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reworked formatting additionally and added references to improve readability

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{{short description|Mughal Indian Urdu language poet}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Mir Taqi Mir
| pseudonym = Mir
| image = Mir Taqi Mir 1786.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Mir Taqi Mir in 1786 (citation needed; no idea how this image came to be)
| birth_date = February 1723
| birth_place = [[Agra]], [[Mughal India]] {{small|(present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]], India)}}
| death_date = 20 September 1810 (aged 87)
| death_place = [[Lucknow]], [[Oudh State]], Mughal India
| occupation = Poet
| period = [[Mughal India]]
| genre = ''[[Ghazal]]'', Mathnavi
| subject = Love, metaphysics
| movement =
| notableworks = ''Faiz-e-Mir'' ''Zikr-e-Mir'' ''Nikat-ush-Shuara'' ''Kulliyat-e-Farsi'' ''Kulliyat-e-Mir''
}}
{{Contains special characters|Urdu}}
'''Mir Muhammad Taqi''' (February 1723 – 20 September 1810), known as '''Mir Taqi Mir''' (also spelled '''Meer Taqi Meer'''), was an [[Urdu poetry|Urdu poet]] of the 18th century [[Mughal Empire|Mughal India]] and one of the pioneers who gave shape to the [[Urdu]] language itself. His father's name was Meer Muttaqi. After his father's death, his step-Brothers took control over his property. His step-uncle took care of him after he was orphaned and after the death of his step-uncle(paternal) his maternal step-uncle took care of him. The part of his poetry is the grief he expresses. He has expressed a lot of grief over the downfall of his city, Delhi. He was one of the principal poets of the [[Delhi]] School of the Urdu ''[[ghazal]]'' and is often remembered as one of the best poets of the Urdu language. His [[pen name]] (''[[takhallus]]'') was Mir. He spent the latter part of his life in the court of [[Asaf-ud-Daulah]] in [[Lucknow]].<ref name=HT>{{cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/sept20-meerbirthday/story-AhLZW0eOZ4fZNYnDMNUSBL.html |title=Meer Taqi Meer: 10 couplets we can use in our conversations |author=Sweta Kaushal |newspaper=Hindustan Times (newspaper)|date=20 September 2015|access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref>

==Life==
The main source of information on Mir's life is his autobiography ''Zikr-e-Mir'', which covers the period from his childhood to the beginning of his sojourn in [[Lucknow]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Naim|first=C M|title=Zikr-i-Mir, The Autobiography of the Eighteenth Century Mughal Poet: Mir Muhammad Taqi Mir (1725–1810), Translated, annotated and with an introduction by C. M. Naim|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New Delhi}}</ref> However, it is said to conceal more than it reveals,{{sfn|Faruqi|2001}} with material that is undated or presented in no chronological sequence. Therefore, many of the 'true details' of Mir's life remain a matter of speculation.

=== Early life and background ===
Mir was born in [[Agra]], India (then called ''Akbarabad'' and ruled by the [[Mughals]]) in August or February 1723.<ref name="HT" /> His grandfather had migrated from [[Hejaz]] to Hyderabad, then to Akbarabad or Agra. His philosophy of life was formed primarily by his father, Mir Abdullah, a religious man with a large following, whose emphasis on the importance of love and the value of compassion remained with Mir throughout his life and imbued his poetry. Mir's father died while the poet was in his teens, and left him some debt.{{sfn|Islam|Russell|1994|p=235}} Mir left Agra for [[Delhi]] a few years after his father's death, to finish his education and also to find patrons who offered him financial support (Mir's many patrons and his relationship with them have been described by his translator [[C. M. Naim]]).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Naim|first=C. M.|title=Mir and his patrons|journal=Annual of Urdu Studies|year=1999|volume=14|url=http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/14/07naimcMirand.pdf}}</ref><ref name="uchicago">[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/PK2155.H8413/194220d3.html Profile and poetry of Mir Taqi Mir on University of Chicago website] Retrieved 18 July 2020</ref> He was given a daily allowance by the Mughal Amir-ul-Umara and Mir Bakhshi, [[Khan Dowran VII|Khan-i Dauran]],<ref>{{cite book |title=A Mughal Statesman Of The Eighteenth Century |author= Zahiruddin Malik |date=1973 |page=108 |publisher= Aligarh Muslim University }}</ref> who was another native of Agra.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXsBAAAAMAAJ&q=khwaja+qasim+dauran |title=A Mughal Statesman of the Eighteenth Century, Khan-i-Dauran, Mir Bakshi of Muhammad Shah, 1719-1739 |page=4 |publisher=Aligarh Muslim University |author= Zahiruddin Malik |date=1973 |isbn=9780210405444 }}</ref>

