Urdu & Hindi Poetry
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Cobra Arbok
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ghazi52
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Is Jaun as great or complete of a poet as he is lauded in certain literary circles of Pakistan and particularly Karachi, or does the lack of depth, as Javed points out, makes him just another popular poet? The Express Tribune spoke to scholars and members of the fraternity to add to the discourse.
“I think the ‘either/or’ argument in poetry is pointless to begin with,” says Jaun’s contemporary poet and well known playwright Amjad Islam Amjad. “It is the social media audience that has attempted to draw such clear lines between what constitutes a great poet and a popular poet. I think a poet can be great and popular at the same time.”
An argument Amjad believes can be constructed around a poet being as great as he is popular. “I’ll agree with Javed sb on the craftiness of Jaun. He definitely has a unique voice and colour to his poetry that makes him one of the most prominent poets of the post-partition Urdu world. But the rest of his argument is quite debatable.”
There are at least three different social media pages under Jaun Elia’s name and all of them have more than a hundred thousand likes. If he is not a great or a ‘bara shayar’ an expression that most of the interviewees quite carefully avoided in their analyses – Jaun has definitely had a resurgence on the internet or a second of wave of ‘maqbooliat’ or popularity. “I wouldn’t call it a revival of Jaun. The kinds of people who are sharing or admiring his poetry on social media are not the students of literature. With all due respect, they are more of a circus audience and that does not count. Jaun was lauded in literary circles and nothing has reduced that appreciation.”
Columnist and poet Shahnawaz Farooqi agrees with Javed. He says like many of his contemporaries, Jaun’s poetry is an expression of personal experiences that does not turn into a mirror of collective aspirations. Like many of his contemporaries, Jaun’s poetry is also a proclamation of the death of the experience of love in poetry. “He is a rebel but his rebellion lacks not only ‘depth and commitment’ but also an intellectual foundation,” Farooqi says. “It is strange given his impression as a scholar and reader of philosophy.” The notion is similar to how Javed points out that Jaun covers his lack of depth by the beauty of his expression, which turns him into an exceptional poet but not one with great ideas. Farooqi echoes with Javed when he suggests that Jaun’s rebellion appears more to be a result of ‘intellectual fashion’ rather than a real crisis. “Jaun’s poetry also fails to provide a perspective on life that the poetry of Mir, Ghalib, Iqbal and even Faiz offers.”
It could even be his theatrics and the fondness with which he would call everyone Jaani that made Jaun such a likeable character despite his reclusive personality. But does that take a toll on the reader’s experience of his poetry? Javed believes so and in his lecture he emphasised that Jaun is one of those poets whose body of work cannot be understood in isolation. “Knowing his personality is a decisive factor in understanding his poetry. The Maada-e-Maanwiyat and Jauhar-e-Kaifiyaat of Jaun’s poetry is Jaun himself.”
However, both his body of work and Jaun himself were products of a certain era and certain circumstance. Whether it was the antics or the ideas that made him such a sensation, Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra thinks that even Jaun’s greatness or popularity has a lot to do with the milieu of those times. “Like every poet, Jaun was also a prisoner of his times and if he could not become a great poet, it is because he didn’t live in great times,” says Zehra. Poetry is created in the particular cultural environment of an era and depends a lot, among other things, on how much freedom that environment offers. “There is a sense of helplessness in his poetry and life, but this sense doesn’t turn into agitation. Jaun didn’t do anything that he should have done and lived an ascetic life.”
Every poetry aficionado has read Jaun at some point in his or her life. Youngsters in particular seem to feel his pulse on their nerves, they consider his as the voice of times and tribulations. Whether it is shallow to the literati or mere trick of wordplay but how Jaun is influencing a whole new generation of writers is fascinating. Baqar Mehdi is an up and coming poet who is also the co-editor of Zau, a magazine that started out as an effort by students of Karachi University but has evolved into an independent quarterly featuring works of contemporary Pakistani poets. While some of his contemporaries regard Jaun among the greatest of thinkers and philosophers, Mehdi begs to differ.
