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Fasana e Mubtala / فسانہ مبتلا
Fasana-e-mubtala by Deputy Nazir Ahmad
- GenresClassics
Hardcover
Published January 1, 2013
15 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Deputy Nazir Ahmad
19 books56 followersNazir Ahmad Dehlvi, populary known as "Diptee" (Deputy) Nazir Ahmad (1831–1912), was an Urdu writer and social reformer from British India.
He is considered one of the first novel writers of Urdu language.
He is considered one of the first novel writers of Urdu language.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 29, 2015
Little bit depressing but it gives lessons of life, relationships, ethics and religion.
March 22, 2021
There are various reasons for finding Deputy Nazir Ahmad tedious, off putting and dated. He is often unabashedly didactic, preachy, quite conservative, in awe of British governance, a staunch adherent of preserving & intermingling/combining religious and cultural purity, segregation and conservatism with political meekness and collaboration, and at times downright boring. Yet I quite love his novels. This despite the fact that almost all were written at governmental behest and with its support and awarded as such for advancing acceptable political and social views - accepting to the foreign rulers that is.
His politics I can overlook - he lived in highly tense and taxing times after the upheaval of 1857 and naturally he did what he deemed best for survival; further, in many ways he is also quite modern and progressive for his times as well as bold in his critique of British governance as well as the regressive aspects of his own culture. To his credit also he is not constantly bemoaning the past and looks to advance, and despite being supported or commissioned he nevertheless retains a certain independence of voice and much of his concern for social reform appears heartfelt, as do his moral and religious views.
But that is not the reason why I admire and enjoy his works. That has much more to do with his style, characterization and sharp wit, which shines through despite the occasional long sermons, monologues and political as well as theological exchanges. It is when he writes dialogues capturing everyday life that his brilliance really shines through. I love also the names - Mubtala or the inflicted is so apt in Fasana-e-Mubtala; Nusooh in Tobat-ul-Nusooh and Ibn-ul-Waqt or the son of the times in the novel of the same name. Then there is the wonderful, lyrical, flowing Delhi Urdu that is music to the ears - with all its variants ranging from the high fluted to the versions spoken in the zenana, amongst the servants and in the countryside, interspersed with Hindi and Poorbi where relevant. The language is full of quaint, apt and spectacularly poignant proverbs, adages, turn of phrase, and idiomatic flourishes.
His work as a Deputy Collector and translator of laws made him intimately aware of the workings of the empire and its government and hence law suits, legal battles and administrative maneuverings often appear in his novels and he incorporates and explains them with expertise. Fasana-e-Mubtla is full of insights into the creative use and misuse of the law, the respective workings and interrelationship of the Kotwali, the prosecution, the administration and the judiciary. Quite apart from his main characters he also creates wonderful side characters - Mama Azmat in Mirat-ul-Aroos is of course an immortal one. I also loved Syed Muhammad Nazim in this novel - Syedzada, domineering landlord and masterful legal strategist, corrupter of witnesses and forger of documents, instigator of trouble, chronic litigator, adept purveyor of law as a coercive tool, and avaricious to the core. Deputy Nazir Ahmad is a genius when it comes to characterization, language and indeed one can't overlook his brilliant wit that often rescues the narrative from tedium. The other memorable character is the pious Mir Muttaqi who is the adept and silent reformer who tries to reform the titular characters Mubtala who is charming, handsome, weak of character and highly vulnerable to bad influences - a combination of Tom Jones, Pinocchio and Deputy Nazir Ahmad special talent for creating characters vulnerable and headstrong, given to the sensory but also capable of engaging in the cerebral, and ultimately flawed and tragic.
Mubtala's love of beauty is deemed by his well-wishers, Mir Muttaqi, Arif as a great character flaw that can only lead to a life of dissipation and ultimately ruin. There is much about marriage, temperance, character trumping mere beauty and then also about polygamy and marital relationships that often turns into sermonizing and forms the essential ideological core of the novel. From the narrative standpoint the story is revolves around Mubtala's inability to approach relationships with maturity, to outgrow his notions of physical beauty and attraction, his embroilment in a second marriage and the gradual ruin caused by the two bickering wives - his cousin the well-born Ghairat Begum and Haryali Begum of a more or less unverifiable background. The novel is ultimately tragic as one bad decision and poor judgment leads to another and eventually to utter catastrophe. Yet it is in his very descriptions of household affairs, the tussle between the two wives and the slide of Mubtala's marital and financial affairs that Deputy Nazir Ahmad divulges a remarkably intimate knowledge of 19th century Muslim urban household domestic affairs, mannerism and everyday minutiae which make his narrative so wonderfully vibrant. One could be sitting in a remote corner as his characters build a rich and believable world around one and fully capture one's attention. It is this and his ability to provide insights into the surrounding turbulence of politics and societies that make him someone who is and will remain relevant, thought-provoking and so very entertaining.
An ultimately tragic but highly entertaining novel which provides such a vibrant insight into the culture and sociology of late mid to late nineteenth century Muslim households in Delhi, explores the use and misuse of the colonial legal system, and tells the tale of the incorrigible aesthete Mubtala.
His politics I can overlook - he lived in highly tense and taxing times after the upheaval of 1857 and naturally he did what he deemed best for survival; further, in many ways he is also quite modern and progressive for his times as well as bold in his critique of British governance as well as the regressive aspects of his own culture. To his credit also he is not constantly bemoaning the past and looks to advance, and despite being supported or commissioned he nevertheless retains a certain independence of voice and much of his concern for social reform appears heartfelt, as do his moral and religious views.
