A noha ( fa, نوحه, ur, نوحہ; translit. ''nūḥa/nawḥa''; az, Növhə/Нөвһә/نؤوحه), when interpreted in light of Shia views, is an
elegy
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...
about the tragedy of
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 ...
in the
Battle of Karbala
The Battle of Karbala ( ar, مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ...
.
Marsiya
A marsiya ( fa, مرثیه) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali and his comrades of the Karbala. Marsiyas are essentially religious.
Background
The word ''Marsiya'' is derived from the Arabic word ...
and Noha have the historical and social milieu of pre-Islamic
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
culture. The sub-parts of Marsiya are called Noha and
Soaz
{{Husayn
Soaz or soz (Persian and Urdu: سوز) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the honor of Husain ibn Ali and his family and Sahabah in the battle of Karbala. In its form the soaz, salam and Marsiya, with a rhyming quatrain and a coup ...
which means lamentation. It is usually a poem of mourning. Lamentation has a central part in the literature of the followers and devotees of the Shia sect and its offshoots. The tradition of elegizing Hussain and the Karbala tragedy is not limited to Arabic speaking poets. Poets from different languages have also contributed significant poetic literature in their language.
Mir Anis
Mir Babar Ali Anees ( ur, مير ببر على انيس) (1800–1874), also known as Mir Anees was an Indian Urdu poet. He used his pen-name (takhallus) of Anees (Urdu: , ''Anees'' means "close friend, companion") in poetry. Anees used Persian, U ...
and
Mirza Dabeer
Mirza Salaamat Ali Dabeer ( ur, ),
(29 August 1803 – 6 March 1875) was an Urdu poet who excelled and perfected the art of Marsiya writing. He is considered the leading exponent of Marsiya Nigari or marsiya writing along with Mir Anees.
Mi ...
have contributed a treasure in Marsiya and its sub-branch Noha. In like manner, English-speaking poets, whether Muslim, Christian, have also made significant contributions to produce elegies for Imam Hussain and the Karbala tragic incidents.
See also
*
Mourning of Muharram
The Mourning of Muharram (also known as Azadari, Remembrance of Muharram or Muharram Observances) is a set of commemoration rituals observed primarily by Shia people. The commemoration falls in Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. ...
*
Juloos
''Juloos''Juloos at Google books is a novel by acclaim ...
*
Rawda Khwani
Rozeh Khani or Rawda khwani ( fa , روضه خوانی, "reading the Rozeh") is the Shia Iranian Muslim ritual of the Mourning of Muharram. It is held every day of the year to commemorate the death of Husayn ibn Ali and his followers during the ...
*
Marsiyah
A marsiya ( fa, مرثیه) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali and his comrades of the Karbala. Marsiyas are essentially religious.
Background
The word ''Marsiya'' is derived from the Arabic word ...
*
Majalis
( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...