The following passage is a translated excerpt from Shafiq-ur-Rehman’s story, Manzil (Destiny) from his book, Pachtaway (Regrets).
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Our protagonist, who is a doctor, is on a war ship during WW2 headed to an unknown fighting front. He meets different people on his uncertain voyage. Late one night, he is introduced to an old American who, he is told, is a well-known journalist.
This unnamed journalist is regaling people with stories from his life. Towards the end of the night, he tells his audience about his will.
Here he is in his own words:
“My friends, I am well aware of my old age. By this time, I should have amassed financial wealth, of which I have none, to leave behind me. I do, however, have intangible untold riches that I will bequeath to my beneficiaries, to all of you.
Here, let me tell you what it is. Listen carefully.
I will leave the variant colors of rainbow, bright flowers, floating butterflies, guiding stars, stories from other worlds. I will leave these for the children and for those who have been unaffected by yesteryears and who are still young at heart.
I will leave the passionate, inebriated moments for lovers. Fleeting, invaluable moments that are pulsating with life. I will leave these perfumed, moonlit nights for lovers.
And for women, I will leave the vibrent colors of life and their beloved’s shy yet everlasting attention. And all the comforts of the life that is their due.
And for the depressed and hopeless, I will leave them the sunrise, when this world awakes anew with the bright sun every morning, when past is buried and a new present is born.
For restless souls, I will leave them the ownership of vast deserts, unfathomable oceans, undiscovered islands, as well as the gift of life. Life, which is forever moving, which is boundless in its freshness.
And for those whose hearts have hardened with the material world, I will leave them heart-tugging, alluring symphonies of music that will make them forget this temporal world.
And for those who are deprived of everything in life, who have nothing to their name in this world, who face constant failures in life, I will leave them sincerity of friends. Friendship, upon which no value can be placed and one that surrounds people with love and lifts them from despair.
My friends, I will leave this beautiful life, that I have loved every moment, and all that it contains within it to all of you after I am gone.
And when I am gone, bury me anywhere.
In lush green gardens where numerous, colorful flowers carpet the field. Or amongst remote and abandoned ruins, where there is no spring, where loneliness and melancholy make an abode. Or bury me at a mountaintop, between dense trees where my grave becomes a white quilt every time it snows. When, during spring, with the warmth of sun, numerous buds bloom into flowers and bees hum as they fly from flower to flower. Where the air is perfumed. Where, with each gentle breeze, my grave gets covered with flower petals.
Or, my friends, bury me in your hearts!”
It is a facade, strong as I may appear
clowning by day, inside – shaking with fear
Hiding inner decay, a weakness, mine to bear
A pain, shared with no one, with no one to hear
You see the smile, which is, but a thin veneer
Scratch the surface, and you’ll see me tear
A cacophony of sound, people from there to here
My lonely heart beats, oft Sobbing in fear
Our pain is bespoke, with no one to share
Though a hug I crave, a friend to be near
Who has the patience, time to lend an ear
We are, but a circle of one, no one so near
Heads down on our paths, not a moment to spare
I’d give you a listen, free time though is rare
Friends galore, family members who are dear
Yet, only one listens, By the name of Sameer
It is not fair to classify you, dear reader, as simply a Muslim or non-Muslim. No, there are vibrant shades in these broad categories and Qur’an holds different deep-seated meaning for people that make-up this colorful spectrum. And it is equally difficult to capture the expansive nature of Qur’an in a short article. So, instead of evoking people’s biases – positive or negative – it may be easier to explore some factual nuances of this extensive book.
The Qur’an is a continuous set of instructions sent to the Prophet over a course of 23 years. Over 6,000 of these verses were revealed when Prophet Muhammad turned 40 and continued till the year he passed away, 23 years later. What is unique about Qur’an is that All verses were memorized in the Arabic language they were revealed and have stayed intact 1,400 years later.
Another aspect that is unique to Qur’an is that not only all the words are the same, the order of these verses and the 114 chapters they are divided in, has also remained without change.
Qur’an is not an easy book to read cover to cover, as the sentences that map to verses are contextual to the times when they were revealed. Various occasions produced different verses. This makes sense to a reader who can visualize a lonely Prophet, at least in the beginning few years of his Prophethood, who was constantly being challenged and probed and questioned. Different verses came in answer to those questions.
For example, when men of Quraysh asked Jewish Rabbis of Yathrib about Muhammad’s (PBUH) claim on being a prophet they were told to ask the Prophet 3 questions whose correct answers would decide whether his claims were accurate. The answer was given in the form of Surah Kahf (18). And when there was a gap between revelations and the Prophet feared that God was upset with him, Surah Duhaa (93) was revealed to allay his fears and to tell him about a gift forthcoming. Similarly, when he was disheartened when people made fun of him not having a male progeny, Surah Kawthar (108) was relayed.
The next question to ponder is the source of these verses. For believing Muslims, it is the Almighty God, or Allah Himself. But to the more sceptic reader, I can only offer a couple of examples, due to the brevity of this article, as proof of this assertion.
One is the practical proof of the monumental composition of 114 chapters and the linguistic superiority of the Qur’an. It is no hidden fact that Prophet Muhammad was not a man of letters, he was closer to being an illiterate. Indeed, the very first verse that was revealed starts with the command to Read (Iqra). And he is supposed to have responded 3 times that he could not. After the 3rd imploration, he read. How is it possible that this person who could hardly read produced such beautiful verses not one but multiple times and over a course of 23 years?
Since almost none of us being experts in classical Arabic – the language of Qur’an – it is hard for us to appreciate beauty of the language and what it meant to the Arabs of that time. But here is another well-documented example of the power of these verses. Umar, long before he became the 2nd Caliph, was an impassioned hater of everything the Prophet stood for. He hated how the people of Mecca were being “lured” by this new religion. He publicly advocated killing the Prophet. One day, when he could take it no longer, he decided to take the matters in his own hands and, with a naked sword in hand, he started his march toward the Prophet’s house to carry out the unspeakable. On his way there, he met one of Prophet’s sympathizers who told him to first get his own house in order, that his own sister and brother-in-law had converted to Islam. Enraged, he turned his gait toward his sister’s house. Before entering the house, he heard recitation of Surah Taha. Umar was an accomplished orator and a lover of poetry, upon hearing those words and reading them for himself, Islam entered his heart and he converted. This well-known incident clearly highlights the miraculous beauty of the language of Qur’an and how a rabid antagonist of Islam converted by simply listening to its recitation.
