Identity: Poet, marsiya Poet, Padma Shri award-winning lexicographer, and compiler of 'Muhazzab-ul-Lughat'

Syed Muhammad Mirza, known by the pen name “Muhazzab,” was born in January 1908 in Naya Mahal, Mansoor Nagar, Lucknow. He was the eldest son of the renowned marsiya writer Syed Askari Mirza Moaddab Lakhnavi and the grandson of the great marsiya poet Mir Ishq. Thus, literary taste and poetic tradition came to him as a family inheritance. Literary culture also flourished in his maternal family; his maternal grandfather, Syed Muhammad Hadi Zar, was himself a poet of refined taste.

Muhazzab Lakhnavi received his early education at home according to the traditional custom of the time. Later, he pursued religious and literary studies in Arabic madrasas and earned the title of Mumtaz-ul-Afazil from Madrasa Nazimia, Lucknow. He also passed the Dabir-e-Kamil examination from Lucknow University.

He began writing poetry at around the age of nine. Initially, he composed ghazals, but on his father’s advice he turned towards marsiya writing and remained devoted to the genre throughout his life. He was regarded as the true literary heir of Mir Ishq and Mir Ta‘ashshuq. The number of his marsiyas is estimated at around eighty, while his rubaiyat, qasidas, and salams run into the hundreds. Besides being a distinguished marsiya writer, he was also a popular reciter of marsiyas.

In 1940, Muhazzab Lakhnavi founded the Anjuman Muhafiz-e-Urdu, through which numerous rare and unpublished marsiyas and manuscripts were published. Through this effort, he preserved many valuable treasures of Urdu literature from being lost. This contribution alone secures him an important place in the history of Urdu literary preservation.

His greatest scholarly achievement was the compilation of the monumental Urdu dictionary Muhazzab-ul-Lughat. Published in fourteen volumes under the patronage of the Government of India, its first volume appeared in 1955 and the final volume in 1982. The dictionary carefully documented refined Urdu usage, the linguistic distinctions between Delhi and Lucknow idioms, pronunciation guides, biographical references, and many subtle aspects of the language. It is regarded as one of the most comprehensive and authoritative dictionaries in Urdu lexicography. In recognition of this remarkable service, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1971.

Death: Muhazzab Lakhnavi passed away in Lucknow on 4 November 1985, corresponding to 20 Safar al-Muzaffar.