Zauq was a master poet with many students around him and he owned a status in the Mughal Darbar. Unfortunately, due to the negligence of the authorities, the Tomb of Zauq is in Delhi is in deteriorated condition.
His complete name was Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq and was born in Delhi in 1790. At his very early age, he was appointed as the poet laureate in the Mughal Court. Later he was conferred with the title of “Khaqani-e-Hind” by the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Tucked away in the diary bylanes of Paharganj, the Mazar-e-Zauq and last resting place of the poet demands attention. After the independence in 1947, Muslims of the area of Chiniot Basti, Delhi migrated and the condition of Zauq ’s tomb started to get deteriorated. The situation of the grave was so worse that the grave completely vanished.
In Urdu literature, the negligence to Zauq, Momin and Ghalib is considered as a sin and this sin is been committed with the Zauq’s grave for years.
The people of Delhi and the authorities forgot Zauq in a way that at first, intentionally or unintentionally, the municipal of Delhi made a bathroom on his grave. And it was such a shame for the residents and for the deceased poet himself.
Later, after the collapse of the bathroom the mausoleum remains always closed. Someone also wrote a letter to the authorities and pointed out that this is the mausoleum of Zauq. A book by Tanvir Ahmad Alvi also told about the same place.
In 2000, a rit was filed in Supreme Court and as a result, the tomb was constructed and the grave of the poet was given the shape of a grave platform. Now, the tomb exists but it is always closed and no one enters to see the grave.
A resident of the Chiniot Basti told that the area is famous due to the Zauq’s tomb.