Besides the miracle of its language, Qur’an also contains verses revealed 1400 years ago that talk about subjects that only recently in 20th century have been discovered as scientific proof. One such example is the verses that deal with Embryology.
Keith L. Moore was a professor emeritus in the division of anatomy at the University of Toronto. In his article, “A Scientist’s Interpretation Of References To Embryology In The Qur’an,” he compares Surah Mu’minun’s verses (23:13-14) that talk about intricate details of embryology and facts only discovered 1,400 later in the 20th century. How could an illiterate man produce these statements in an era when we were hundreds of years away from discovering microscope and address subjects whose veracity are only being discovered after significant scientific discovery in recent years? The only possible answer could be that he could not. Unless he was merely a mouthpiece, or a messenger, delivering a message from a being far more superior: God.
In the end, dear reader, I would conclude with the opening chapter of Quran, Surah Fatihah. This is a short prayer. The person praying glorifies an almighty God who is most benevolent. This is a God who has undying mercy for his creation. The person prays to stay on a straight path, one that was taken previously by the pious men of past. He implores God to keep him away from those who have become misguided and who have strayed from the righteous path.
This short chapter in the form of a prayer is another example of the miracle of Qur’an. There is nothing in it that is specific to people of a particular faith. Its message is one of peace, of being good and of a merciful God that is kind to His creation that stays on the right path. This chapter enforces the truth that Qur’an is a book for the entire humanity. And reading, understanding and following its message will lead to riches not only in this world, as it did to the divided Arabs who became a unified global force after they followed Qur’an and took it to heart, but also in the hereafter.
19 years ago, my father, Aziz Siddiqui – a renowned journalist and human rights activist – passed away. Earlier that day, he had spoken to me on the phone and seemed okay. A half hour later, I got a call that he was no longer. A few days ago, my uncle/Mamu, Viqar Ahmad, a world-famous BBC broadcaster, left his earthly abode. My Mamu was a huge fan of Rumi. I was sent Rumi’s musing on his death. I have copied two stanzas below:
when you see
my corpse is being carried
don’t cry for my leaving
I’m not leaving
I’m arriving at eternal love
when you leave me
in the grave
don’t say goodbye
remember a grave is
only a curtain
for the paradise behind
Does it not make sense what the Maulana has written? Aren’t our bodies mere caskets for our souls? This outer shell grows and then withers away over time but the soul that resides within, that we were born with, stays in-tact; it is eternal and simply sheds the outer form at the point of death to disperse into the eternal formless.
Me, you, and everyone else that we meet, are a reflection of the unseen soul lying within ourselves. It is the soul that gives us the personality that we project to others in the world.
Think for a minute about your friend, your family member and even your spouse. What you love about them is what lies within. The outer form that we recognize them with changes over time, but does not their core being remain the same? It is this soul that is their being. Granted people change over time. They may become impatient or cynical as they grow old, but that is more a response to their environment. It is a veneer that collects over the inner core. If one was to blow-off this outer coating by placing that person in a peaceful environment, the inner soul would emerge unchanged from within.
We shed tears when those we love pass on because we can no longer interact with the beloved soul. The body that acted as a conduit is no more. And we lose that connection….for time being.
But death is a milestone all of us are going to ultimately achieve, whether we like it or not.
From the point of view of the departed soul, it becomes free from “a sea of troubles” and from “the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to,” as noted by Hamlet in his soliloquy. Still, no one wants to die, and no one wants their loved ones to die, no matter how old. But the soul needs its freedom from this physical world.
From the point of the view of those who are left behind, our attention is diverted from our daily grind. The closer we are from the departed soul, the longer our attention remains diverted from the day-to-day minutiae. We become closer to people we were away from, our collective souls are nourished from the renewed proximity and, by extension, the love we share for a short time from those left behind. Thus, passing of a person, brings others together.
Reflect on this phenomena for a minute. The departed soul finds it final abode and those remaining behind become close, albeit for a short time, and thus their own souls are elevated by this collective love.
Our world will become a better place when our collective souls learn to love one another while we are still breathing in this world. We must learn to shake-off the worldly veneer from our souls and share love without any particular reason with those around us.
My father and my Mamu were two such people who had not let any layer settle on their souls over the course of time they spent on this earth. Theirs were pure souls who must be sharing a piece of heaven today, Inshallah!
U-Turn?
I am one of the half-a-million overseas Pakistanis residing in U.S. who Imran Khan wants to woo to invest in Pakistan. I am probably in a majority who will oblige his call to help our motherland. This is because I, like many other overseas Pakistanis, are least interested in particular political parties or their leaders, but most interested in the well-being of the country they get elected to govern. And since Imran Khan’s victory, we finally feel that we have an honest and courageous leader whose foremost agenda is to help our country. We have been euphoric by the new government and their no-nonsense, bold policies.
But today, I am also likely to be among many Pakistanis – overseas or not – whose elation has been deflated to give way to sadness.
Prior to today, our hearts were filled with joy. After decades of corrupt politicians milking the country dry, we found our savior in the form of our Kaptaan, who had steadfastly struggled for 22 years and had boldly fought all forms of opposition to become new leader of our beloved Pakistan. Here was a leader who never bowed to adversity, who never gave-in to fears that would creep into the bravest of hearts.
We were heartened when he stepped in plain Shalwar-Qameez to meet the U.S. delegation, speaking confidently and with a smile on his face – a stark contrast to obsequious mannerisms of his predecessors. We applauded his pragmatic yet firm stance against Netherland’s latest cartoon competition debacle when it bore positive fruit without any major civil unrest.
