#Momin #Urdupoetry #Nehru #heritage #Delhi #Mehdiyan #india – Rana Safvi https://ranasafvi.com A blog exploring India's Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb or its rich multi plural multi cultural heritage via its adab, tehzeeb & tareekh Fri, 18 Sep 2020 03:00:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://ranasafvi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/image-7-75x75.jpg #Momin #Urdupoetry #Nehru #heritage #Delhi #Mehdiyan #india – Rana Safvi https://ranasafvi.com 32 32 179612229 Grave of Hakim Momin Khan Momin https://ranasafvi.com/grave-of-hakim-momin-khan-momin/ https://ranasafvi.com/grave-of-hakim-momin-khan-momin/#respond Fri, 18 Sep 2020 02:53:42 +0000 https://ranasafvi.com/?p=36923 تم میرے پاس ہوتے ہو گویا
جب کوئی دوسرا نہیں ہوتا

Tum mērē paas hotey hō gōyā
Jab kō’ī dūsrā nahin hota

The grave of one of the finest Urdu poets, Momin Khan Momin (1800–14 May 1852) is in the #Mehdiyan cemetery opposite Maulana Azad Medical College.

I read about it and decided set off to find it and recite a fatiha. The compound which was once a premier Delhi area is now a dhobi ghat with clothes spread out to dry after washing. Encroachment is everywhere.

This is also the compound of the mazar of the famous Sufi saint Shah Waliullah and some members of his family.

That compound has many graves. Just outside the saints mazar is the grave of Hakim Momin Khan Momin. I had to look for it amongst all the others.

We are lucky it has survived.


At some point in the 1960s unscrupulous builders decided to bulldozer the area. They leveled the hilly ground around it.
A devoted fan of Momin Sher Ali Mewati came to know of it and came to Delhi from #Mewat.
He lay down in front of the bulldozer but it didn’t work.
Next he went and lay down on the road opposite Teen Murti house just as #Nehru was being driven out.
Those were the days. He wasn’t arrested instead Nehru ji got down from his car and asked for an explanation.
He was very upset and immediately drove to the spot with Sher Ali Mewati.
He gave orders to stop demolition. Sher Ali hot the mazar repaired and a compound wall built .

The Mehdiyan compound

]]> https://ranasafvi.com/grave-of-hakim-momin-khan-momin/feed/ 0 36923 The grave of one of the finest Urdu poets, Momin Khan #Momin https://ranasafvi.com/the-grave-of-one-of-the-finest-urdu-poets-momin-khan-momin/ Mon, 17 Sep 2018 18:42:32 +0000 https://ranasafvi.com/?p=11357 The grave of one of the finest Urdu poets, Momin Khan #Momin is in the #Mehdiyan cemetery opposite Maulana Azad Medical College.

At some point in the 1960s unscrupulous builders decided to bulldozer the area. They leveled the hilly ground around it.

A devoted fan of Momin Sher Ali Mewati came to know of it and came to Delhi from #Mewat.

He lay down in front of the bulldozer but it didn’t work.

Next he went and lay down on the road opposite Teen Murti house just as #Nehru was being driven out.

Those were the days. He wasn’t arrested instead Nehru ji got down from his car and asked for an explanation.

He was very upset and immediately drove to the spot with Sher Ali Mewati.

He gave orders to stop demolition.

#SherAliMewati got the mazaar repaired and a compound wall built.

#Momin #Urdupoetry #Nehru #heritage #Delhi #Mehdiyan #india

The tombstone

The dargah of Shah Waliullah one of the biggest theologians and religious leaders of his time

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