MARSIYA: The poetry of sorrow

It will be a rare person who can claim immunity to the pains and pleasures that poetry can bring, be that in the form of lyrics or poems, sung or orated. Words are what we as people can use to express ourselves, in sadness, in love, and in mourning. 

One of these soul stirring traditions is that of the Marsiya— elegiac poems written and recited by mourners of Hussain Bin Ali (R), son of Fatima (R) and Ali (R), and grandson of the Prophet (PBUH). The tradition also includes similar poems with slightly varying intentions, like honouring the martyrs, praising their integrity, or lamenting the tragedy, called Soz and Noha. 

Possibly the one thing that sets apart humanity is the capacity to wring, rouse and sometimes subdue very strong emotions with just words. Words have quelled fears, and raised rebellions against tyrants. They have deceived, and they have bolstered wavering loyalties, time and time again. Years ago, it was the words of the Kufa dwellers that made Hussain (R) leave his home, to serve the ideologies of his grandfather. 

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Muharram in frames

It was Hussain's (R) own words, strength of character, and lineage which made him a threat to Yezid's rule and questioned his legitimacy as a ruler. It is with words, that Muslims today mourn the tragedy that was wreaked on the family of the prophet, not yet 50 years after his demise. 

The word Marsiya has its base in the Arabic word for tragedy, and was commonly used to describe the lamentation for any sorrow. However, since the brutal tragedy was caused to the holy Prophet's (PBUH) younger grandson on the 10th of Muharram, it has come to exclusively mean the songs and poems written in his remembrance. 

A wider pool of poems will also include all the tributes that have been written for him and his retinue of 71, but Marsiyas are special in their nature, for being suitable for lilting oratory. 

The Marsiya sung at the imambaras in Old Dhaka are generally in Persian or Urdu, particularly the Lakhnavi tradition of the latter, which was carried to the eastern part of Bengal by their Persian and Mughal ancestors in the 16th and 17th century. 

The language and mood of Marsiyas can range from the very straight forward to those with layers of meaning. Some renowned Marsiya poets are Mir Anis, Mir Moonis, Mirza Dabeer, and Mir Zamir, to just name a few classics. 

Hussain ki dukh bhari kahani tamam duniya suna kareygi, Jo ro parey ga usey jahan mein Ali ki beti dua karey gi" –

(Hussain's sad story will be heard by the whole world eternally, those who mourn him will have the blessings of Ali's (R) daughter (family))

Men and women, particularly those who love the Ahle-Bayt (the family of the prophet), the Shi'ites, more so those of the 'twelver' (the Asna Ash'ari) tradition, spend the days of Muharram in mourning. There are majlises (gatherings) held every day, until the day that would be Hussain's chehlum, on the tenth of Safar, the second month of the Islamic calendar. In these daily majlises, Hussain (R) and his family are remembered by the people as their own family members, the wounds of their loss kept fresh in the memories, and taught to all. 

There are various types of poems recited, some by an individual orator, and others as a group and on a beat, to feel the frenzied or simmering pain of survivors of a family that went through the immense trauma. 

The Soz when read in the haunting cadence of the orators, uses the words of poets to take a listener back to the fateful time, and builds a picture of the situation—what it might have looked or felt like, especially to the sufferers and those who loved them then and today. It sets the mood for the mourning majlis, reminding everyone the true purpose of the gathering. 

Mir Anis says in the first couplet of a Soz, in Hussain's (R) honour. 

Shabeeh-e-Imam-e-Zamaa khenchte hain, 

Tassavur mein tasveer-e-jaa'n khenchte hain"—

(I paint the image and visage of the Imam of the era, the beloved.)

In another writing, he goes on to say, 

Ghalib kiya Khuda ne tujhe kainaat par, 

Bas khatima jihaad ka hai teri zaat par" -

(God has given you victory over the world, and you are Jihad personified.) 

Poet Mir Moonis aims to describe the sombre solitude of the scene at Karbala, where the holy Prophet's (PBUH) grandson lay dead, without a shroud or shelter to shield him, not yet 50 years since he had left a united Ummah, with this couplet, 

Beykafan din mein para tha Fatima ka aftab,

Din ki chadar dhoop thi, raat ki chadar chandni" -

(Un-shrouded lay the sun of Fatima the whole day, the rays of the sun loved him in the day, the moonlight showered mercy at night.)

Or when Faiz writes, 

Tanhai ki, ghurbat ki, pareshani ki shab hai,

Yeh Khana-e-Shabbir ki wirani ki shab hai" - 

(The night resonated with loneliness, distress, and grief, Shabbir's hearth becomes desolate tonight.)

Or as another poet sends his salam on him, 

Assalam e tishna-lub, shehenshahey karb o bala, Ya Hussain ibne Ali…" -

(Salam on you, the one with parched lips, the conqueror of pain and adversity.) 

Here the words 'karb-o-bala' are a play on the name of the place of incidence - Karbala - and mean pain and calamity respectively. 

An easier version of the Marsiya is the Noha, which is based on the Persian word for lament. A couplet for Noha would be,

Jo mauj hae dariya ki, is ranj se muzter hae, 

Pyasa hae wo do din se, jo malik e kauser hae,"—

(The waves of the river strike the shore in anguish, for the plight of him that has right to even the Kauser in heaven, denied of a drink for two days.)

The poets of Bengal have also expressed their grief, in the form of both poems and the songs better known as Jari Gan. The earliest Marsiya in Bangla is called Muktool Hussain, penned by Mohammed Khan as early as 1645 AD.

A typical Jari Gan has three parts—a bandana or prologue, the body of narration with description of the Karbala tragedy told in couplets, and a concluding couplet declaring the end. The orators also use dialogue interspersed into the poem. Some popular Jaris are Hasan Hussain, Ma Fatemar Jari, and Kasem-Sokhinar Jari. 

Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam also paid tribute, and in his ode to Karbala he says,

"Muharram er chaand elo oi, kadatey fer duniyae, 

Wa Hussaina wa Hussaina matam shona jae" -

(The Muharram moon has come again to wring our tears, the wails of Wa Hussaina Wa Hussaina are heard everywhere.) 

Later he says, 

"Nihsesh dushmon o ke rono-sranto,

Forat er nir e neme mochey ankhi pranto,

Kotha baba Asgor, shok e buk jhajhra,

Pani dekhe Hussain er fetey jae pajra" -

(Who is that, the battle weary, that wipes away tears standing in the waters of the Euphrates?, O little Asghar where are you, Hussain thinks as grief weighs his heart, the sight of water makes Hussain's heart about to burst in pain.)  

While it is true that Karbala was a tragedy, the worst that could fall on a revered and beloved family of the Prophet (PBUH), it carries with it a message of hope. Hussain (R) in his defiance against the tyrant Yezid, showed Muslims the epitome of integrity, and in turn Allah makes his name resonate through the ages, inspiring Muslims all over the world to stand up to injustice, come what may. 

To end in the words of Iqbal:  

"Qatal E Hussain (R) asal mein marg e Yezid hai, 

Islam zinda hota hai har Karbala ke baad."

(The slaughter of Hussain is in fact the end/death of Yezid, Islam rises anew after every Karbala.)