We felt proud when Imran Khan reminded us in his GHQ speech the meteoric rise of our religion was due to our Prophet’s preaching and setup of an inclusive society where the weakest member had the same rights as the strongest, where the only thing that mattered was one’s ability and one’s God-fearing nature.
We were glad that the same way U.S. or other western countries valued only the talent of their immigrant minorities to make their countries a better place, here at last, was a bold government to do the same in Pakistan. The “Naya Pakistan” was not for a the majority nor the elite few, it was going to be inclusive of everyone.
And we finally saw an example of this when his government refused to back down to petty, short-sighted criticism of Dr. Atif Mian, a Princeton-graduate economist simply because of his faith. We were glad to hear reference to the Quaid’s appointment of Sir Zafar Ullah, also belonging to minority faith, to the critical post of Foreign Minister.
The minority of overseas Pakistani community whose religion has never stopped us to succeed in our adopted country of a different faith, uttered a sigh of relief. We were glad to beckon Imran Khan’s call to play our part to help the country of our birth the same way we had helped our adopted country by paying taxes and by creating jobs.
But then something happened. The rhetoric changed overnight. PTI went from being talent-first, all-inclusive party to one who succumbed to pressure from the usual miscreants. Our Kaptaan who had stood up to staunchest opposition in all forms in his life capitulated to petty pressure and caved-in like any other politician before him.
In his u-turn under pressure, his demeanor metamorphosized into the Musharraf of yester-years who, having previously repealed the blasphemy law during his tenure, squeamishly surrendered to the hordes of politically-motivated Mullahs when he couldn’t bear their anger.
We had expected a lot more from our Kaptaan.
I still support him because I know that he is still the best choice amongst the corrupt lot around him. I still support him because I know that he and his team will build a better Pakistan than the one left in tatters by the goons before him. And I know that he will stand tall to best represent Pakistan’s interest to all foreign nations.
But my support, together with others, will now have an air of melancholy that was absent before. It will bear a sadness that is biting in it unexpectedness.
Kabhi muskura kar, dabay paaoN aa kar, dukh mujhay chu lay! (Sadness takes many forms, it hides behind smiles, it creeps slowly and, when I am least expecting it, it touches my heart to make me sad)
Written in 1936.
Iblees, or Beelzebub / Satan, has called a meeting of his counselors. His cabinet members are present to listen to the wisdom their leader has to impart.
Iblees starts the proceedings like any other world leader of a super-power, by pounding his chest and reliving his exploits to-date.
Iblees: This creation of the universe, with its numerous celestial bodies that are in constant motion; this lowly world that was created against the wishes of the angels that tread the highest clouds, is about to be destroyed by the same creator who uttered but two words – kaaf and noon – for the world to come into existence.
Iblees speaks with derision and contempt: This lowly earth’s sole existence, since its inception, has been limited to the materialistic interplay of everything within its domain. It came into existence and the angels wept because Man inherited what they thought was their rightful place.
Iblees is worried that God is about to destroy what he created himself. The reason for his concern is that his own time will end when the earth is no more. God gave him time until the day of resurrection to tempt and lead mankind astray. When there will be no more mankind, there will, at that time, be no need for Iblees. His rule will end too. This is his cause for concern.
Allah had said “K’un” and the world was created. This word is a composite of the letters kaaf and nuun.
Iblees is livid, his rage is spilling over when he questions how dare God destroy something one of His own creations. God’s own angels were not happy bowing to Man, a being made of mere dust. And they did not want the world to be created for the man to reside in. How is it that God is bent on destroying something that has existed for centuries?
What the reader does not know is what is prompting Iblees to think that God is ready to end the world. Allama has caught the reader’s attention from the first sentence. The reader is intrigued. He is curious why the poet philosopher thinks that his abode, his world, might come to an end. Allama is able to catch the attention, which, as a master writer, he will continue to draw on and increase in its intensity.
Iblees continues: I, it was me alone, who taught Europeans the lessons of colonialism – to rule over other people’s lands, to pillage their villages and cities, to destroy their towns and in its place, create a proxy government. It was I who broke the allure that the mosque and church once held over people in the nascent days of Islam and Christianity. It was I that led people astray from the good lessons that their religions once taught.
I taught mankind that they should not be dependent on religious shrines. I created a Godless earth.
The broad lessons of all religions is the same, whether it is Islam or Christianity. All religions teach man to be a good human being first. But Iblees has made sure that the pure message at the crux of religions has become dull with the rust of religious dogma and outwardly things that are of least importance…..
Rumi: I sucked the marrow out of the Qura and left the bones for the dogs.
It was my cunning planning that made sure that the poor blame their state of affairs to fate. I taught the poor of the world that there is such a thing as fate, and that it is their fate to stay poor so they will not strive to try to do better. And instead, be content in their abject poverty of mind and means.
And, on the flip side, I taught the powerful and people of means to never be satisfied with what they have; to continue to create wealth for themselves and to hoard it and keep it away from the poor. I taught them that “Greed is Good.”
Iblees points out 4 major accomplishments of his:
1) Colonialism
2) Secularism
3) Unnecessary dependency on fate, especially for the poor. To depend or to be limited by their abject fate and to never work hard to better oneself
4) Sarmayadari Collection of wealth. Wealth of Nations
Who dares to lay cold this burning fire that has the blood of the mighty Iblees?
A point to keep in mind is that Iblees himself is made of fire, like man is made of dust; or as Allama aptly put it in his other works: musht-e-khaq – a handful of dust
Who has the strength to take down the ancient tree that has grown strong and mighty by my nurturing?
By tree, he is referring to the tree of life, or the lives of the humans that he has affected by his satanic ways.
FIRST COUNSELLOR REPLIES:
There is no doubt that this system setup by Iblees is indeed stable and bears longevity
This system has made slaves of the common citizens of the world. The bonds of slavery has been strengthened by your doings, by your institutions
From the beginning of time, these poor people are constantly in a state of prostration.
