ZIKR-I-MIR Translated by C.M. Maim, Oxford, Rs 395 This autobiography of the famous Mughal poet of the 18th century has been presented for the first time in English with exhaustive annotations and an introduction containing all the relevant details about the poet's life and times. The translator has tried to give its English readers something of the flavour of the original and as such, the editor has checked, rechecked and supplemented where necessary, information provided by all the available versions of the manuscript. The translator-annotator has indeed done a thorough job of it. The autobiography, however, is a curious work in many ways. Though Mir has been a time-tested luminary of Urdu poetry, particularly ghazals, he chose to write his most intimate lines in Persian, perhaps because it was the common practice of the time to do so. Or did he try to seek the cover of a language, restricted in its use, for concealing some of his secret sentiments from the common reader? The book can be divided into three parts. The first part is a biography of the father done by the son. It deals almost exclusively with the Sufism of Mir's father, his mystic power over those who came in contact with him and his life as a dervish. The son bears witness to all his father's esoteric activities. The second part is all about the sultans, nawabs and rajas of the 18th century Mughal regime - their political intrigues and their military exploits. The third part narrates some jokes most of which cannot be enjoyed without a reference to the context of time and place. The autobiography has an epic beginning, starting with an invocation to god. This is followed by a mini-treatise on Sufism as the poet's father understood and practised it. The chapters end with couplets, some of which are the author's own, pertaining to the mystic experience of a Sufi. The most memorable portion of the second part is the author's graphic description of the carnage of Ahmad Shah Abdali and the unbearable suffering of the people that came with it. He does not, however, mention the plunder and looting of Nadir Shah and the reign of terror let loose by him. It had happened only a year before he left for Delhi when he was 16. Living in Agra, he must have heard about the sacking of Delhi. The style of writing, as one gathers from the translation, changes from the pompous to the pedestrian. Mir evidently could not quite repress his feelings of vanity and self-pity despite his acceptance as a major poet of his time. He appears to have been inordinately proud of being a Sayyad, a converted Shia and the son of a great Sufi. He did not take kindly to his Sunni maternal uncle, the brother of his step-mother, Sirajuddin Ali Khan Arzu, a well-known Persian scholar of the period. Mir even goes on to accuse his uncle of driving him to a state of lunacy. But by far the most curious aspect of this biography is that it says precious little about the personal life of the author - his ancestry, his family, his childhood and upbringing, his education and training as a poet, his own marriages (he married twice), his children and their death in his old age and his growth as a poet. No regret is expressed over the decline of Mughal power in India. Facts, incidents as well other necessary information about his life are recorded only in the translator's introduction. Mir Muhammad Taki, better known to his wide readership by his takhallus - Mir- does not say anything about his poetry in Persian and Urdu nor much about his patrons who had inspired many of his verses. He emerges from his autobiography as a person who lived and worked with deep complexes all his life.