Adil Najam
Aitizaz Ahsan, flaws and all, has become the voice of the moment. The voice of a generation. This voice, which has become my voice and, maybe, yours speaks more passionately in the idiom of poetry than in the idiom of prose. It speaks most passionately in this poem – Kal, Aaj and Kal – that reflects his thoughts on current issues after his recent release.
Listen for yourself. And listen again. It is worth pondering upon. Worth thinking about.
Aik muhazzab quom ko, daikho, khod hum nay badnaam kiya hai
Part II here:
There are so many thoughts, so many lines, so many ideas, so many metaphors here that I would love to comment upon. But poetry is better listened than dissected. So listen, friends. And ponder yourself. Share your thoughts. But even if you choose not to, please, do think.
Note: Thanks to the various readers – 6 and counting – who have alerted me to this.
Beautiful words and heartfelt too…. Thanks for putting here.
I loved the line:
riyasat ho gi maan kay jaisi,
har shehri say piyar karey gi
fouj lagey gi sabb ko achi,
jab sarhad kay paas rahey gi
And also:
Saari duniya par abb ho ga
saya aik aur aik hi rabb ka
woh rabb sanjha, woh rabb sacha,
har mazhab har dharam ka rab hai
Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Eesai,
harr insaan paey karam ka rabb hai
Very touching.
I did not know if Aitezaz Sahib is also this good a poet.
May Allah Bless him and Pakistan.
Saeed Ahmed
Toronto.
beautiful thought. takes us down the memory lane. events and emotions and dreams put together…. would someone creative (that excludes me) put this with music.
Similar to ‘Yes we can’ vedio.
It is good to see Atizaz sahib retelling the dreams that all of us hold dear and near to our heart despite obvious difficulties.
Kaise aam se baat lagti hai. “jaan o maal o aan ka ahtaram ho”, “adl o insaf ho”, “sukh aur chain ho”, “aazadi ho”, “dar o khof se nijaat milay”. Maamoli baatain hain. Aur hum pakistaniyoon ke leay yehi saab se ziyada ahamiyat ki baatain hain.
yaar dostoon ye mamooli batain mein es leay kah raha hoon ke ye sabaq hum aur aap apnay bachoon ko nahi sikhatain hain bulke we start the lesson from second level that is respecting the property and emotions of people. “kise ke cheez nahi laitay” ya pooch kar laitay hain”. “apni cheezoon ko share karo” etc. Respect for life is thought as something inborn and therefore it does not come into our lesson plan. Hum aur aap jab bacchey thay to hum ko “charind, parind ki zindagi aur rahm ka sabaq diya jata tha”, “logoon se adab, lihaz, dur guzr ka mamla aur akhlaq ka sabaq diya jata tha”
Sadly, I am changing the lesson plan for my kids after seeing the propensity of violence among us, I have added another lesson “to love and respect human life”.
What a change in curriculum!!!
beautiful poetry…..
He is the iron man..who is facing the all hardships…like a man with M Capital !
unlike those all who run from pakisatan …like AAPNA members and other hawis parast professionals… ….and then start dancing thier fingers on keyboard….like Cyber patriots.!
I am not going for voting, I don
Aitzaz Zindabad
Beautiful idealism. May we all (and him) live long enough to see the fulfillment of dreams within our life time. But life is short and climbing out of the abyss perhaps will take for ever…
Enjoyed his soaking words. Thanks for posting..
Great poetry! We need more people like Aitizaz in politics. People who have a bit of idealism, compassion and humanity along with intellect — and men who don’t have to dye their hair to try to look young.
Wonderful poem! I am wondering if anyone has the text or if Ahsan Saahab has released a facsimile of the poem in his handwriting.
I second the call for the poem to be set to visuals (a la “yes we can”) and would be even cooler if someone would sing it as well!
Wow Aitizaz is Brilliant
ITS title should be bazaban-i Aitizaz Ahsan Shame on you Perviaz Mushraff
I wonder whether The Great (Retired) Jackboot condones the Quislings League’s new electoral alliance with none other than the banned sectarian terrorists of the Sipah-e-Sahaba…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/elections08/story/2008/02/080216_ssp_pmlq_alliance_ns.shtml
Every Pakistani dreams of this day!
This uncertainty will not last long but successful nations have treaded this path before attaining a status of recognition.
We have to grow as a nation, not as military, mullas, rich , poor, blackmailers, whiners, hoarders, profiteers or usurpers.
Beleive in Pakistan and be a Pakistani!
