Momin Khan Momin (; 1800–14 May 1852) was a late Mughal era poet known for his

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

ghazals. A lesser-known contemporary of

Ghalib Mirza Beg Asadullah Khan (Urdu, fa, مرزا بیگ اسد اللہ خان; 27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869) also known as Mirza Ghalib (Urdu, fa}) was an Urdu and Persian language, Persian shayar (poet), poet of the 19th century Mughal Em ...

and Zauq, he used "Momin" as his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

. His grave is located in the

Mehdiyan Mehdiyan is a famous graveyard on left side of Delhi Gate, where Shah Waliullah was buried beside his father Shah Abdur Rahim. Indian freedom fighter and Islamic scholar Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi is buried in this cemetery. Notable interments * S ...

cemetery in

Maulana Azad Medical College Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) is a medical college in New Delhi, India affiliated to University of Delhi and run by the Delhi government. It is named after Indian freedom fighter and first education minister of independent India Maulana ...

, Delhi.

Life

Momin Khan 'Momin' was born in Delhi into a Muslim family of

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

origin. His father, Ghulam Nabi Khan, was a ''Hakeem'' (physician of traditional/

Unani Unani or Yunani medicine (Urdu: ''tibb yūnānī'') is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific. The Indian Medical Association describes U ...

medicine). Momin Khan received training in the family profession from a young age and himself became a ''hakim,'' due to which he is often referred to in contemporary accounts as "Hakeem Khan," ''Hakeem'' being the Urdu word for physician. However, his bent was for poetry and he soon became known more as an accomplished poet. His interest received a fillip due to the associations he unwittingly gained through marriage. In 1823, Momin married to a girl belonged to the family of

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

(land owner). The marriage became unsuccessful, and he separated from his wife. He later married Anjuman-un-Nisa Begum, a relative of Urdu poet and

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

saint

Khwaja Mir Dard Khwaja Mir Dard (1720-1785) ( ur, ) was a poet of the Delhi School and a Sufi saint of the Naqshbandi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni ...

. They had a son, Ahmad Nasir Khan, and a daughter, Muhammadi Begum. Momin died after accidentally falling from the roof of his house on 24 Rajab 1268 Hijri (14 May 1852) at the age of 52. Momin was something of a polymath, with several interests apart from medicine and poetry. He was also competent in mathematics, geomancy,

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

and Hindustani music.D.J. Matthews, ''Urdu Literature'', South Asia Books (1985), p. 86

Works

Momin’s main body of work includes a diwan and six masnavis. Momin is known for his particular Persianized style and the beautiful use of his 'takhallus'. According to legend, Mirza Ghalib (his contemporary and also a rival) offered Momin his entire '' diwan'' (collection of poetry) in exchange for a particular verse of Momin. However, most modern poets believe this claim as an 'exaggeration' which poets commonly indulged in at that time. This exaggeration was usually done to emphasise some thing. The couplet in question was: :: : :''"Tum mērē pās hōtē hō gōyā'' ::''Jab kō'ī dūsrā nahīⁿˡ hotā"'' which translates to: :''You are close to me s if' ::''When no one else is.'' This couplet's beauty is in its succinctness and multiple layers of meaning. One of the meanings is ''When you're with me(on my mind), no-one else is'' and a second meaning/interpretation is ''You are with me (on my side), when no-one else is''. The two meanings emerge by the use of words ''gōyā'' and ''jab (when)''." One of his very famous ghazals starts with the following

matla The Matla (Persian/Arabic/Urdu:) is the first ''sher'', or couplet, of a ''ghazal'', a collection of poems in Urdu or Persian poetry. It is possible, although extremely rare, for there to be more than one ''matla'' in a ''ghazal''; in this case the ...

(the first line of the opening couplet of a

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

). :Woh jō ham mēⁿ tum mēⁿ qarār tḣā; tumhēⁿ yād hō, keh nah yād hō: ::Wohī, yaʿnī waʿdah nibāh kā; tumhēⁿ yād hō, keh nah yād hō :: : :''That understanding which we had between us... whether you remember it or not...'' ::''That promise of trust and faithfulness...whether you remember it or not...''

References

Cited sources

External links

Filmography of Momin Khan Momin on IMDb website
*
Momin Khan Momin at Kavita Kosh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Momin Khan Momin Kashmiri people 1800 births 1852 deaths Unani practitioners Urdu-language poets from India Indian male poets Poets from Delhi Indian Sufi saints 19th-century Indian poets 19th-century Indian male writers Burials at Mehdiyan