Nazir Akbarabadi and Seemab Akbarabadi - the Two Greatest Sufi Poets of Agra

Book excerpt: NAZIR AKBARABADI & SEEMAB AKBARABADIThe Two Greatest Sufi Poets of AgraSELECTED POEMSTranslation and Introduction Paul Smith Nazir Akbarabadi (1735-1830) is an Indian poet from Agra (old name 'Akbarabadi') known as the 'Father of Nazm', who wrote mainly Urdu ghazals and nazms. It is said that Nazir's poetic treasure consisted of about 200,000 but only about 6000 couplets remain. The canvas of Nazir's nazms is so vast that it encompasses all aspects of human behavior and every person can find nazms that can suit his taste. Many of his poems are about daily life and observations of things such as training a young bear or the pleasures of the rainy season, how beauty can fade, the lives of old prostitutes, etc. His poems are loved by folk today. Many of his poems are spiritual and he is seen as a true Sufi. Bankey Behari: 'He saw the Lord everywhere. His meditations led him to the realization of the Forms of the Lord as well as the Formless Divinity. He sings of Shri Krishna with the greatest fervour as of Hazrat Ali and the Prophet Mohammed, and turns his face if he comes across the pseudo-saints and religious preceptors who are wanting in realization and yet profess it. By far he is best in portraying the heat of his yearning for his vision.' Seemab Akbarabadi began ghazal writing in the 19th century and became a disciple of the poet Dagh Dehlvi. He composed a remarkable Urdu translation in rhyming poetry of the Quran. He also translated into Urdu the Masnavi of Rumi, a massive task. His ghazals are suffused with true Sufism. The Perfect Spiritual Master, Meher Baba while listening to the singing of a ghazal of Seemab was so impressed by a particular couplet that he stopped the singer and declared that because of it he had bestowed on Seemab the ultimate gift of liberation or God-realization. The first poem in this collection is that ghazal. This is the largest translation of their poetry into English, with the correct form & meaning. Introduction on their Life, Times & Poetry and on the poetic forms they used. Selected Bibliography. Large Format 7" x 10" 470 pages.Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu, Hindi and other languages including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu'in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Lalla Ded, Mahsati, Baba Farid, Iqbal, Vrind, Rahim and others, and his own poetry, fiction, biographies, plays, children's books and a dozen screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com