“I agree with Javed sb that there’s a lot of perceptiveness in Jaun’s work but possibly not the depth or the nuance of a great poet.” Mehdi is quick to add that he is just a student of poetry and hasn’t revised Jaun in a while. In the very early days of his literary experience, Mehdi was very much a devotee of Jaun as some of his contemporaries still are, but as soon he started to develop a critical eye, he realised that Jaun’s placement among the greats could be debatable. “If you listen to Javed sb’s definition of a ‘great couplet’ than you will realise why he doesn’t place Jaun among greats such as Mir and Ghalib and why Jaun lacks that grandeur and breath as a poet.” However, both Mehdi and Dr Zehra agree that Jaun has had a huge impact on upcoming Urdu poets and Urdu poetry at large. He has given new shades to words and is among the poets who were fully aware of their age.
Jaun’s story and the recent debate around his work reiterate the bittersweet relationship poets have shared with the society. They have been lauded as bringers of light and knowledge and denounced for distracting the public from the more crucial duties of everyday life. Plato imagined an ideal republic without poets for their work could insinuate the audience; Freud on the other hand shamelessly admitted that wherever he goes, a poet has already been there. Yet, poets continue to be a seminal part of our cultural imagination and social reality and somewhere between the nexus of the two, they manage to create new expressions, derive unique allegories that record the challenges faced by human condition. All of this hold true for Jaun as well, regardless of whether we can agree that he is a ‘great’ poet or a popular poet. As Jaun’s confidant and disciple Khalid Ahmad Ansari told Express Tribune in an earlier interview, “With all the evident bitterness, he attacks you, shakes you up.” Perhaps that’s what’s needed to wake us up from our own contradictions.
“I think the ‘either/or’ argument in poetry is pointless to begin with,” says Jaun’s contemporary poet and well known playwright Amjad Islam Amjad. “It is the social media audience that has attempted to draw such clear lines between what constitutes a great poet and a popular poet. I think a poet can be great and popular at the same time.”
An argument Amjad believes can be constructed around a poet being as great as he is popular. “I’ll agree with Javed sb on the craftiness of Jaun. He definitely has a unique voice and colour to his poetry that makes him one of the most prominent poets of the post-partition Urdu world. But the rest of his argument is quite debatable.”
There are at least three different social media pages under Jaun Elia’s name and all of them have more than a hundred thousand likes. If he is not a great or a ‘bara shayar’ an expression that most of the interviewees quite carefully avoided in their analyses – Jaun has definitely had a resurgence on the internet or a second of wave of ‘maqbooliat’ or popularity. “I wouldn’t call it a revival of Jaun. The kinds of people who are sharing or admiring his poetry on social media are not the students of literature. With all due respect, they are more of a circus audience and that does not count. Jaun was lauded in literary circles and nothing has reduced that appreciation.”
Columnist and poet Shahnawaz Farooqi agrees with Javed. He says like many of his contemporaries, Jaun’s poetry is an expression of personal experiences that does not turn into a mirror of collective aspirations. Like many of his contemporaries, Jaun’s poetry is also a proclamation of the death of the experience of love in poetry. “He is a rebel but his rebellion lacks not only ‘depth and commitment’ but also an intellectual foundation,” Farooqi says. “It is strange given his impression as a scholar and reader of philosophy.” The notion is similar to how Javed points out that Jaun covers his lack of depth by the beauty of his expression, which turns him into an exceptional poet but not one with great ideas. Farooqi echoes with Javed when he suggests that Jaun’s rebellion appears more to be a result of ‘intellectual fashion’ rather than a real crisis. “Jaun’s poetry also fails to provide a perspective on life that the poetry of Mir, Ghalib, Iqbal and even Faiz offers.”
It could even be his theatrics and the fondness with which he would call everyone Jaani that made Jaun such a likeable character despite his reclusive personality. But does that take a toll on the reader’s experience of his poetry? Javed believes so and in his lecture he emphasised that Jaun is one of those poets whose body of work cannot be understood in isolation. “Knowing his personality is a decisive factor in understanding his poetry. The Maada-e-Maanwiyat and Jauhar-e-Kaifiyaat of Jaun’s poetry is Jaun himself.”
However, both his body of work and Jaun himself were products of a certain era and certain circumstance. Whether it was the antics or the ideas that made him such a sensation, Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra thinks that even Jaun’s greatness or popularity has a lot to do with the milieu of those times. “Like every poet, Jaun was also a prisoner of his times and if he could not become a great poet, it is because he didn’t live in great times,” says Zehra. Poetry is created in the particular cultural environment of an era and depends a lot, among other things, on how much freedom that environment offers. “There is a sense of helplessness in his poetry and life, but this sense doesn’t turn into agitation. Jaun didn’t do anything that he should have done and lived an ascetic life.”