They are habitually inclined to not lift their heads from bowing [to power]; they are unaware that even the most powerful of entities, God himself has prescribed the act of standing on one’s own two feet while praying to him.
Although there can never be a chance that these people can ever dream of something of their own. You have created an environment that extinguishes any ray of hope that any person may breath. And if some are able to break the hold and dream of something, their thoughts and their aspirations are stifled and the fire get extinguished.
But, if perchance, a wish is borne, it dies without being molded into a more solid plan.
It is the fruit of our hard work that the sufis and priests are beholden to a nation’s president or prime minister. They have given up God of their respective religion and are more worried about pleasing the head of a state
This is the right drug for the population of the East
Otherwise, Ilm-e-Kalaam (the knowledge that deals with using science and philosophy to prove Islamic teachings right) is no less than Qawwali (a form of devotional singing where a group of men sing together and the audience typically swoons at their words)
Qawali used to be appreciated by Sufis
Ilm-e-kalam was and is appreciated by the religious mowlvi
In the results that it bears, Ilm-e-kalam is no less than what qawaali achieves. Basically, Qawali is useless according to Allama. People get “drugged” and enthralled by it and they leave more meaningful work and derive pleasure from Qawali. Similarly, Ilm-e-Kalam is quite similar to qawali in the result that it achieves. It too, renders a person useless by distracting his attention from more meaningful thoughts and work. People involved in Ilm-e-Kalam are ostensibly working for the betterment of religion but instead of meaningful hard labor that will produce positive results and nurture religion, they spend their days and nights embroiled in meaningless nit-picking and split hair over finer points in religion.
Seerat, or the will to do something gets drugged by both qawali and ilm-e-kalam.
So what if there is cyclical noise about people going to perform yearly pilgrimage at Mecca (Hajj).
It is merely noise, don’t think much of it, as the man of religion (mard-e-momin) is but a Muslim by name. His traits that made him a strong contender for paradise by the virtue of his character is no more, it is a mere veneer or a charade.
The pilgrimage is not having any meaningful effect on people. These Muslims are merely going through the motions without benefiting from its spirit.
But what has caused you to issue this new declaration? Why have you called this senate anew? Why are we scared, Muslim men have already declared Jihad as haram, illegal.
SECOND COUNSELLOR ADDRESSES FIRST COUNSELLOR:
This is all great my fellow counsellor but you are not aware of new happenings in the world, which may be injurious to the laws laid down by our boss, Satan. For example, what do you say to this new rule of democracy (Sultani Jamhoor) that is taking root in the world all over. Do you think it is sheer noise or harmful?
FIRST COUNSELLOR REPLIES:
I am quite well aware of all that transpires in the world, my friend, but why be afraid of a system that is but a veneer to what it is in reality: kingship.
The sham democracy that you think will cause Satan’s laws harm is nothing but demagogues, dictators and party rule that drink from the same fountain as the previous system of Kings that benefitted us so well.
Little do you know my naive friend but we ourselves have obscured kingship of yesteryears in the thin garb of democracy. When the son of Adam became more self-conscious and saw that his rights were being trampled under imperialism and kings’ rule, we lulled him into false hope by erecting a more amenable system to his sense – an alternative system that is a change only in name – deep down, it is no different than the one it ostensibly replaced.
In actuality, the ways of rules are not limited to kings or lords of olden times. It does not matter one bit if the majestic court of days past has been replaced with dens of democracy. They are one and the same because, in both cases, the one being ruled is exploited. Ones with power in democracy have same ulterior motives as the kings before them who lusted after property of their people.
Have you not closely observed west’s call to democracy? Seemingly, it is quite attractive as a panacea to end all grievances of common people, but in fact, its heart is as dark and hardened as the one that belonged to Genghis Khan (Changaiz Khan), who ruthlessly conquered vast lands.
THIRD COUNSELLOR:
Listen, I would not care two hoots if the old system that exploited common man breathed inside this new democratic structure, but you are overlooking a new phenomenon being introduced by this man (Karl Marx).
He does not talk to God like Moses. He is Christ without a cross. Not a prophet but, like a prophet, he carries a book (Das Kapital).
His vision has been a clarion call that has awakened countries from East to West. Because of his inflammatory ideas about Socialism and Communism, common man has uprooted foundations laid by the powerful masters.
FOURTH COUNSELLOR:
This is true but you only have to look to Rome to see a rebuttal to Socialism. There, we have breathed new life in the progeny of Caesars. See who is enamored with the sea, rising one instance like the tall Sanober (pine) tree and making oneself heard like the rubab (lute).
In 1935, a year before this poem was released, Italy had invaded Ethiopia. Mussolini’s charismatic and boisterous personality is being likened to the Pine and his rodomontades to the lute.
THIRD COUNSELLOR:
Personally, I am not a huge fan of Mussolini. He has laid bare the European imperialism that is hiding beneath democracy.
FIFTH COUNSELLOR ADDRESSING IBLEES/SATAN:
Oh our Lord, you breathe life into the workings of this world. It cannot function without you. Whenever you have willed, you have been able to lift veil from secrets to shine light into the inner goings on.
This world made-up of water and soil/dirt (Aab-e-Gil) would have remained barren had it not been for you. Your attention has made it brimming with life. Man who is ignorant of heaven is “wise” because of you.
Man is ignorant of what lies ahead of him in heaven because he listens to Satan, and by doing so closes the gates of heaven for him. In another of his classics – Gabriel and Beelzebub (Jibrael aur Iblees) – Gabriel and Satan have a conversation. At one point, Satan claims:
It is because of my courage [of having refused to bow to Adam] that Man, who is made of clay (musht-e-khaak), has learnt to grow and gain wisdom. My mischief creates the thoughts in Man’s mind [with which he rules the earth].
Hay meri jurrat say musht-e-khaak meiN zauq-e-namuN
Meray fitnay jama-e-aql-o-khird ka taar-o-pu
The counsellor continues:
You are closer to Man than the God (Parwardigaar) who created him in the first place.