Some scholars consider two of Mir's ''masnavis'' (long narrative poems rhymed in couplets), ''Mu'amlat-e-ishq'' (The Stages of Love) and ''Khwab o Khyal-e Mir'' ("Mir's Vision"), written in the first person, as inspired by Mir's own early love affairs,{{sfn|Islam|Russell|1994}} but it is by no means clear how autobiographical these accounts of a poet's passionate love affair and descent into madness are. Especially, as Frances W. Pritchett points out, the austere portrait of Mir from these masnavis must be juxtaposed against the picture drawn by Andalib Shadani, whose inquiry suggests a very different poet, given to unabashed [[eroticism]] in his verse.<ref name=columbia2>{{cite web|last=Pritchett|first=Frances W.|title=Convention in the Classical Urdu Ghazal: The Case of Mir|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/published/txt_convention.html|date=1 September 1979|website=Columbia.edu website|access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref>

=== Life in Lucknow ===
[[File:Mir Taqi Mir, Lucknow, 1800-10.jpg|thumb|Mir Taqi Mir, Lucknow, 1800-10]]
Mir lived much of his life in [[Mughal empire|Mughal]] Delhi. ''Kuchha Chelan'', in Old Delhi was his address at that time. However, after [[Ahmad Shah Abdali]]'s sack of Delhi each year starting 1748, he eventually moved to the court of [[Asaf-ud-Daulah]] in [[Lucknow]], at the ruler's invitation. Distressed to witness the plundering of his beloved Delhi, he gave vent to his feelings through some of his couplets.<ref name=uchicago/>

{{nq|''کیا بود و باش پوچھو ہو پورب کے ساکنو ہم کو غریب جان کے ہنس ہنس پکار کے دلّی جو ایک شہر تھا عالم میں انتخاب رہتے تھے منتخب ہی جہاں روزگار کے جس کو فلک نے لوٹ کے ویران کر دیا ہم رہنے والے ہیں اسی اجڑے دیار کے''}}

Mir migrated to Lucknow in 1782 and stayed there for the remainder of his life. Though he was given a kind welcome by Asaf-ud-Daulah, he found that he was considered old-fashioned by the courtiers of Lucknow (Mir, in turn, was contemptuous of the new Lucknow poetry, dismissing the poet Jur'at's work as merely 'kissing and cuddling'). Mir's relationships with his patron gradually grew strained, and he eventually severed his connections with the court. In his last years Mir was very isolated. His health failed, and the untimely deaths of his daughter, son and wife caused him great distress.<ref>{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=D. J.|title=An anthology of classical Urdu love lyrics|year=1972|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301634360|url-access=registration|quote=Mir.|author2=C. Shackle|isbn=978-0-19-713570-9}}</ref><ref name=uchicago/>

