The Tradition of Miraj Namas in Urdu A Brief Overview South Indian’s Literature (Part 01)

اردو میں معراج ناموں کی روایت (ایک اجمالی جائزہ) جنوبی ہند کا ادب (حصہ اول)

Abstract

The word "Nama" in Urdu comes from Persian. In Pehlavi (Old Persian) it was "Namak" which means "Book". "Nama" has been used in Persian for the meaning of letter, footnote, & book. Various books & booklets with thematic diversity have been associated with the suffix Nama in Urdu. Among these themed books, Chakki Nama, Lori Nama, Pankha Nama, Dhol Nama, Charkha Nama, Qayamat Nama, Maa Baap Nama, Faqar Nama, Ibrat Nama, Zafar Nama, Wasit Nama, Faalnama, Khawb Nama includes Milad Nama, Shamail Nama, Wafat Nama, Noor Nama and Miraj Nama. The night journey of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is known as “Miraaj”[Ascension]. It is such a mysterious & miraculous journey that has left a very significant creative impression on the canvas of human thought and vision. After this great event, man has made conscious efforts to trace this ascension on both creative and practical levels. And new worlds have been exposed to this pursuit at both levels. Miraj Nama refers to a book or booklet in which the event of Miraj is described in prose and verse with its details and parts. The tradition of writing Manzoom (in prose/poetic manners) Miraaj in Urdu came from Persian. In the beginning, the poets called "Mirajiyah stanzas" in their Compilations and Masnavis. Syed Balaqi wrote the first regular poem Miraj Nama in Deccan during the reign of Qutb Shah. Although Urdu Natia poetry has always been rich in terms of Mirajiya subjects and poets in almost all genres of poetry have rarely composed Miraajiyah subjects but the number of separately written Miraaj Namas is also not small. After the good beginning of Syed Balaqi, Moazzam, Mulla Raabi, Mukhtar, Mohiuddin Fattahi, Amin Gujrati, Miran Hashmi, Muhammad Hussain, Moazzam Qadri Bijapuri, Shah Abul Hasan Qorbi, Shah Kamaluddin, Qasim Mehri, Mir Qudratullah Khan, Imam Bakhsh Nasikh, Mir Muzaffar Hussain, Mohsen Kakurvi. Imam Ahmad Raza Khan, Hafiz Mohammad Faizullah, Ghulam Muhammad, Muhammad Daulat Khan, Syed Jafarullah Hussaini Aziz Lucknowi, Khwaja Muhammad Akbar Khan Warsi and scholars like Nazar Sabri wrote Miraj Namas.