IN Urdu’S literary historiography, the city of Delhi is often referred to, metaphorically, as a garden or candle: a garden that saw its last ‘spring’ before it wilted forever in the ‘autumn’ of 1857; and a ‘Mughal candle’ that was shining for the last time before it blew out, writes Chaudhry Muhammad Naim in his article Ghalib Ki Dilli (Ghalib’s Delhi), included in his just-published book Muntakhab Mazaameen (Selected Essays).
Chaudhry Muhammad Naim, aka C.M. Naim, has re-evaluated these two metaphors with reservations. Altaf Husain Hali was the first to call Delhi a garden in his Yadgar-i-Ghalib wherein he wrote that the autumn in the garden of Delhi had begun when he visited the city for the first time. Mirza Farhatullah Baig provided us with the other metaphor when he wrote his equally popular piece Dilli Ka Aakhri Yadgar Mushaera, writes Naim. These two words caught the fancy of our critics and literary historians. So much so that even a conscientious historian like Sheikh Muhammad Ikram used them within three lines while discussing Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and his days, Naim adds.
Having described Ghalib’s Delhi, its history and milieu, in his final analysis Naim writes that for Ghalib Delhi was not one city but two, Delhi before 1857 and what it turned out to be after the debacle. But candle it never was and neither was it a garden, though pre-British era Delhi was a vibrant economy that attracted the wealthy. On the other hand, rural society and local industry were ruined by the British rulers, but Ghalib and his contemporary intellectuals did not have interest in such issues and Ghalib was more worried about the restoration of his pension and well-being of his friends. Also, despite a congregation of literary and religious luminaries in pre-1857 Delhi, the society lacked in creativity and innovation and was already in decline in the middle of the 19th century due to natural causes. In fact, the saplings planted earlier truly came to fruition in the latter half of the 19th century, says Naim.
Popular fiction is another topic on which Naim has written with much passion. His articles on works of Munshi Tirath Ram Ferozpuri and Zafar Umar, the two writers of Urdu’s earliest detective fiction, say they were all the rage between the 1920s and 1940s. Urdu translations of works by George William McArthur Reynolds, too, were immensely popular in the subcontinent. Naim’s articles on these writers are as gripping as their translations were.
Other articles in the book discuss the works and personalities of Nazeer Ahmed Dehlvi, Imam Bakhsh Sehbai and Muhammadi Begum against the backdrop of their milieu. But the book is not restricted to Urdu literature, its research and criticism, it is also an endeavour to analyse the changes that have been taking place during the last few centuries in the subcontinent and the culture associated with Urdu and its literature. Some essays have a precision and swiftness of a surgeon’s knife and his analysis of some issues — such as nature of Urdu rekhti (Urdu’s parlance used by lesbians), Mir’s alterations to manuscript of Arzoo’s tazkira Majma-un-Nafaaes to suit his own views, intentionally debasing the value of Deccan and Dakani Urdu literature by the intellectuals from the North — prove Naim has a much wider knowledge and deeper understanding than some of our intellectuals teaching Urdu at our universities.
Packed with pieces of rare information on history and Urdu literature, the book is a must read for scholars of Urdu. Some articles have been translated from English by Ajmal Kamal and couple of them by Arjumand Ara. The book, published by Karachi’s Aaj, is the first volume and one hopes other volumes are on their way.
Chaudhry Muhammad Naim is an academic, researcher and translator. He was born in 1936 in Barabanki, some 30 kilometres from Lucknow. He did his MA (Urdu) from Lucknow University in 1955 and studied linguistics at Pune’s Post-Graduate and Research Institute, also called Deccan College, which is known for, in addition to other disciplines, linguistics and lexicography. He reached the US in 1957 and did MA (Linguistics) from Berkeley, California.
Naim began teaching at Chicago University in 1961 and having put in 40 years of service, retired in 2001. In addition to his pedagogical works on Urdu, some of his works include Urdu Texts and Context, Ambiguities of Heritage, The Muslim League in Barabanki and A Killing in Ferozewala. He had been associated with Journal of South Asian Literature and Annual of Urdu Studies, the two academic journals published from the US, for quite some time.
One may disagree with some of C.M. Naim’s views, but his scholarship and deep analysis based on research and cultural understanding are something to reckon with.
Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2023
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