Mulla Mohammad Tahir Ashai or Ghani kashmiri was the most famous persian poet of the subcontinent who was widely read in Iran .He was a student of another unsung persian poet of kasmir known as mulla Hassan Fani. Ghani belonged to the highly respected Ashai family of Kashmir.He never attended any Darbar or wrote any Qasida ( poetry of Praise ) for any ruler of his time.He even refused to visit Aurangzeb’s Court when summoned repeatedly by the Mughal King. During the reign of Aurangzeb and till this day he is considered one of the great masters of persian poetry. This Kashmiri poet exerted a great influence on the development of persian and urdu poetry in India . He is considered a great master of SABAK E HINDI or THE INDIAN STYLE OF PERSIAN POETRY patronized by Mughals .
Poet Ghani Kashmiri, is among the most eminent Persian poets that subcontinent has produced. In his lifetime, his fame spread beyond the borders of India, with Iranians recognizing him as one of the great masters of their poetry. As stated by the noted historian, Muhammad Yousuf Taing, Ghani Kashmiri was recognized by the Iranians as one among the elite Persian poets from Indian sub-continent who included Amir-Khusru and Faizi. Ghani, he said, belonged to Ashai dynasty. His grave is situated at a short distance from the house near the shrine of the renowned saint Syed Bladoori Rumi in Rajouri Kadal. At present, the grave is neglected and buried under rubble.
Muhammad Yousuf Taing said, In 1909 Justice Muhammad Hussain Arif of Punjab High Court visited Ghani Kashmiri’s grave and commented thus: “Shikasta Haal Wan Par Ghani Ka Maqbara Dekha (I saw Ghani’s grave in a shambles)” He said that Ghani Kashmiri was a student of Mohsin Faani who taught at a school in Gurgari Mohalla in Shahri Khaas.
One of Ghani’s students, Muslim, wrote an elegy on Ghani’s death in which he mentions his date of death as 1079 AH (1668 AD).
Ghani became a legend in his life time. It is said that Saib, an eminent Persian poet from Iran, traveled all the way to Srinagar to ascertain the meaning of a word Ghani had used in his famous couplet: “Moi-E-Miyane Tu Shudah Kralapan / Kard Juda Kasa-E-Sar Ha Ze Tan.” (Addressing his beloved, the poet says: your hair-thin waist is as sharp as a potter’s thread; it has cut many a skull off their bodies).
It was Ghani who composed the following verse to commemorate the date of death of famous Kashmiri poet, Abu Talib Kaleem: “Tur-E-Mani Bood Raushan Az Kaleem” (the Sinai of meaning had got its effulgence from Kaleem).
It is said that Ghani Kashmiri used to close all doors while at home, but leave these open when he was away. When somebody asked him why he did this strange thing, he replied, “What people see me doing is quite right. I am the only treasure in the house. When I am in, the house is to be guarded like a treasure-house. When I am out, it is an empty place, which nobody would care to walk into.”
MOI MIANE TU SHUDH KRAALPAN
KARDAH JUDA KASAI SAR ZE TUN
(GHANI KASHMIRI)
Like the potter’s thread,
your tresses made me dazed and senseless,
severing the head (pot)
from the body (lump of clay).
This verse, contained in “Dewan-e-Ghani”, had a kashmiri word KRAALPAN meaning Potter’s Thread .Saib Tabrizi ( 1601-1677 ) ,well known Persian poet from Isfahan Iran, unable to understand the meaning of a famous verse – in which Ghani had intermingled both Persian and Kashmiri words – travelled all the way from IRAN to Kashmir to meet him. When the Iranian poet arrived ,Ghani Kashmiri was not at his residence but out some where yet the doors of his house were open. Allama Iqbal refers to this incident thus:
That nightingale of poetry, Ghani,
Who sang in Kashmir’s paradisal land,
Used, while at home, to shut up all the doors,
But leave them open while away from home.
Somebody questioned him concerning this.
“O charming bard,” he said, “Why do you do
This strange thing, which nobody understands
The meaning of ?” Ghani, who had no wealth
Except his gift of poetry, replied:
“What people see me doing is quite right.
There is nothing of any value in my house
Except myself. When I am in, the house
Is to be guarded like a treasure-house.
When I am out, it is an empty place,
Which nobody would care to walk into.”
Once Mughal emperor Aurangzeb sent an order to his governor, Saif Khan, to send Ghani to his court at Delhi. Khan summoned Ghani and conveyed the emperor’s order to him. Ghani replied, “Tell the emperor that Ghani has become insane and so cannot attend his court.” Saif Khan said “How can I tell him you are insane when you are fully in your senses”. Ghani tore his shirt and left Saif Khan’s room like a raving lunatic. The poet died three days later.
Mirza Ghalib translated more than 40 of his couplets into urdu.Kashmiri Poet Ghulam Ahmed Mahjoor refers to him in his famous poem ‘Arise, O’ Gardener’:
Litterateurs of Iran will bow
To you in reverence
if you create a poet with powers of
magical narration like Ghani.
Ghani also wrote in urdu . I quote one of his couplets as under
“Dil yun khayale zulf mein phirta hai n’ara zan
Taarik shab mein jaise koi pasban phire”
Ironically his writings are prescribed as study material for scholars in Iran , but just outside Bachi Darwaza in Rajouri kadal area lies his dilapidated house and neglected grave . Old Bachi Darwaza has since been demolished a new constructed at its place .
