Sir Syed ke Akhlaq-o-Khasail: the man behind the movement

The problem

You know Sir Syed as a name in a Pakistan Studies date list: Aligarh, 1877. But what was he like at dinner? Did he answer his letters? Did he take revenge on his enemies?

Hali knew him closely, and this lesson is his answer. It is a character sketch: one quality at a time, each proved by a real habit or story. The day he had more guests was Eid in his house.

Author: Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali (1837–1914). The lesson is taken from his biography of Sir Syed, “Hayat-e-Javed”. The rule for every answer: a quality plus its proof from the lesson.

Key terms

راست بازی

He treated truthfulness as his religion and faith. Through his writing he brought freedom and truth into Urdu, and taught people to speak the truth without fear of blame. Nothing hurt him more than being accused of lying.

محنت و جفاکشی

In England, writing Khutbat-e-Ahmadiya, he worked so hard for a year and a half that his feet developed an ailment that stayed for life. Hali adds that he was not unusually gifted as a child; effort made him.

کنبے اور دوستوں سے محبت

He loved his family beyond measure: he did not forget his brother's death for twenty years. His happiness rested on two things, work and friends. Mohsin-ul-Mulk said he had never seen so many virtues in one person.

عالی ظرفی و فیاضی

He never took revenge on opponents; his mother had taught him that paying back evil makes you like the evildoer. He gathered no wealth for his children and gave everything, body, soul and money, to the nation.

Short questions with model answers

1. Q1. Exercise 5: write the tashreeh of this passage, with reference to context. Board answers are written in Urdu.«دوستوں اور مہمانوں سے ان کا دسترخوان بہت کم خالی ہوتا تھا۔»

   • حوالہ: سبق «سرسید کے اخلاق و خصائل»، مصنف مولانا الطاف حسین حالی، ماخوذ از «حیاتِ جاوید»۔
   • سیاق و سباق: یہ سبق کا پہلا اقتباس ہے، جہاں سے حالی سرسید کی گھریلو زندگی اور عادتوں کا ذکر شروع کرتے ہیں۔
   • وضاحت: سرسید مہمان نواز تھے۔ جس دن کوئی مہمان نہ ہوتا، کھانا خوشی سے نہ کھاتے؛ جس دن زیادہ مہمان ہوتے، اس دن ان کے گھر عید ہوتی۔ کھانا جیسا بھی ملتا، بغیر ناک منہ چڑھائے کھا لیتے۔
   • مزید: پھلوں میں آم اور خربوزے بہت پسند تھے، اور کھانے کے بعد دونوں وقت بلاناغہ دودھ پیتے تھے۔

   سرسید مہمان نواز اور سادہ مزاج تھے: مہمانوں سے ان کی خوشی تھی۔

2. Q2. Exercise 2 (x): what upset Sir Syed the most?

   • خوبی: سرسید راست بازی کو اپنا دین و ایمان سمجھتے تھے۔
   • اسی لیے ان پر راست بازی کے خلاف کوئی الزام لگانا انہیں سب سے زیادہ شاق گزرتا تھا۔

   یہ کہ ان پر راست بازی کے خلاف کوئی الزام لگایا جائے۔

3. Q3. Exercise 8 and 9: write the plurals and the opposites.

   • جمع: خصلت ← خصائل، لطیفہ ← لطائف، عادت ← عادات، ورق ← اوراق، تصنیف ← تصانیف
   • متضاد: کم ← زیادہ، مہمان ← میزبان، ابتدا ← انتہا، جواب ← سوال، دائمی ← عارضی

   خصائل، لطائف، عادات، اوراق، تصانیف · زیادہ، میزبان، انتہا، سوال، عارضی

Common mistakes

• ✗ Writing Shibli Nomani as the author, or “Maqalat-e-Sir Syed” as the book.

  ✓ Author: Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali. Book: Hayat-e-Javed, Hali's biography of Sir Syed. Both are MCQs in the exercise.

• ✗ Picking a dish, like meat or kheer, as Sir Syed's favourite food.

  ✓ The lesson says that when good food was not available, he happily ate whatever he got. So the answer is “jo mil jaye”. Mangoes and melons were his favourite fruits.

• ✗ A khulasa that only praises: “Sir Syed was great, kind and hard-working.”

  ✓ Pair every quality with its proof: hard-working, because Khutbat-e-Ahmadiya cost him a year and a half and a lifelong foot ailment. That is Hali's own method.

MCQs

1. 1. Who is the author of “Sir Syed ke Akhlaq-o-Khasail”?

   1. (a) مولانا حالی
   2. (b) مولانا شبلی نعمانی
   3. (c) خواجہ حسن نظامی
   4. (d) سید عبداللہ
   Show answer

   (a) Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali, who knew Sir Syed personally and wrote his biography.

2. 2. From which book is this essay taken?

   1. (a) «تاریخِ ادبِ اردو» سے
   2. (b) «مقالاتِ سرسید» سے
   3. (c) «یادگارِ غالب» سے
   4. (d) «حیاتِ جاوید» سے
   Show answer

   (d) Hayat-e-Javed, Hali's biography of Sir Syed. Yadgar-e-Ghalib is also by Hali, but it is about Ghalib.

3. 3. Which fruit did Sir Syed like very much?

   1. (a) سیب
   2. (b) انگور
   3. (c) آم
   4. (d) انار
   Show answer

   (c) Seasonal vegetables and fruits, especially mangoes and melons, were his favourites.

4. 4. What did Sir Syed drink after meals?

   1. (a) چائے
   2. (b) کافی
   3. (c) دودھ
   4. (d) کچھ بھی نہیں
   Show answer

   (c) Milk, at both meals, without missing a day.

5. 5. How long did Sir Syed take to write Khutbat-e-Ahmadiya?

   1. (a) چھ مہینے
   2. (b) ایک برس
   3. (c) ڈیڑھ برس
   4. (d) بیس برس
   Show answer

   (c) A year and a half of such hard work in England that his feet developed a lifelong ailment. Twenty years is how long he grieved for his brother.

Quick revision

• Hali's sketch, from Hayat-e-Javed, shows Sir Syed as hospitable, witty, truthful, hard-working, loving and big-hearted.
• Every quality has a proof: Eid with guests, letters answered by the third day, a year and a half on Khutbat-e-Ahmadiya, twenty years of grief for a brother.
• He took no revenge, gathered no wealth, and gave body, soul and money to the nation.