Quick Facts
Biography
Syed Muhammad Muqim (Bengali: ছৈদ মোহাম্মদ মুকিম) was an 18th-century Bengali poet, author and philosopher who was active during the advent of company rule in Bengal. His puthis are notable as they are interspersed with his own philosophical thoughts on prosody, music, astrology and religions.
Background
Muqim was born in the 18th century, to a Bengali Muslim family of Syeds in the neighbourhood of Noapara in Chittagong. His father, Syed Muhammad Daulat, had origins in Feni. Muqim later became a disciple of Sufi poet Ali Raza, and he was also inspired by the poetry of Muhammad Danesh. After losing his father at an early age, Muqim started his career at the record office of Ali Akbar Chowdhury, a prominent zamindar of Chittagong. Bichitra Sen of The Azadi asserts that there were two poets of Chittagong with the name Muhammad Muqim.
Works
- Faydul Muqtadi (1773)
- Tajul-Bakāwali, his own Bengali rendition of the Persian romance Gul-e-Bakāwali (which also has references to colonial rule in Chittagong)
- Kalakam
- Mrigābôti, his own Bengali rendition of a romance about fairies
- Aiyub Nôbir Kôtha (About the prophet Job)