi, asked Muhammad Ather Masood, to translate it. Masood is a civil servant well-versed both in music and Persian. He has published Urdu translations of modern Persian short stories and a number of research articles on the music of the subcontinent, in addition to his recently published travelogue. So, finally, the rare and old treatise on music, translated into Urdu, was published by Karachi’s Tehzeeb Foundation.
Masood in his detailed introduction has discussed the research aspects of the manuscript and its editing and annotation, such as the manuscript’s size, calligraphy, chapters, author’s style of writing, orthography and some of the errors that had crept into the manuscript. Masood says Ameer Meenai penned the book in the year 1853 when he was only 24 and had not joined the court of Nawab of Rampur. But this is in fact a commentary, expounding the text of Wajid Ali Shah’s book on music titled Saut-ul-mubarak.
As put by Ameer Meenai himself in the beginning of the manuscript, writes Masood, Meenai was not well-versed in the matters of music. As a result, some errors were found in the text and Masood had to annotate those portions of the text. Masood is of the view at certain points Ameer Meenai had added many pieces of information which were not part of the actual text by Wajid Ali Shah. He says that most of such information is derived from Tohfat-ul-Hind, a famous and invaluable work on music written during the reign of Aurangzeb Alamgir by Mirza Muhammad Ibn-i-Fakhruddin.
This writer does not know much about music, but the language used in the Urdu translation is of a high standard and shows that the translator has a command over the music terminology used in Urdu as well as in Persian and Arabic. Another important aspect of the translation is that it has become a historical document as well since it carries some valuable information about Wajid Ali Shah’s life and his preferences about music. Wajid Ali Shah in his text has referred to some poetic works of Urdu by the well-known poet Mushafi. Masood says that it shows that Wajid Ali Shah had a keen eye for his contemporary Urdu literature. Also, Shah had settled some old scores with Mushafi by criticising him and, adds Masood, Meenai had added spice to it.
Shareef Awan in his blurb says that Wajid Ali Shah was a poet, dramatist, theatrical performer, dancer, inventor of the classical dance ‘kathak’ and a patron of arts and literature. But much rubbish has been written about him. This book and the translator bring to us the glimpses of our glorious past that was studded with sparkling gems of a culture that reflected many old civilisations.
Israel Meenai in his blurb has expressed hope that in this era when interest in classical music is rare, this book will prove to be an invaluable gift for those few who love classical music but cannot find authentic information on it.
Ameer Meenai was a remarkable lexicographer of Urdu and Persian and compiled a number of dictionaries. He has to his credit about 50 books in prose and poetry, both in Urdu and Persian, and is considered one of the few great Urdu poets of the latter half of the 19th century.
Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2017
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