=== Death ===
He died of a [[purgative]] overdose on 21 September 1810, and was buried in [[Lucknow]].<ref name="ToI">{{Cite news|last=Srivastava|first=Rajiv|date=September 19, 2010|title=Legendary Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir passed away|work=[[The Times of India]]|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/legendary-urdu-poet-mir-taqi-mir-passed-away/articleshow/6581904.cms|url-status=live|access-date=18 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103122820/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-09-19/lucknow/28246969_1_nawab-baad-poet|archive-date=2012-11-03}}</ref><ref name="uchicago" /> The marker of his burial place is believed to have been removed in modern times when railway tracks were built over his grave.{{sfn|Islam|Russell|1994|p=269}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Age of Kali |last=Dalrymple |first=William |author-link=William Dalrymple (historian)|year=1998 |publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|isbn=1-86450-172-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/agekaliindiantra00dalr/page/n23 44] |title-link=The Age of Kali }}</ref> In the 1970s, a [[cenotaph]] was built in the vicinity of his actual burial place.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sharda|first=Shailvee|date=2015-05-03|title=Meer to get his due respect back as government proposes restoration of his mazar|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/meer-to-get-his-due-respect-back-as-government-proposes-restoration-of-his-mazar/articleshow/47136110.cms|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001072757/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Meer-to-get-his-due-respect-back-as-government-proposes-restoration-of-his-mazar/articleshow/47136110.cms|archive-date=2016-10-01|access-date=2021-05-29|website=[[The Times of India]]|location=Lucknow|language=en}}</ref>

==Literary life==
His complete works, ''Kulliaat'', consist of six ''Diwans'' containing 13,585 couplets, comprising a variety of poetic forms: ''ghazal'', ''masnavi'', ''qasida'', ''rubai'', ''mustezaad'', satire, etc.<ref name="ToI"/> Mir's literary reputation is anchored on the ''[[ghazal]]s'' in his ''Kulliyat-e-Mir'', much of them on themes of love. His [[masnavi]] ''Mu'amlat-e-Ishq'' (The Stages of Love) is one of the greatest known love poems in [[Urdu literature]].<ref name=columbia2/>

Mir lived at a time when Urdu language and poetry was at a formative stage – and Mir's instinctive aesthetic sense helped him strike a balance between the indigenous expression and new enrichment coming in from Persian imagery and idiom, to constitute the new elite language known as ''Rekhta'' or ''Hindui''. Basing his language on his native Hindustani, he leavened it with a sprinkling of Persian diction and phraseology, and created a poetic language at once simple, natural and elegant, which was to guide generations of future poets.<ref name=columbia2/>

The death of his family members,<ref name="ToI"/> together with earlier setbacks (including the traumatic stages in Delhi), lend a strong pathos to much of Mir's writing – and indeed Mir is noted for his poetry of pathos and melancholy.<ref name=columbia2/>

According to Mir, Syed Sadaat Ali, a [[Amrohi Syed|Sayyid of Amroha]] convinced him to pursue poetry in Urdu:<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQ6fCwAAQBAJ&dq=sayyids+amroha+court&pg=PT223 |title= Delhi:Pages From a Forgotten History |author=Arthur Dudney|date=2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Life, Times and Poetry of Mir |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=W5yfAgAAQBAJ&dq=syed+amroha+army&pg=PA134 |author=S. R. Sharma · |page=133 |date=2014 |publisher=Partridge Publishing }}</ref>

<blockquote>
"A Sayyid from Amroha took the trouble to put me on to writing poetry in the Urdu medium, the verse which resembled Persian poetry. Urdu was the language of Hindustan by the authority of the king and presently it was gaining currency. I worked at it very hard and practised this art to such a degree that I came to be acknowledged by the literari of the city. My verse became well known in the city and reached the ears of the young and old."
</blockquote>

==Mir and Mirza Ghalib==
Mir's famous contemporary, also an Urdu poet of no inconsiderable repute, was [[Mirza Rafi Sauda]]. Mir Taqi Mir was often compared with the later day Urdu poet, [[Mirza Ghalib]]. Lovers of Urdu poetry often debate Mir's supremacy over Ghalib or vice versa. It may be noted that Ghalib himself acknowledged, through some of his couplets, that Mir was indeed a genius who deserved respect. Here are two couplets by Mirza Ghalib on this matter.<ref name=HT/>
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Reekhta ke tum hī ustād nahīṅ ho ğhālib
Kehte haiṅ agle zamāne meṅ koī mīr bhī thā}}
|attr1=[[Mirza Ghalib]]|
You are not the only master of [[Rekhta]], Ghalib
They say there used to be a Mir in the past}}
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Ghalib apna yeh aqeeda hai baqaul-e-Nasikh
Aap bey behrah hai jo muataqid-e-Mir nahi}}
|attr1=[[Mirza Ghalib]]|
Ghalib! It's my belief in the words of Nasikh<ref>Shaikh Imam Bakhsh Nasikh of Lucknow, a disciple of Mir.</ref>
He that vows not on Mir, is himself unlearned!}}

