Urdu literature is rich with poetic geniuses like Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal, Nazeer Akbarabadi, Mirza Rafi Sauda, Mir Anis, and many more. But, Mir Taqi Mir occupies a place that is topmost amongst all the poets of the Urdu language.
Mir is Khuda-e-Sukhan, the God of poetry. Wallace Stevens, a celebrated American poet, has famously said, "a poet is the priest of the invisible" when a poet puts this invisible into words and makes it visible for all to see, the God of poetry is born. Mir Mohammad Taqi's birth year was 1722 or 1723 in Akbarabad (Agra) into a family that had migrated from Hejaz to Hindustan two generations prior. Mir has written a memoir in Persian, a book called Zikr-e-Mir in which he talks about his ancestors and early years. This autobiographical account is a bit patchy, not chronological or even complete, but it gives us a fair idea of Mir Taqi Mir's life and times. Mir's childhood was hugely influenced by his father, Mir Abdullah Ali (Motaqqi), a well-known mystic. He was a Sufi dervish, and one can see that this is where the philosophy of Mir's love resides. Mir's uncle Syed Amanullah was also a dervish who educated Mir. In the august company of these two mystics, Mir grew up, and their teachings influenced the way Mir looked at the world. Mir writes that his father often told him that love is supreme and it is on the foundations of love that the world functions. Young as he was, Mir imbibed his father's teachings and practiced them lifelong, making love the primary subject of his poetry. Mir talks about love with reverence.
He may talk of worldly love, of the physical beauty of the beloved, and at times even with the frivolousness that comes with youth, but if one looks deeper, one finds that love for him is divinity in all its forms.
Parastish ki yaaN tak ki ai but tujhe
nazar mein sabhoN ki khuda kar chale
I idol worshipped you with such strong emotion
and made you God in the world's perception