The angels whose only mission was to remain sanctimonious and spend time in praising God (taqdees-o-tasbeeh-o-tawaaf) now have their heads bowed in shame (sar-nigooN-o-sharmsaar) forever because of your act of boldness. It was you who declined to bow to Adam, when all other Angels complied to God’s command but you stood your ground.
Then the conversation shifts.
Even though the European rulers (Afrang kay sahir) are your disciples (mureed), I have no longer any faith in their wisdom.
He calls the European imperialistic rulers magicians (sahir) because they hide the truth from the world and concoct their own version of reality especially for people of the countries they rule.
He then goes on to warn against Karl Marx whom he never calls by name but refers to as the Jew.
My Lord, that Jewish man (Karl Marx) philosophizes like Mazdak himself and his mischief is about to tear the fabric of this world that we took so long a time to create.
Mazdak was a Persian priest in 6th century. He instituted communal possessions and social welfare programs. He called for social revolution, and his ideas were have been thought of as early Communism.
The 5th Counsellor thus compares Karl Marx to Mazdak in his ideas. Mazdak was supposed to have been killed in 529. He maybe hinting that a similar fate that befell his predecessor should be the destiny of Karl Marx.
Because of this mischief-maker, the unthinkable is beginning to happen.
The desert crow (zagh-e-dashti) that is the lowest of the birds is now beginning to think of itself as equal to the majestic birds of prey like the falcon (Shaheen o Chirgh). Thus, while we may not be paying attention but the winds of change have been swift (sar’at) and the affairs of the world are changing under our nose.
That which we thought was simply a naive attempt (nadaani) that would amount to nothing has become a movement worldwide. That, which we thought of no more than a handful of dust (musht-e-ghubar) has in fact turned into a whirlwind that has covered the breadth of skies (wus’at-e-aflaak).
He is worried that Communism and Socialism concepts were not given much thought but now it has reached the far corners of the earth and the rulers that beckoned to the call of Satan are being bested by the common people they ruled. These common people are not under the control of Satan and carry the power to shatter the system so carefully manicured and curated by his boss.
The threat of tomorrow [from Communism’s dread] is so fierce that entire mountain ranges, oasis and water springs (kohsaar-o-marghzaar-o-jo’ebaar) shake under its affliction today.
Iqbal does not mention Communism by name just like he does not mention Karl Marx by name.
My Lord (meray Aaqa), I am afraid that the world is about to be turned upside down [because of Communism] that was once dependent upon your leadership.
IBLEES/SATAN MAKES HIS CLOSING REMARKS:
After listening to his counsellors, Iblees concludes the meeting with these remarks.
(to be continued…)
Tehni Pe Kisi Shajar Ki Tanha
Bulbul Tha Koi Udas Baitha
Shajar = Tree; Tanha = Alone, Lonesome; Bulbul = a small songbird, most close to a nightingale; Udas = sad
A small song bird was sitting atop a lonely tree branch
Kehta Tha Ke Raat Ser Pe Aaiye
Urnay Chugnay Mein Din Guzara
Urnay = To fly; Chugnay = what birds do to eat with their beaks
He was crying to himself that the night is now upon me. I spent the entire day flying from here to there, searching for food
Pohenchun Kis Tarah AashiyaN Tak
Her Cheez Pe Cha Gya Andhera
AashiyaN = Home; Andhera = Darkness
How is it that I will reach my home now that the day is over and it is so dark
Sun Kar Bulbul Ki Aah-O-Zari
Jugnu Koi Pas Hi Se Bola
Aah-o-Zari = Crying, lamenting; Jugnu = Firefly, lightening bug
A firefly, who was near the small bird, heard his cries and thus spoke
Hazir Hun Madad Ko Jaan O Dil Se
Keera Hun Agarcha Mein Zara Sa
Hazir = Present; Keera = insect; Agarchay = Even though, However
I am present for you my friend, even though I am but a small insect
Kya Gham Hai Jo Raat Hai Andheri
Main Rah Mein Roshni KarooN Ga
Gham = Worry, Concern (in this context); Roshni = Light
Why are you concerned that the night is at its darkest hour and nothing is to be seen. I am here to light the path for you to your home
Allah Ne Di Hai Mujh Ko Mashal
Chamka Ke Mujhay Diya Banaya
Mashal = Torch; Diya = Lamp
God has given me a torch. He has lit me and made me into a shining lamp
Hain Log Wohi Jahan Mein Ache
Aate Hain Jo Kaam Dusron Ke
Those people are good in this world who help others in their hour of need
Tashrih or Explanation:
Allamah has composed this beautiful poem for children inspired by William Cowper’s: “The Nightingale and Glow-worm.” The message that Allamah wants to convey is simple: we must help each other in this world. And it doesn’t matter whether we are big or small. Even a little glow-worm can help save a life.
We are introduced to a nightingale who left his home and has spent the entire day searching for food. He was so engrossed in his search that he did not even notice that he strayed far away from home. Now he cannot find his way back in the pitch darkness of the night.
While he is crying to himself about his predicament, there is a firefly near by who hears his lamentations. The firefly offers to help the nightingale by saying that God has given him a light that he can use for the benefit of his friend. He can fly ahead to light the path for the nightingale to find his home.
The poem ends with an age-old beautiful message that we should live harmoniously in this world by helping each other out. In all ages, we will always be in need of this message.