Ghalib and Zauq were contemporary rivals but both of them believed in the greatness of Mir and also acknowledged Mir's greatness in their poetry.<ref name=HT/>

==Famous couplets==
Some of his notable couplets are:
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Hasti apni habab ki si hai
Yeh numaish ik saraab ki si hai}}<ref name=rekhta>[https://www.rekhta.org/Poets/meer-taqi-meer/all Poetry of Mir Taqi Mir on Rekhta.org website] Retrieved 18 July 2020</ref>
|
My life is like a bubble
This world is like a mirage}}
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Dikhaai diye yun ki bekhud kiya
Hamein aap se bhi juda kar chale}}
|
She appeared in such a way that I lost myself And went by taking away my 'self' with her
Just her glimpse rendered me numb away she went leaving me separated from me}}

At a higher spiritual level, the subject of Mir's poem is not a woman but God. Mir speaks of man's interaction with the Divine. He reflects upon the impact on man when God reveals Himself to the man. So the same ''[[Sher (poem)|sher]]'' can be interpreted in this way as well:
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Dikhaai diye yun ke bekhud kiya
Hamen aap se bhi juda kar chale}}
|
When I saw You (God) I lost all sense of self
I forgot my own identity}}

Other ''shers'':

{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Gor kis diljale ki hai ye falak?
Shola ek subah yahaan se uthta hai}}
|
What heart-sick sufferer's grave is the sky?
an Ember rises hence at dawn}}
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Ashk aankhon mein kab nahin aata?
Lahu aata hai jab nahin aata}}
|
From my eye, when doesn't a tear fall?
Blood falls when it doesn't fall}}
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Bekhudi le gai kahaan humko,
Der se intezaar hai apna}}
|
Where has selflessness taken me
I've been waiting for myself for long}}
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Raah-e-door-e-ishq mein rotaa hai kyaa<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00garden/00c/0071/0071_01.html|title=0071_01}}</ref>
Aage aage dekhiye hotaa hai kyaa}}
|
In the long road of Love, why do you wail
Just wait and watch how things unveil}}

{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Deedani hai shikastagi dil ki
Kya imaarat ghamon ne dhaai hai}}
|
Worth-watching is my heart's crumbling
What a citadel have sorrows razed}}
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Baad marne ke meri qabr pe aaya wo 'Mir'
Yaad aai mere Isa ko dawa mere baad}}
|
O Mir, he came to my grave after I'd died
My messiah thought of a medicine after I'd died}}
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ur-Latn|Mir ke deen-o-mazhab ka poonchte kya ho un nay to
kashka khaincha dair mein baitha kab ka tark Islam kiya}}
|
What can I tell you about Mir's faith or belief?
A tilak on his forehead, in a temple he resides, having abandoned Islam long ago}}

==Mir Taqi Mir in fiction==
*[[Khushwant Singh]]'s famous novel ''[[Delhi: A Novel]]'' gives very interesting details about the life and adventures of the great poet.
*''[[Mah e Mir]]'' is a 2016 [[Pakistani]] [[biographical film]] directed by [[Anjum Shahzad]] in which [[Fahad Mustafa]] played Mir Taqi Mir.

