Great revolutionary, freedom fighter and poet Mohammed Ali* who wrote poetry under the pen name 'Johar' [1878-1931] left an indelible mark on the history of Independence movement.Mohammed Ali and his brother Shaukat Ali were leaders of the Khilafat movement against the British imperialists during India's freedom movement. Read his ghazal:
दौर-ए-हयात आयेगा क़ातिल कज़ा के बाद
है इब्तिदा हमारी तेरी इन्तेहा के बाद
[qazaa=death, ibtidaa=beginning]
जीना वोह क्या कि दिल में न हो कोई आरज़ू
बाकी है मौत ही दिल-ए-बे-मुद्दा'अ के बाद
तुझ से मुकाबले की किसे ताब है वले
मेरा लहू भी खूब है तेरी हिना के बाद
लज्जत हनोज़ माएदा-ए-इश्क़ में नहीं
आता है लुत्फ़-ए-जुर्म-ए-तमन्ना, सज़ा के बाद
क़त्ल-ए-हुसैन असल में मर्ग-ए-यजीद है
इस्लाम जिंदा होता है हर कर्बला के बाद
मोहम्मद अली 'जौहर'
Now read ghazal in Roman transliteration:
daur-e-hayaat aayegaa qaatil qazaa ke baad
hai ibtidaa hamaari terii intehaa ke baad
jiinaa voh kyaa ki dil meN na ho koii aarzuu
baaqii hai maut hii dil-e-be-mudda'a ke baad
tujh se muqaable kii kise taab hai valey
meraa lahuu bhii khuub hai terii hinaa ke baad
lazzat hanoz maaida-e-ishq meN nahiiN
aataa hai lutf-e-jurm-e-tamanna, sazaa ke baad
qatl-e-Husain asl meN marg-e-Yaziid hai
Islaam zinda hotaa hai har karbala ke baad
Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar
[*Maulana Mohammad Ali was a firebrand orator and journalist also. He had vowed that he would not die in a slave country and when he passed away, he was buried in Jerusalem. His brother Shaukat Ali was also a poet and revolutionary.
The Ali brothers led the Khilafat movement. Their mother Bi Amma also exhorted the masses to take on the British. The couplet 'boliiN maaN Mohammad Ali ki/jaan betaa khilafat pe de do' was on the lips of all and sundry during the era.]
