- Abdul-Qādir Bēdil
-
Mawlānā Abul-Ma'āni Mirzā Abdul-Qādir Bēdil (Persian: مولانا ابوالمعانی عبدالقادر بیدل), also known as Bedil Dehlavī (1642–1720), was a famous Persian poet and Sufi born in Azimabad (present day Patna, India); to a family of Chaghatay Turkic descent.[1] According to some other sources, he was born in Khwaja Rawash, an area of Kabul province in today's Afghanistan.
He mostly wrote Ghazal and Rubayee (quatrain) in Persian and is the author of 16 books of poetry (contain nearly 147,000 verses and include several masnavi).[2] He is considered as one of the prominent poets of Indian School of Poetry in Persian literature, and owns his unique Style in it. Both Mirza Ghalib and Iqbal-e Lahori were influenced by him. His books include Telesm-e Hairat (طلسم حيرت), Toor e Ma'refat (طور معرفت), Chahār Unsur (چهار عنصر) and Ruqa'āt (رقعات).
Possibly as a result of being brought up in such a mixed religious environment, Bedil had considerably more tolerant views than his poetic contemporaries. He preferred free thought to accepting the established beliefs of his time, siding with the common people and rejecting the clergy who he often saw as corrupt.
Upon his emergence as a poet, Bedil gained recognition throughout the Iranian cultural continent. Since late 18th century his poetry gradually lost its position among Iranians while it has been much welcomed in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. Bedil came back to prominence in Iran in 1980s. Literary critics Mohammad-Reza Shafiei-Kadkani and Shams Langrudi were instrumental in Bidel's re-emergence in Iran. Iran also sponsored two international conferences on Bedil.[3]
The Indian school of Persian poetry and especially Bedil's poetry is criticized for its complex and implicit meanings, however, it is much welcomed in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and India than in Iran.[4] The main reason could be his style which is kept a bit Indian. In Afghanistan, a unique school in poetry studying is dedicated to Bedil's poetry called Bedil Shināsī (Bedil studies) and those who have studied his poetry are called Bedil Shinās (Bedil expert). His poetry plays a major role in Indo-Persian classical music of central Asia as well. Many Afghan classical musicians, e.g. Mohammad Hussain Sarahang, have sung plenty of Bedil's ghazals.
His grave, called Bagh-e-Bedil (Garden of Bedil) is situated across Purana Qila, at Mathura Road in Delhi. [5] Ustaad Sayed Mohammad Daoud Al'Hossaini, an Afghan Bedil expert, arguably showed that seven months after his funeral, Bedil's body was brought back by friends and relatives from Delhi to Khwaja Rawash in Kabul, where the relatives of Barlas-e Tshaghatai lived. Sallahouddin-e Saljouqi proves this thesis on p. 87 of his book "Naqd-e Bedil", that Bedil's grave does not exist in Delhi, but in Khwaja Rawash.
Notes
- ^ Encyclopedia Iranica
- ^ "Arts, South Asian." Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite. (2008).
- ^ International Seminar on Mirza Bedil, March 2003, Tehran, LINK
- ^ Mehrnews.com, Reasons for Bedil's unfamiliarity in Iran, Tehran 1385, LINK
- ^ "In the lanes of Zauq and Ghalib". Indian Express. Mar 15, 2009. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/in-the-lanes-of-zauq-and-ghalib/434583/.
References
- Erkinov A. “Manuscripts of the works by classical Persian authors (Hāfiz, Jāmī, Bīdil): Quantitative Analysis of 17th-19th c. Central Asian Copies”. Iran: Questions et connaissances. Actes du IVe Congrès Européen des études iraniennes organisé par la Societas Iranologica Europaea, Paris, 6-10 Septembre 1999. vol. II: Périodes médiévale et moderne. [Cahiers de Studia Iranica. 26], M.Szuppe (ed.). Association pour l'avancement des études iraniennes-Peeters Press. Paris-Leiden, 2002, pp. 213–228.
External links
Categories:- 1642 births
- 1720 deaths
- Indian poets
- Persian-language poets
- Iranian Sufis
- People from Delhi
- Indian Muslims
- Sindhi literature
- History of Sindh
- Sindhi people
- Sindhi-language poets
- Sindh
- 17th-century poets
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