==Major works==
* ''Nukat-us-Shura'', a biographical dictionary of Urdu poets of his time, written in Persian.<ref name=uchicago/>
* ''Faiz-e-Mir'', a collection of five stories about Sufis & faqirs, said to have been written for the education of his son Mir Faiz Ali.<ref>Foreword by Dr. Masihuzzaman in Kulliyat-e-Mir Vol-2, Published by Ramnarianlal Prahladdas, Allahabad, India.</ref>
* ''Zikr-e-Mir'', an autobiography written in [[Persian language|Persian]].{{sfn|Faruqi|2001}}
* ''Kulliyat-e-Farsi'', a collection of poems in [[Persian language|Persian]]
* ''Kulliyat-e-Mir'', a collection of Urdu poetry consisting of six [[diwan (poetry)|diwans]] (volumes).
* ''Mir Taqi Mir Ki Rubaiyat''

==See also==
{{portal|Poetry}}
*[[List of Urdu poets]]
*[[Ghazal]]
*[[Mah-e-Meer]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

*Lall, Inder jit; Mir A Master Poet; Thought, 7 November 1964
*Lall, Inder jit; Mir The ghazal king; Indian & Foreign Review, September 1984
*Lall, Inder jit; Mir—Master of Urdu Ghazal; Patriot, 25 September 1988
*Lall, Inder jit; 'A Mir' of ghazals; Financial Express, 3 November

==Further reading==
* The Anguished Heart: Mir and the Eighteenth Century: 'The Golden Tradition, An Anthology of Urdu Poetry', Ahmed Ali, pp 23–54; Poems:134-167, Columbia University Press, 1973/ OUP, Delhi, 1991
*{{cite book|last=Faruqi|first=Shamsur Rahman|title=شعرشور انگریز|language=ur|author-link=Shamsur Rahman Faruqi}}
*{{cite web|last=Faruqi|first=Shamsur Rahman|author-link=Shamsur Rahman Faruqi|date=1 August 2001|title=The Poet in the Poem|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/srf/srf_poet_in_poem.pdf?|url-status=live|access-date=18 July 2020|website=Columbia.edu website }}
*{{cite book|author1=Khurshidul Islam|author2=Ralph Russell|author-link2=Ralph Russell|title=Three Mughal Poets: Mir, Sauda, Mir Hasan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3r91PAAACAAJ|year=1994|publisher=OUP India|isbn=978-0-19-563391-7|ref={{sfnref|Islam|Russell|1994}}}}
*{{cite book|last=Kumar|first=Ish|title=Mir Taqi Mir|series=Makers of Indian Literature|date=1996|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-260-0186-0|oclc=707081400}}
*{{cite book|author=Mīr Taqī Mīr|translator=C. M. Naim|translator-link=C. M. Naim|title=Zikr-i Mir: the autobiography of the eighteenth century Mughal poet, Mir Muhammad Taqi ʻMir', 1723-1810|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOeAAAAAIAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|oclc=42955012|isbn=9780195645880}}
*{{Cite book|last=Narang|first=Gopi Chand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mE1tDwAAQBAJ|title=The Hidden Garden - Mir Taqi Mir|date=25 January 2021|isbn=9789353052898|translator-last=Deol|translator-first=Surinder|author-link=Gopi Chand Narang}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|1421102}}
*[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00garden/index.html A Garden of Kashmir: the Ghazals of Mir Taqi Mir]
*[http://www.urducl.com/Urdu-Books/969-416-205-014/ Dewaan-e-Meer (Online)]
*[http://rekhta.org/miiriyaat/?info=ghazals Meer Taqi Meer's poetry at Rekhta]
*[https://www.scribd.com/doc/37093303/Zikr-e-Mir-in-Hindi Zikr e Mir: Biography of poet in Hindi] on [[Scribd]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090409135932/http://mama.indstate.edu/users/shakil/meer.html The Meer Pages]
* [https://www.scribd.com/document/171606159/Sher-e-Shor-Angez-Vol-2 Sher e Shor Angez Vol.2] on [[Scribd]]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mir, Mir Taqi}}
[[Category:1723 births]]
[[Category:1810 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Agra]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Urdu-language poets from India]]
[[Category:18th-century Urdu-language writers]]
[[Category:Urdu-language religious writers]]
[[Category:Urdu-language writers from British India]]
[[Category:Urdu-language writers from Mughal India]]
[[Category:Urdu-language theologians]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:18th-century male writers]]
[[Category:Indian people of Arab descent]]

Mir Taqi Mir - Revision history

3muhammed4: reworked formatting additionally and added references to improve readability

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article