The Meaning of a Verse from Shaykh al-Hind’s Elegy

Question

The founder of Islam is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The teacher of Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi, Hazrat Shaykh al-Hind Mawlana Mahmud al-Hasan, composed on the death of Hazrat Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi an elegy known as the “Elegy of Rashid Ahmad Gangohi”. In one of its verses he, in the questioner’s view, acknowledged that the founder of Islam is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This is the verse: [ar]زباں پر اہل ہوا کی ہے کیوں «اعْلُ هُبَل»

Answer

In poetry metaphors are frequent, and figurative usage is employed in abundance. One who tries to take every verse in its literal sense alone is a stranger to the art of poetry. A certain king ordered a fort to be built and entrusted its construction to his trusted deputy.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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