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Karbala and the Imam Husain in Persian and Indo-Muslim literature 2 - Al-Shia The Scientific and Cultural Website of Shia belief Karbala and the Imam Husain in Persian and Indo-Muslim literature 2 2021-06-22 415 Views Karbala , Imam Husain , Persian literature , Indo-Muslim literature In continuation of the article titled “Karbala and the Imam Husain in Persian and Indo-Muslim literature”, we shall highlight other literature on Karbala and Imam Husain (a.s) in this part.

The Turkish tradition and that in the regional languages of the Indian subcontinent are very similar. Let us have a look at the development of the marthiya , not in the major literary languages, but rather in the more remote parts of the subcontinent, for the development of the Urdu marthiya from its beginnings in the late 16th century to its culmination in the works of Sauda and particularly Anis and Dabir is well known.

In the province of Sind, which had a considerable percentage of Shi’i inhabitants, Persian marthiyas were composed, as far as we can see, from around 1700 onwards. A certain ‘Allama (1682-1782), and Muhammad Mu’in Tharo are among the first marthiya-gus mentioned by the historians, but it is particularly Muhammad Muhsin, who lived in the old, glorious capital of lower Sind, Thatta, with whose name the Persian marthiya in Sind is connected.

During his short life (1709-1750), he composed a great number of tarji’band and particularly salam, in which beautiful, strong imagery can be perceived: The boat of Mustafa’s family has been drowned in blood; The black cloud of infidelity has waylaid the sun; The candle of the Prophet was extinguished by the breeze of the Kufans. But much more interesting than the Persian tradition is the development of the marthiya in Sindhi and Siraiki proper.

As Christopher Shackle has devoted a long and very informative article on the Multani marthiya , I will speak here only on some aspects of the marthiya in Sindhi. As in many other fields of Sindhi poetry, Shah ‘Abdu’l-Latif of Bhit (1689-1752) is the first to express ideas which were later taken up by other poets. He devoted Sur Kedaro in his Hindi Risalo to the martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet, and saw the event of Karbala’ as embedded in the whole mystical tradition of Islam.

As is his custom, he begins in media res , bringing his listeners to the moment when no news was heard from the heroes: The moon of Muharram was seen, anxiety about the princes occurred. What has happened?