Rhyme:
Sitting atop a lonely branch
A nightingale was saddened thus
The night is now upon me with darkness abound
The day been spent, eating what little food I found
How to find my way to distant home
with nothing visible, no light that is shone
Listening to the heartening cry
A firefly spoke from nearby
I am at your disposal to end
Though a small insect, I am your friend
Why lament if the night is upon us
Light the way, I shall, to make it luminous
God has given me a torch to shine
Lit me from within, a lamp to …
Blessed are the people in this world
Who help others in need
My article that was published in Sunday’s Dawn Op-Ed, page 6, on March 6th, 2011.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/06/bullies-at-the-gate.html
Bullies at the Gate:
By Sameer A. Siddiqui
A bully comes in various forms. From an overgrown schoolboy who throws his weight around among smaller children in his class to a dictator who rules his country with an iron-fist for over 3 decades to a MD of a national airline who makes destructive deals to benefit his own self to a superpower who threatens a sovereign nation with dire consequences unless one of its citizen is handed over without any due-process for murders which he has committed in that country. But a bully of any nature has to ultimately bow down to a sustained and steadfast stance taken by his victims.
This happens regardless of whether he is a seemingly innocuous child who has hit puberty earlier than his companions; or if is ex-president Hosni Mubarak who once wielded total control in Egypt; or if he is Ejaz Haroon, ex-MD of PIA who considered himself infallible being a close confidant of the Pakistani power brokers; or whether the bully is mighty US Government standing astride over a smaller Pakistan, pressuring to handover a mysterious Raymond Davis.
The most recent and publicized stance taken by a group of people against a bully is that of the Egyptian people. Carrying the torch from the Tunisians, they peacefully forced out an entrenched president who had come to be as much a part of Egyptian landscape as the Sphinx of Giza. They emphatically showed to other dictators that a worthwhile cause can unite people to achieve the unthinkable. They also shocked the Western world that a regime change movement in a Muslim country, by the local populace, has the legs to stand on its own without being dependent upon the crutches of an outside government that really has its own interest at heart.
But most importantly, the Egyptians and Tunisians set a pivotal precedence. In a judicial system, once a precedence has been set, subsequent cases within same category can follow its example. The masses in many Middle Eastern countries now have an example in Egypt where common people, simply with their sheer will, were able to stand tall in a single square and write (Tahrir) their destiny.
Additionally, a second precedence is that the western world was not needed for a regime change this time; it occurred organically from within. With all it fanfare, a democratically elected government, especially in the Muslim world, is the last thing the West wants.
Case in point is U.S.’s ire at Pakistan’s democratically elected government following its laws to bring justice to an American national who killed two Pakistani youths: Faheem Shamshad and Faizan Haider. Raymond Davis, in the gibe of a private contractor, murdered two Pakistani citizens with alarming accuracy, killing one of them from a distance of 50 feet in the back while he ran away from his assailant.
Whether this American is guilty or not should be a matter for the courts. However, U.S. is keen for Pakistan to hand-over its citizen bypassing the Pakistani judicial system. The sole super power is over-extending Geneva Convention laws to declare that their “diplomat” has immunity from murder, a “license to kill” to do his job properly. With the amount of pressure being applied from all quarters in US, it was assumed that the Pakistani government would do the expected and the alleged murderer would be in the land of plenty before Hillary Clinton’s next Botox surgery. But the tide seems to have turned, for now.
Media scrutiny and immense public pressure from within seems to have countered the opposite pressure from America. Pakistani Government, scared of the precedence in Egypt, has retracted its earlier statements and has found legs to stand-up to the Americans. But not before their foreign minister was sacrificed at the altar of political expediency and their Secretary Information, Ms. Fauzia Wahab, put her foot in her mouth arguing unabashedly in favor of immunity for the foreign diplomat regardless of his murderous rampage. One only hopes she can be as convincing in front of Hillary to persuade her that the foreign diplomats in U.S. should have immunity from paying parking tickets.
From parking tickets to airline tickets: the case of PIA workers rising in unison against the corrupt Mr. Ejaz Haroon and forcing him to resign definitely soars one’s spirits. While true that the strike was highly inconvenient for passengers, but short of a complete shut-down, nothing else could have excavated the czar of the bleeding airline from his catbird seat in Aiwan-e-Sadr. He tried to hold on as long as possible, with full support from his powerful allies. But as days passed, he realized that his lofty position was being visibly shaken by the tide from the common people of his airline. He finally left after a last ditch effort to use a police contingent to batter peaceful strikers failed miserably to shake people’s resolve.
Although another crony may take place at the helm of the fledgling airline, precedence has been set in Karachi similar to the one in Cairo: power of people united behind a cause is able to make molehills out of mountains. Once again, there was no single leader who motivated the people. A sense of being right, united common people against their oppressor to achieve success.
It is never easy to stand up to a bully, in fact; it can be down-right scary. But a strong belief that one is fighting for the right cause gives super-human strength to the weakest of fighters and that is when even a super-power may have to bow out of the fight. This united and unflinching stand is what keeps the bullies at bay, outside the gates!
There is a lot of importance associated with formal prayer in Islam. It is one of its five pillars and the only one whose frequency is unmatched: 5 times in a single day. From an early age, we are ingrained that we cannot simply pray; that we must purify ourselves by doing abulution (wazu/wudhu), we must ensure that where we are praying is a clean place, and if we happen to pray in a congregation in a mosque then our lines must be straight and that there must not be any space between people. Some people raise their pants/shalwar to ankle high while they are praying to reflect a sunna of the prophet. And at least on more than one occasion, I was gently told what I was doing wrong as I was either prostrating or while sitting during the namaz. With all these “attributes” associated with the right way of performing a prayer, what gets lost is the true essence of prayer; that is, why are we praying in the first place.
Why, we must ask ourselves, is prayer considered so important. What is the reason that it is deemed necessary to face Mecca fives times a day and prostrate in front of God. Unless we can answer the real reason why we are being asked to do something so important, then we are simply performing the mechanics like robots, without actually deriving the true meaning behind the actions. Of course, it is not so black and white, most of us at least get some measure of reward from praying. For example, we get to meet our friends when we pray in a mosque, hence strengthening the bond between the Umma; others regard it as a meditation exercise, although we are almost always find our minds wandering during the prayer; another reason is by praying we are praising our Lord; still others feel that they are simply performing a duty that is asked of them – they pray because they have to. Of course these are all valid reasons
Why is it that prayer is one of the pillars of Islam? Why do we need a reminder five times a day? To what end does the prayer justify its place in Islam? I think the answer lies in this Urdu verse:
“dard-e-dil kay wastay paida kea InsaaN ko
Warna ataa’at kay leay kuch kum na thay karobeaN”
A loose translation: If God simply wanted to hear praises for Himself then the angels were sufficient to do the job. He created mankind because he wanted Man to feel love for his fellow man.