Every poetry aficionado has read Jaun at some point in his or her life. Youngsters in particular seem to feel his pulse on their nerves, they consider his as the voice of times and tribulations. Whether it is shallow to the literati or mere trick of wordplay but how Jaun is influencing a whole new generation of writers is fascinating. Baqar Mehdi is an up and coming poet who is also the co-editor of Zau, a magazine that started out as an effort by students of Karachi University but has evolved into an independent quarterly featuring works of contemporary Pakistani poets. While some of his contemporaries regard Jaun among the greatest of thinkers and philosophers, Mehdi begs to differ.
“I agree with Javed sb that there’s a lot of perceptiveness in Jaun’s work but possibly not the depth or the nuance of a great poet.” Mehdi is quick to add that he is just a student of poetry and hasn’t revised Jaun in a while. In the very early days of his literary experience, Mehdi was very much a devotee of Jaun as some of his contemporaries still are, but as soon he started to develop a critical eye, he realised that Jaun’s placement among the greats could be debatable. “If you listen to Javed sb’s definition of a ‘great couplet’ than you will realise why he doesn’t place Jaun among greats such as Mir and Ghalib and why Jaun lacks that grandeur and breath as a poet.” However, both Mehdi and Dr Zehra agree that Jaun has had a huge impact on upcoming Urdu poets and Urdu poetry at large. He has given new shades to words and is among the poets who were fully aware of their age.
Jaun’s story and the recent debate around his work reiterate the bittersweet relationship poets have shared with the society. They have been lauded as bringers of light and knowledge and denounced for distracting the public from the more crucial duties of everyday life. Plato imagined an ideal republic without poets for their work could insinuate the audience; Freud on the other hand shamelessly admitted that wherever he goes, a poet has already been there. Yet, poets continue to be a seminal part of our cultural imagination and social reality and somewhere between the nexus of the two, they manage to create new expressions, derive unique allegories that record the challenges faced by human condition. All of this hold true for Jaun as well, regardless of whether we can agree that he is a ‘great’ poet or a popular poet. As Jaun’s confidant and disciple Khalid Ahmad Ansari told Express Tribune in an earlier interview, “With all the evident bitterness, he attacks you, shakes you up.” Perhaps that’s what’s needed to wake us up from our own contradictions.
ghazi52
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Another well published photograph of Sir Dr. Allama Iqbal, taken in Simla
تو غنی از ھر دو عالم من فقیر
روزِ محشر عذر ہائے من پذیر
ور حسابم را تو بینی ناگزیر
از نگاہِ مصطفیﷺ پنہان بگیر
ترجمہ:
اے اللہ! میں تیرا منگتا ہوں، تو دو عالم کو عطا کرنے والا ہے۔
روزِ محشر میرا عذر قبول فرمانا۔
اگر میرے نامۂ اعمال کا حساب ناگزیر بھی ہو۔
تو پھر اے میرے مولیٰ اسے آقا محمد مصطفٰیﷺ کی نگاہوں سے پوشیدہ رکھنا۔
علامہ اقبال
Translation:
O Allah! I am your beggar, you are the one who is able to give the two worlds.
May the day of judgement accept my excuse.
If the account of my book is indispensable.
Then, o my protector, keep it hidden from the eyes of the Lord Muhammad self.
تو غنی از ھر دو عالم من فقیر
روزِ محشر عذر ہائے من پذیر
ور حسابم را تو بینی ناگزیر
از نگاہِ مصطفیﷺ پنہان بگیر
ترجمہ:
اے اللہ! میں تیرا منگتا ہوں، تو دو عالم کو عطا کرنے والا ہے۔
روزِ محشر میرا عذر قبول فرمانا۔
اگر میرے نامۂ اعمال کا حساب ناگزیر بھی ہو۔
تو پھر اے میرے مولیٰ اسے آقا محمد مصطفٰیﷺ کی نگاہوں سے پوشیدہ رکھنا۔
علامہ اقبال
Translation:
O Allah! I am your beggar, you are the one who is able to give the two worlds.
May the day of judgement accept my excuse.
