YOUNG poets often ask for advice and this writer tells them to first learn ‘ilm-i-arooz’, or prosody, and learn it well. Prosody is the art that studies the ‘behr’ or metre of verses and measures their rhythm. This rhythm or measure is known in Urdu as ‘vazn’, literally ‘weight’.
The problem is that books available on Urdu prosody are usually laden with technical jargon and the language used is too abstruse for youngsters. Abdur Rauf Ishrat Lakhnavi had penned in four parts a book intended as, sort of, Teach Yourself Urdu Prosody. The first part was named Shaeri Ki Pehli Kitaab and the subsequent parts were named Doosri, Teesri and Chothi kitaab. It was easy to understand as it explained the rules of prosody in simpler language and with ample examples. Ishrat Lakhnavi is not much known these days, especially among the poets of the new generation, but his books on Urdu prosody, lexicography and correct usage were quite popular till about three quarters of a century ago.
One of the reasons for his not being well-known is the fact that his books are not easily available and especially when it came to his book on prosody, few have all four parts --- especially the last two parts are hard to come by. But Dr Arshad Mahmood Nashad has compiled, annotated and published all the four parts in one volume. Published by Karachi’s Rang-i-Adab Publications, this four-in-one book is titled Tadrees-i-Uloom-i-She’ria, subtitled Shaeri Ki Pehli, Doosri, Teesri aur Chothi Kitaab. The first part describes what prosody is and how rhythm of a line of poetry, known as ‘vazn’, is measured.
The second part explains what a ‘behr’ or metre is and how the rhythm of a poetic line is practically found through a process technically known as ‘scanning ’, or ‘taqt’ee’. ‘Taqt’ee’ literally means to dissect or to cut into pieces as it literally involves cutting down of a poetic line into pieces according to rhythm or ‘vazn’ of a particular ‘behr’. The third part narrates what ‘qaafiya’ and ‘radeef’ are. ‘Qaafiya’ is the rhyming word. ‘Radeef’ literally means someone who rides behind a horseman on the same horse and as a term ‘radeef’ means the word(s) following a rhyming word since it comes behind ‘qaafiya’. The last part discusses the ways to determine the merits and flaws of poetry as well as the techniques used by the poets.
All the four parts are followed by annotations and Arshad Mahmood Nashad has been very meticulous in writing these notes as he has not hesitated to openly disagree with Ishrat Lakhnavi wherever he feels what Ishrat Lakhnavi has written needs some correction.
Dr Nasahd has also penned a learned intro about these four books and their author. He says Khwaja Abdur Rauf Ishrat Lakhnavi was born in Lucknow on June 29, 1868. He was a poet, lexicographer and prosodist. Ishrat had little formal education and after having learnt Persian and Arabic, he had to quit education to financially support the family. He began a small business of bookselling and publishing in Lucknow. Soon his shop became a rendezvous for writers and intellectuals where informal literary sittings took place. Ishrat Lakhnavi wrote over 20 books and most of them are on prosody, language learning, grammar, lexicography and usage, adds Dr Nashad. Some of Ishrat Lakhnavi’s books are: Zabaan Dani, Islah-i-Zabaan-i-Urdu, Usool-i-Urdu, Qavaid-i-Mir, Jaan-i-Urdu, Lughaat-i-Urdu (four volumes), Tazkira-i-Hindu Shuara and Aab-i-Baqa.
Dr Nashad has explicitly mentioned in the intro that these four books by Ishrat Lakhnavi are by no means comprehensive or scholarly. They are intended to teach basic rules to novices and new poets and that is why these books abound in examples, which might be exasperating for the learnt reader but it is helpful for the learners.
As put by Nashad, in those days a number of Urdu books on the art of prosody were available but they were, mostly, based on two older and authentic books: Qadr Bilgirami’s Qavaid-ul-Arooz and Najmul Ghani Rampuri’s Behr-ul-Fasahat. But what makes these four books by Ishrat Lakhnavi preferable is its plain and flowing language. The writer has intentionally avoided the use of technical terms and has given numerous examples. Also, the selection of couplets used as examples does point to writer’s good literary taste, says Dr Nashad.
Dr Arshad Mahmood Nashad teaches Urdu at Islamabad’s Allama Iqbal Open University and has penned a number of books that also include collections of his poetry. What is missing from his intro is Ishrat Lakhnavi’s date of death. Ishrat Lakhnavi died in Lucknow on June 9, 1940.
Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2020
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