Ha 'Ali Bashar Kayfa Bashar (Laudative Qasida): Difference between revisions

Ha, ʿAlī bashar, kayfa bashar (ʿAli is a human, but what a human!) is a verse of a well-known qasida (or ode) known as “Madhiyya” (laudative) or “Ghadiriyya,” which is composed in Arabic in praise of Imam ʿAli (a). The ode was composed by Mulla Mihr ʿAli Tabrizi Khuʾi, a poem of Ghadir in the thirteenth century AH, who is known for this ode.

The ode has twenty to forty verses, and it was composed between 1216 AH and 1240 AH. It attracted the attentions of Shiite orators and poets, as many poems have been composed with a similar metre and rhymes, some of which have borrowed its verses.

The qasida or ode of “Ha ʿAli bashar, kayfa bashar,” known as Madhiyya or Ghadiriyya, is an ode in Arabic composed by Mulla Mihr ʿAli Tabrizi Khuʾi in praise of Imam ʿAli.

The ode is said to have twenty to forty verses, and it was composed between 1216 AH and 1240 AH. Farhad Mirza, a contemporary of Mulla Mihr ʿAli, cites twenty-nine verses of the ode in his book, Zanbil.

Mulla Mihr ʿAli Tabrizi Khuʾi (1182-1262 AH), with the penname Fadawi, was a poet of Ghadir in the thirteenth century AH. He wrote poems in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. He is said to be a mystic, philosopher, a scholar, and a master of most of the sciences of his time. Mulla Mihr ʿAli is mainly known for his Madhiyya or Ghadiriyya ode. He wrote another qasida or ode in eighteen verses in praise of the Prophet (s).

There is an anecdote reported in the book, Wilayatnama, by Mulla ʿAli Waʿiz Khiyabani, the author of the book ʿUlamaʾ muʿasirin (Contemporary scholars), to the effect that, after writing the qasida of “Ha ʿAli bashar, kayfa bashar,” Mulla Mihr ʿAli saw the Prophet (s) in his dream, alongside Imam ʿAli (a). The Prophet (s) told Mulla Mihr ʿAli: “Recite the poem you wrote in praise of my cousin.” Mulla Mihr ʿAli began to recite the poem, and when he finished the first verse, the Prophet said: “What a human! What a human! What a human!”