If the account of my book is indispensable.
Then, o my protector, keep it hidden from the eyes of the Lord Muhammad self.
ghazi52
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105 years later, Allama Iqbal’s Shikwa and Jawabe Shikwa are still raising significant existential questions
By Sarah Fazli
Regarded as Pakistan’s national poet, his literary work holds as much importance today as it did when he produced it.
Kyun ziaan kaar banun, sood framosh rahoon
Fikr-e-farda na karun, mahw-e-ghum-e-dosh rahoon
Naale bulbul ke sunoon, aur hama tan gosh rahoon
Hamnawa, main bhi koi gul hoon ke khamosh rahoon
Jurrat aamoz miri taab-e-sakhun hai
Mujh ko shikwa Allah se khakam badahan hai mujh ko
(Why should I play the part of the loser and refrain from seeking what I can gain?
Why shouldn’t I think of the future, instead of mourning the losses of the past?
Why should I listen to the woes of the nightingale?
My friend, I am not a flower who will remain silent
It is truly my poetic ability that gives me the courage to express my feelings.
May I be cursed should I ever complain to God)
By Sarah Fazli
Regarded as Pakistan’s national poet, his literary work holds as much importance today as it did when he produced it.
Kyun ziaan kaar banun, sood framosh rahoon
Fikr-e-farda na karun, mahw-e-ghum-e-dosh rahoon
Naale bulbul ke sunoon, aur hama tan gosh rahoon
Hamnawa, main bhi koi gul hoon ke khamosh rahoon
Jurrat aamoz miri taab-e-sakhun hai
Mujh ko shikwa Allah se khakam badahan hai mujh ko
(Why should I play the part of the loser and refrain from seeking what I can gain?
Why shouldn’t I think of the future, instead of mourning the losses of the past?
Why should I listen to the woes of the nightingale?
My friend, I am not a flower who will remain silent
It is truly my poetic ability that gives me the courage to express my feelings.
May I be cursed should I ever complain to God)
ghazi52
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Parveen Shakir’s works about the feminine experience have left a mark on Urdu literature that will continue to be felt for generations to come.
Photo Courtesy: Nusrat Zehra
اب تو اس راہ سے وہ شخص گزرتا بھی نہیں
اب کس امید پہ دروازے سے جھانکے کوئی
Photo Courtesy: Nusrat Zehra
اب تو اس راہ سے وہ شخص گزرتا بھی نہیں
اب کس امید پہ دروازے سے جھانکے کوئی
war&peace
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war&peace
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Now translate..
Cobra Arbok
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iUnfortunately i am not fluent in either Hindi or urdu since I have lived in the US all my life. However the lyrics to the hanuman chalisa are well known and easilly understandable to anyone who is fluent in hini(or even urdu) Basically it sings the praises of Lord Hanuman and his strength and devotion o Lord Ram.
with that being said I do know devnagri pretty well so I can chant from that image even if i do not understand all the verses.
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ghazi52
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سفر میں دھوپ تو ہوگی جو چل سکو تو چلو
سبھی ہیں بھیڑ میں تم بھی نکل سکو تو چلو
کسی کے واسطے راہیں کہاں بدلتی ہیں
تم اپنے آپ کو خود ہی بدل سکو تو چلو
یہاں کسی کو کوئی راستہ نہیں دیتا
مجھے گرا کے اگر تم سنبھل سکو تو چلو
کہیں نہیں کوئی سورج دھواں دھواں ہے فضا
خود اپنے آپ سے باہر نکل سکو تو چلو
یہی ہے زندگی کچھ خواب چند امیدیں
انہیں کھلونوں سے تم بھی بہل سکو تو چلو
سبھی ہیں بھیڑ میں تم بھی نکل سکو تو چلو
کسی کے واسطے راہیں کہاں بدلتی ہیں
تم اپنے آپ کو خود ہی بدل سکو تو چلو
یہاں کسی کو کوئی راستہ نہیں دیتا
مجھے گرا کے اگر تم سنبھل سکو تو چلو
کہیں نہیں کوئی سورج دھواں دھواں ہے فضا
خود اپنے آپ سے باہر نکل سکو تو چلو
یہی ہے زندگی کچھ خواب چند امیدیں
انہیں کھلونوں سے تم بھی بہل سکو تو چلو
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