Aankh padti hai kahin, paanv kahin padta hai
Sab ki hai tumko khabar, apni khabar kuchh bhi nahin

Shama hai, gul bhi hai, bulbul bhi hai, parwana bhi
Raat ki raat yeh sab kuch hai, sehar kuchh bhi nahin

Hashr ki dhoom hai, sab kahte hain yun hai, yun hai
Fitna hai ek teri thokar ka , magar kuchh bhi nahin

Nesti ki hai mujhe koocha e hasti mein talaash,
Saer karta hun udhar ki jidhar kuchh bhi nahin

Ek ansoo bhi asar jab na kare Tashnah
Fayda rone se ai deeda e tar kuchh bhi nahin , kuchh bhi nahin

( reciting this Tashna abruptly got up and left the mushaira repeating kuchh bhi nahin kuchh bhi nahin )

2. Mirza Mahir, grandson of Badshah Shah Alam

Hum bhi kaabe ko chalte par ai Sheikh
Qismat se butkade mein hi deedaar ho gaya

Naaseh ki baat sun ne ka kisko yahan dimaagh
Tera hi zikr tha ke main naachaar ho gaya

Ai humnasheen woh Hazrat Mahir hi naa hon kahin
Ek paarsa suna hai mai khwaar ho gaya

3.Once this impious idol worshipper had laid claims to divinity,
Now that he has come to his senses, he has recovered his humanity

Pahle dawa e khudaai uss but e kafir ko tha,
Kuch durusti par jo aaj aaya tau insaan ho gaya

Mirza Haji Baig Shohrat

4.

Mirza Kamil Baig a soldier in the Mughal army in 1845
Mizghaan*se agar bache hai dil, abru^ kare hai tukde
Yeh kahkar maine jo uss se daad chaahi
Kahne laga k tarkash jis waqt hone lage khali
Talwar tab na kheinche tau kya kare sipahi
*eyelashes ^eyebrows

DilliKiAakhiriShama

Rana Safvi

06 JANUARY 2019

A journey through the ruins of Phuti Masjid, built by Sarfaraz Khan, in Murshidabad

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/a-testimony-to-broken-dreams/article25921048.ece/amp/

A short-lived reign

But his problems did not stop there. The newly crowned Nawab fell out with his Wazir, Haji Ahmed. The Wazir won over the rich banker Jagat Seth Fateh Chand and Rai Rayan Chand and started plotting against the Nawab. Haji Ahmed invited Ali Vardi Khan, the Nawab Nazim of Bihar, to seek someone from the Mughal empire to replace Sarfaraz Khan. In the battle of Giria, Ali Vardi Khan defeated Sarfaraz Khan. The Musnad of Murshidabad, compiled by Purna Chandra Majumdar, mentions that the Jagat Seths suborned the Nawab’s men to place bricks and clods instead of cannon balls and fodder in Sarfaraz Khan’s magazine. Though the Nawab found out and gave charge of his artillery to a Portuguese, he was killed by a bullet as he rode out to battle on his elephant. Nawab Sarfaraz Khan ruled only for a year.

Inside Phuti Masjid

When I went to Murshidabad, I visited the grand mosques, palaces and imambaras constructed by the Nawabs who ruled for a longer time and in happier circumstances. But it was the Phuti Masjid that I found fascinating. 

The mosque is quite large: 135 ft. long and 38 ft. wide with four cupolas at the corners. Only two of its five planned domes were completed. Dangerous looking spiral staircases lead up to the cupolas. As the builder died soon after construction began, the mosque was never completed. And so the name Phuti Masjid, or broken mosque. It is also known rather morbidly as Fouti Masjid. ‘Fout’ means death, and the name was apparently given after the builder’s death.

As I approached the mosque, I first saw brick walls surrounded by small cottages and fields on a dusty road. The walls were covered with moss. I went eastward, which is the direction in which people generally enter mosques. But I found to my dismay that the entrance was at a height and there were no steps leading up to it. My guide was young and he quickly climbed up. With his help, I somehow managed to scramble up the mud incline. I am glad that I did, for I immediately saw a huge hall and soaring arches. There was a sense of desolation, mystery and a strange undercurrent of spirituality in the mosque. An extremely religious and devout Nawab with money, power and resources had wanted to build a house of worship, yet no one ever prayed there. It was more like a scene from a horror movie: there was a semi-open roof, wild undergrowth, and trees and the sun rays peeped in through apertures. Just then I heard shrill voices. Two children from a nearby cottage, aged four and five, had clambered up to ask if they could be my guides!

One legend goes that this mosque was built in one night by Sarfaraz Khan. Another says that a number of workers toiled for several months to construct it. During roll call one day, it was found that one worker was not present. This happened a number of times and as the story became famous, the mysterious workman disappeared leaving his work incomplete and no one could match his skill. Both stories point to the hand of Djinns. Whatever be the truth, this broken structure is still standing despite all the odds, surrounded by houses, fields and hostile elements, a mute testimony to broken dreams.