But that is not the reason why I admire and enjoy his works. That has much more to do with his style, characterization and sharp wit, which shines through despite the occasional long sermons, monologues and political as well as theological exchanges. It is when he writes dialogues capturing everyday life that his brilliance really shines through. I love also the names - Mubtala or the inflicted is so apt in Fasana-e-Mubtala; Nusooh in Tobat-ul-Nusooh and Ibn-ul-Waqt or the son of the times in the novel of the same name. Then there is the wonderful, lyrical, flowing Delhi Urdu that is music to the ears - with all its variants ranging from the high fluted to the versions spoken in the zenana, amongst the servants and in the countryside, interspersed with Hindi and Poorbi where relevant. The language is full of quaint, apt and spectacularly poignant proverbs, adages, turn of phrase, and idiomatic flourishes.
His work as a Deputy Collector and translator of laws made him intimately aware of the workings of the empire and its government and hence law suits, legal battles and administrative maneuverings often appear in his novels and he incorporates and explains them with expertise. Fasana-e-Mubtla is full of insights into the creative use and misuse of the law, the respective workings and interrelationship of the Kotwali, the prosecution, the administration and the judiciary. Quite apart from his main characters he also creates wonderful side characters - Mama Azmat in Mirat-ul-Aroos is of course an immortal one. I also loved Syed Muhammad Nazim in this novel - Syedzada, domineering landlord and masterful legal strategist, corrupter of witnesses and forger of documents, instigator of trouble, chronic litigator, adept purveyor of law as a coercive tool, and avaricious to the core. Deputy Nazir Ahmad is a genius when it comes to characterization, language and indeed one can't overlook his brilliant wit that often rescues the narrative from tedium. The other memorable character is the pious Mir Muttaqi who is the adept and silent reformer who tries to reform the titular characters Mubtala who is charming, handsome, weak of character and highly vulnerable to bad influences - a combination of Tom Jones, Pinocchio and Deputy Nazir Ahmad special talent for creating characters vulnerable and headstrong, given to the sensory but also capable of engaging in the cerebral, and ultimately flawed and tragic.
Mubtala's love of beauty is deemed by his well-wishers, Mir Muttaqi, Arif as a great character flaw that can only lead to a life of dissipation and ultimately ruin. There is much about marriage, temperance, character trumping mere beauty and then also about polygamy and marital relationships that often turns into sermonizing and forms the essential ideological core of the novel. From the narrative standpoint the story is revolves around Mubtala's inability to approach relationships with maturity, to outgrow his notions of physical beauty and attraction, his embroilment in a second marriage and the gradual ruin caused by the two bickering wives - his cousin the well-born Ghairat Begum and Haryali Begum of a more or less unverifiable background. The novel is ultimately tragic as one bad decision and poor judgment leads to another and eventually to utter catastrophe. Yet it is in his very descriptions of household affairs, the tussle between the two wives and the slide of Mubtala's marital and financial affairs that Deputy Nazir Ahmad divulges a remarkably intimate knowledge of 19th century Muslim urban household domestic affairs, mannerism and everyday minutiae which make his narrative so wonderfully vibrant. One could be sitting in a remote corner as his characters build a rich and believable world around one and fully capture one's attention. It is this and his ability to provide insights into the surrounding turbulence of politics and societies that make him someone who is and will remain relevant, thought-provoking and so very entertaining.
An ultimately tragic but highly entertaining novel which provides such a vibrant insight into the culture and sociology of late mid to late nineteenth century Muslim households in Delhi, explores the use and misuse of the colonial legal system, and tells the tale of the incorrigible aesthete Mubtala.
October 29, 2018
A school library read.
There is a problem I face when reading literature. It is slow to read and difficult to understand. You need time to ponder over every line sometimes.
I was much younger when I read it. I still remember I found Mubtala as a conflicted person. His friend Arif and him would argue over things and would teach us a thing or two that can be applied our own lives.
The best part was the description of household chores - cooking, cleaning, setting up dastarkhwan for meals. Simple and so realistic that I felt transported to that world.
There is a problem I face when reading literature. It is slow to read and difficult to understand. You need time to ponder over every line sometimes.
I was much younger when I read it. I still remember I found Mubtala as a conflicted person. His friend Arif and him would argue over things and would teach us a thing or two that can be applied our own lives.
The best part was the description of household chores - cooking, cleaning, setting up dastarkhwan for meals. Simple and so realistic that I felt transported to that world.
June 1, 2017
For those who have read and enjoyed Miratul Uroos, this novel will come by as more melancholic and a lot more preachy. A great portion of the novel consists of sermons by the character Mir Mutaqqi and of the debate between Mir Mubtala and Arif. There is also a glimpse of Nazir Ahmad's usual mastery about describing household chores and house keeping, in the ending chapters.
The reader will also be surprised by some thoughts that the writer expresses about polygamy and basis of sectarian conflict in religion. Over all it's a dull read and seems like a half baked Miratul Uroos.
The reader will also be surprised by some thoughts that the writer expresses about polygamy and basis of sectarian conflict in religion. Over all it's a dull read and seems like a half baked Miratul Uroos.
March 30, 2021
فسانہء مبتلا ان ون لائن
عورتیں ہی اولاد کو بگاڑتی ہیں اور شوہر کو بے لگام چھوڑ دیتی ہیں۔
🙄
عورتیں ہی اولاد کو بگاڑتی ہیں اور شوہر کو بے لگام چھوڑ دیتی ہیں۔
🙄
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews