‘Anees’s poetry shows his mastery of Ilm-e-Bayan’

Mir Anees is among the three most important classical poets of Urdu along with Mir Taqi Mir and Ghalib. Anees had a superb mastery over words and he employed all kinds of words with in a beautiful manner.

This was stated by Dr Asad Areeb at an event organised by the Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu at the Urdu Bagh on Saturday afternoon to commemorate Anees. Dr Areeb came from Multan to speak on the poetic craft of Anees.

The talk was titled ‘Anees: Urdu Ki Kargah-e-Hunar Ka Sanna-e-Sukhan’.

Dr Areeb said Anees’s poetry exhibited the aesthetic standards of Ilm-e-Bayan. He said there were people who criticised Anees for relying heavily on Ilm-e-Bayan and employing techniques like Tajnees and Mura’at-un-Nazeer.

Dismissing such criticism, the speaker said the Holy Quran had all the techniques of Ilm-e-Bayan that granted it unparalleled literary beauty. He maintained that the Holy Quran had many examples of Mura’at-un-Nazeer in it.

The speaker said Anees not only adorned his poetry with techniques that added beauty to the meaning but he also employed ‘Sana’-e-Lafzi’ like Manqoot (using only those letters of the alphabet that have Nuqta like Bay, Sheen, Zay, etc.) or Ghair Manqoot (using only those letters that do not have any Nuqta like Seen, Meem, Laam, etc.).

He remarked that even our first Kalima is Ghair Manqoot as there is no letter in it that has Nuqta.

Dr Areeb said Anees instilled new soul in many words permanently enriching their meaning. He also expressed wonder at Allama Iqbal not mentioning Anees anywhere in his works. He, however, added that the fact that Iqbal did not appreciate Anees did not harm Anees’s stature or reputation as everyone else spoke about him.

The scholar mentioned the literary criticism of Shibli and Hali that helped the Urdu readers truly appreciate the great poetic art of Anees. He said Shibli also mentioned Anees in his She’r-ul-Ajam. Regarding Haali, Dr Areeb said Haali had spoken highly of Anees in Muqadma-e-She’r-o-Shairi and wrote that Anees had beautifully described human nature in his verses.

He also highlighted Anees’s contribution to the oratory art saying that Anees taught us how to proclaim a word in the Tehtul Lafz style. The speaker was of the view that the oratory tradition established by Anees was timeless and would continue forever.

The speaker also praised the Anjuman for commemorating Anees.

Earlier, Anjuman Treasurer Syed Abid Rizvi read out his piece on Anees that explained the socio-political situation in which Anees composed his poetry.