We pray so that we are aware of God’s presence. We pray and, most importantly, we raise our hands in dua after the prayer to establish a direct connection with God. We do it five times because Islam wanted us to not forget this connection. Why is this connection so important. It is important because we are talking to a being that is just in His dealing, to someone who will listen /or not listen to us regardless of our social and financial status, the skin of our color or our background. This connection is important so we can imbibe in us some of the qualities that are so near and dear to our God and in doing so, we can have the dard-e-dil in our hearts for our fellow human beings. The prayer, my friends, is not about pleasing God or doing your duty without understanding why you are doing it. Its sole purpose is that by praying we can be good to our fellow human beings.
If someone prays with concentration thenhe will realize the words that he is repeating “Oh God lead on the path of the righteous people, and not those people that went astray.” What is the righteous path. Is it to pray and get back to your work where you cheat your fellowman, is it to kill and rob your neighbor? No, the prayer’s job is to make your heart softer, its goal is to make you cry, to make you cry when you realize the wrong deeds that you have committed, to make you cry to learn of the human misery, to make you cry of how much good you can do. Ultimately, my friends, you pray so that you can be a better human being.
Haquqat-e-ibaad or the rights of fellow human beings. We hear how important this notion is in Islam. Prayer is the means to keep us on the “siraat-e-mustaqeem” so that we can fulfill the Haquqat-e-ibaad.
Prayer is like formal school. In order to get a job and be successful, you need to go to school and get a degree. But what about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, both university dropouts. They did not do too bad. Does that mean, all of us should drop out? No. But it also does not mean that to be hugely successful, you must have a degree from a college; more than likely you do, but not necessarily. Similarly, for most us, to be successful in hereafter, we need the formal guidance of the prayer. However, the essence of the prayer, similar to the essence of education can be gotten without it. It seems that I am making a case for not praying. I am not. I am merely making a case for praying for the right reasons. Understand why prayer is so important and what you must get out of each prayer. Far dangerous are those self-righteous people who bow down in front of God and turn around and rob their neighbors and cheat their fellow man.
Fulfill your hearts with the love of humanity and we will make this world a better place, together. Let us worry about the good that we can do together rather than worry about the bad that other people are doing. Let us focus on not hurting one another, physically or otherwise. There is too much hate and sadness in this world, the five times prayer was forward thinking when it was mandated 1400 years, for us to focus on doing good, for us to block out the nagging bad news surrounding us, to simply not bow our heads in ataa’at in front of an unseeing God but to fill ourselves with dard-e-dil for everyone around us.
Sameer
I started out chronologically correct, with writing down the Shikwa before moving onto Jawab-e-Shikwah. However, I thought about the dire time our beloved country is going through. I thought about how the same land of Baba Bulleh Shah has been taken hostage by an army of thugs with their own warped sense of Islam. How women and children are killed by hundreds with impunity at a Meena Bazaar in Peshawar. How old army pensioners are murdered on a busy Mall Road in Pindi by the dozens. And how, while all this is happening, our leaders are no where to be seen, except with their statements of consolation.
Pakistan is yet again at the all too familiar crossroads of “Nazuk morh,” as Shehzad Roy puts it. The media is having the time of their lives covering it all. But we cannot blame the media. Yes, events are being sensationalized but these events are, in fact, occurring.
We are a nation of survivors, look at the Twenty-20 World Cup that we won this year (and my picture of dancing on mall road). Okay, don’t look past that event – but you must acknowledge that we were indeed the “cornered tigers” once again and yet, once again, we came out on top, beating all odds, to the chagrin of the rest of the world.
Anyway, what has all this to do with Iqbal and his epic poems? Absolutely nothing…for most of us. But for some of us, it is a time to reflect and understand our history and to know our mistakes, to learn from people who are doing it right. Instead of being envious, learning from them the same way they learnt from us to pull themselves from the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance.
Anyway, coming back to Iqbal, I am going to be copying his Jawab-e-Shikwah into Latin script and my undertanding/analysis of the 36 stanza poem first, before that of the Shikwa. And the reason for that is it is important to hear what Allamah thought was wrong with the Ummah, why it had gone into a recession from a pinnacle which it achieved only years after the new religion was born.
———————————-
Jawab-e-Shikwa
———————————-
Dil say jo baat nikalti hay asar rakhti hay
Par nahin, taqat-e-parwaz magar rakhti hay
Qudsi alasal hay, raf’at pay nazar rakhti hay
khaak say uthti hay, gardooN pay guzar rakhti hay
Ishq tha fitnagar o sarkash o chalaak mira
AasmaN cheer gaya nala bay-baak mira
Tashrih/Explanation: Anytime someone speaks from their heart, it carries a lot of weight. If you really mean something and ask God from the bottom of your heart, your dua (or complain/shikwa in this case) will surely reach Him. Even though your prayer is without wings, it has the power to fly (taqat-e-parwaaz). And because it is pure in its nature (Qudsi alasal), it can reach the highest heights (rafat). Sure, the dua/shikwah was made by someone on the earth (khaak) but it was meant for people in the heavens (gardooN).
Iqbal’s complaint was full of love (a loose translation of Ishq, a word found in abundance in his poetry). And love is full of mischief and is head-strong, that is why his blatant complaint (nala baybaak) was able to go right through the heaven (AasmaN) and straight to God’s ears.
