''Bishad Shindhu'' (
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
: ''বিষাদ-সিন্ধু'', English: ''Ocean of Sorrow'') is a Bengali epic
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by
Mir Mosarraf Hussain, the first modern
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
writer and novelist. Regarded as a central work of Bengali literature, and Hussain's finest literary achievement, the novel chronicles the lives of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
's grandsons,
Hasan and
Husayn, and the
Battle of Karbala.
''Bishad Shindhu'' was originally published in three parts in 1885, 1887 and 1891 respectively. The novel was first published in its entirety in 1891.
However, it is not considered an authentic source for the history of
Karbala
Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...
, the location of Husayn's war front, or the place of his death.
It contains much poetic language, and many dramatic scenes. At the time of its composition, there were few published novels in the Bengali language, and Mosharraf Hussain was part of a community of writers working to pioneer a new tradition of novels in Bengali. The novel was written in Shadhubhasha, a highly
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
ised form of Bengali. It was translated into English for the first time by Prof.
Fakrul Alam
Fakrul Alam (born 20 July 1951) is a Bangladeshi academic, writer, and translator. He writes on literary matters and postcolonial issues and translated works of Jibanananda Das and Rabindranath Tagore into English. He is the recipient of Bangla A ...
in 2016, published by the
Bangla Academy in Dhaka under the title "Ocean of Sorrow".
Main characters
*
Hasan ibn Ali
Hasan ibn Ali ( ar, الحسن بن علي, translit=Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī; ) was a prominent early Islamic figure. He was the eldest son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ...
, elder brother of Husayn, grandson of Muhammad, son of
Khalifa
Khalifa or Khalifah (Arabic: خليفة) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups and others. Khalifa ...
Ali ibn Abu Talib and
Fatima Zahra
*
Husayn ibn Ali
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...
, younger brother of Hasan, grandson of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, son of Khalifa Ali and Fatima
*
Yazid ibn Mu'awiah
Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...
(a son of a
companion of
Muḥammad ), a rival of
Hasan and
Husayn for the throne
*
Shimar, Husayn's killer
References
External links
Bishad Shindhu at Banglapedia*
Bishad Shindhu at Archive.org
Bishad Shindhu in Bengali{{wikisourcelang, bn, বিষাদ সিন্ধু, Bishad Shindhu}
Books about spirituality
Bengali-language novels