—
Peer-e-gardooN nay kaha sun kay, kahiN hay koi
Bolay saiyyaray, sar-e-arsh-e-bareeN hay koi
Chand kehta tha, ahl-e-zamiN hay koi
KehkashaN kehti thee, poshida yahiN hay koi
Kuch jo samjha meray shikway ko tau rizwaN samjha
Mujhay jannat say nikala hua insaaN samjha
(notice the rhyming: “kahiN hay koi,” “bareeN hay koi, ” “zamiN hay koi,” “yahiN hay koi” and before this, in first stanza: “asar rakhti hay,” “magar rakhti hay,” “nazar rakhti hay,” “guzar rakhti hay”)
Tashrih/Explanation: Now that Iqbal’s complaint was heard in the heavens, all the entities there are confused. First, it is the old heaven itself (Peer-e-gardooN) says that the person complaining is here nearby. The Planets (saiyyaray) say that that someone is on the heaven itself (sar-e-arsh-e-bareeN). But the Moon says that no, the person is actually a resider of Earth (ahl-e-zamiN). Galaxy (KehkashaN) chimes in by saying that the person is in hiding close by.
It is in fact the Guard of the Heaven (RizwaN) itself that knows my identity. He says that the complainer is the man who was kicked out of the heaven. This is not one particular man, but mankind. He is alluding to Adam – a man – who was kicked out of the heaven. To RizwaN, it seems logical that only Man would have something to complain about as he was thrust from arsh-e-bareeN to become an ahl-e-zamiN.
—
Thee farishtoN ko bhi hayrat kay yeh aawaz hay kya
Arsh waloN pay bhi khulta nahiN yeh raaz hay kya
Ta sar-e-arsh bhi inssan ki tug-o-taaz hay kya?
Aa gaiee khak ki chutki ko bhi parwaaz hay kya?
Ghafil Aadaab say s’kkaan-e-zamiN kaisay haiN
Shokh o gustaakh yeh pasti kay m’keeN kaisay haiN
Tashrih/Explanation: The angels (farishtay) are surprised (hayrat) about the voice in their midst. The reason for their bewilderment is what the voice is carrying, which is a complaint directed at God. Angels in heaven (Arsh) only sing hymns of God. They are busy praising God, it is complete mystery (raaz) to them that someone would raise their voice in dissension.
How is it possible, they wonder, that man, who lives on earth, can, through his multiple tries (tug-o-taaz) can have his voice be heard in the heavens. Iqbal continues with his theme of the disparity between heaven and earth, Arsh and Zameen in the next verse when he says how is it possible that man, who was made from a pinch of dirt/khaak, can fly to heavens.
Man’s audacity is troubling. An analogy can be made of someone from low class and from a poor neighborhood who, through some stroke of luck, makes his way into the high society, a place that should otherwise be out of this wretched person’s reach. And once there, he has the effrontery to speak ill to the esteemed host.
—
Is qadar shokh kay Allah say bhi burham hay
Tha jo masjood-e-malayek yeh wahi Adam hay?
Alam-e-kaif hay, dana-e-ramooz-e-kum hay
HaaN magar a’jaz kay asraar say na mehram hay
Naaz hay taqat-guftaar pay insaanoN ko
Baat karnay ka saliqa nahiN naadaanoN ko
Tashrih/Explanation: This stanza too continues with the theme of the boorish nature of man who has the nerve to complain to the Almighty. Angels cannot fathom how is it that something that is so small can direct their ire to something so big and exalted as the God. Angels call man shokh, which is a term that is used sometimes for a child who does not know better or someone who is bold and outrageous. It is not entirely a derogatory term.
Man is so out of place, so loud that he is upset (barhum) with God. Is it the same [son of] Adam in front of whom we were asked to kneel (masjood-e-malayek) by God? True, man is a learned being that knows about the quality (kaif) or health of things; he knows about the mysteries or quantities (kum) of things, but he sure is unaware of the mystery of humbleness or is severely lacking in his manners.
It is a sorry state of affairs that man is so proud (naaz) of his ability to communicate (taqat-guftaar) but the manner in which the communication should be conducted – polite and full of decorum – is something that is missing.
—
Aaee awaaz, ghum angaiz hay afsaana tera
Ashk-e-betaab say lubraiz hay paymana tera
AasmaaN geer hua nara-e-mastaana tera
Kis qadar shokh zabaN hay dil-e-deewana tera
Shukr shikway ko kea husn adaa say tu nay
Hum sukhan kar dea bandoN ko Khuda say tu nay
Tashrih/Explanation: From here onwards, God will speak directly to man. He starts out by taking a different stance than the angels. God is more sympathetic to man’s travail in trying hard and being full of so much remorse that his heart’s voice was able to traverse up to the heavens.
A voice from heaven is heard (which belongs to God) that your story, your litany of complains is indeed quite tragic (ghum angaiz). Your eyes are full of tears. Iqbal likens the eyes to a goblet (paymana) that is full to the brim (lubraiz) with tears that are ready to spill (Ashk-e-betaab). It is a very apt and beautiful analogy.
Your unbridled clarion call (naala mastaana) was able to reach the heavens (aasmaN geer). Your unrelenting heart was able to speak quite candidly and outrageously (shoq). God appreciates the manner in which man was able to present his case. He understand that it is a complaint but he likes the way in which the poet, the man, was able to weave his case. What was unappealing and revolting to the angels is not so unpleasant toward whom the complaint is directed (Shukr shikway ko kea husn adaa say tu nay). Because of his andaaz-e-bayaaN, his style of communication, God acknowledges that the poet was able to get man to talk directly to God.
—
(continuing after 3 years of the last post)
Hum tau Ma’il ba karam haiN, Koi Saa’il hi nahiN
Rah dikhlaiN kisay, koi rah raway manzil hi nahiN
Tarbiyat aam tau hay, Johar-e-qabil hi nahiN
Jis say tameer ho Aadam ki ye wo gil hi nahiN
Koi qabil ho tau hum shaan-e-Kaiee daitay haiN
Dhoondnay waloN ko dunya bhi naiee daitay haiN
—
Hath bayzor haiN, alhaad say dil khugar haiN
Ummati ba’is-e-ruwaiee paighambar haiN
But sh
To be continued