If Allah is given Hidyat he can get hidayatother wise none. Altaf Gohar Chief Editor of Daily Dawn Karchi , while he in prison during Z.A. Bhutto he translate Tafheem ul quran written by (mulana Abul Aala maudoodi) after that he was a different man and he mentioned that ayyame asseri changed his life and thinking. Now same thing here with Aitazaz Hassan and his poetry might be changed his life and could be a potential for Pakistan. May Allah give us taufique for good deeds. Jamal Ahmed
Thought provoking message for not only Pakistanis but also for all humanity.
Thank you Aitzaz Ahsan
After ghostwriting a dictator’s memoirs, Altaf Gauhar was definitely in need of Hidayat… :)
Too bad not much of it rubbed off on his son, who continued the family’s illustrious legacy of penning awe-inspiring prose for their masters…
Well said, Umar.
The son nowadays fills the TV screens —literally — on all the PTV talk shows.
Doasto,
khawab sachaa ho, uski taabir ka intizar ba’az dafaa nasloon tuk phail jata hai.
I am an admirer of Itezaz, his honesty, intellect, dedication and I am not surprised to hear such a thought provoking message for all of us. Let us keep telling and reminding our children of the same.
May Allah bless you Itezaz.
Shahnasir
Very beautifully expressed thoughts and meaningful poetry!
Thanks for sharing.
May God be with him and help him and people of Pakistan in fulfilling their dreams.
I am still a musharraf supporter. At the same time, I have had great respect for Aitizaz. He is brilliant and charismatic. I had hoped he would have been the prime minister candidate for PPP. Alas, they want to keep the leadership within the feudals.
I expected a higher quality of poetry. But then Aitizaz is no poet. And emotional diatribes don’t always lend themselves to poem easily. It is to say the least a plebian effort in terms of structure as well as imagery. But I digress. The other disappointment is an insight into his mind where socialism is clearly still alive and kicking. Someone tell him about the failures of communism around the world. And if he is out of touch with that, what else does he not realize.
Aitzaz Ahsen apki Nazar keri hoon Ahmed faraz kaa shaer:
Yahi khaa tha meri ankh dekh sakti hay
tuu mujh pey toot peraa sara Shehr e Nabina
In support of Aitezaaz eHsan:
Khaak har Aamir-o-GhaaSib kay QaSeedah KhvaaN par
Khaak har Aamir-o-Jaabir kay taraf-daar peh Khaak
baaGhbaaN daal rahaa hai gul-o-gulzaar peh Khaak
ab bhi chup hooN to mujh par, maeray aSh’aar peh Khaak
yeh to apnay hi javaanooN kay luhu say tar hai
maeray saalaar, taeray haath ki talvaar peh Khaak!
tu nay barbaad ki’yaa arz-e-vatan ko maeri
Khaak a’ay Aamir-e-dauraaN taeray kirdaar peh Khaak!
Khaak har Aamir-o-GhaaSib kay QaSeedah KhvaaN par
Khaak har Aamir-o-Jaabir kay tarafdaar peh Khaak!
- Dedicated to the sad, shameful, and wilting memory of those tinpot usurper thieves who were, and are (aided by sycophantic worms) allowed to strut in _OUR_ Presidential Palaces, even though what they rightly deserve is a black mark on their faces and a place in front of a firing squad for their open treachery.
- Poet: (Don’t know. Anyone know whose poem this is?)
I found (by pure chance) this youtube video which answered my question above. The verses above are by Dr. Jamal Qadri. Inspired by a couplet written by Ahmed Faraz in summer of 2007, Albany, New York (USA).
Well worth a read. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ea5D3PAPdc
No doubt very touching words, but please don’t get carried away. When they are out of power they seem to change dramatically, start noticing lawlessness, poverty and the despair and ugliness of their surroundings .He may be a very different person from the company he keeps, but we must remember he was part of the problem. In their Heydays his party had plundered the country as if they were not from us but invaders with a purpose to decimate the economy. They along with PML(N) did not govern responsibly and are the major reason for where we are today.
Abid, Toronto
Bad governance on part of the PPP and PML-N, or their noticing bad governance and lawlessness when not in power, is no justification for Martial Law… they could have governed wonderfully well but the Jackboots would have invaded Islamabad sooner or later… PPP 2 (1998-1990) did not fall because of corruption, but BB’s refusal to cooperate with the brass hats on the Khalistan issue… PML-N 1 fell because of NS getting too big for his shoes, as far as the Establishment, personified by GIK, was concerned… and PML-N 2 (1997-1999) was dismissed because of NS’s decision to call back the troops from Kargil once he discovered the extent of Musharraf’s shenanigans…
In the immortal words of an anonymous General in Christina Lamb’s “Waiting for Allah”, “We are just letting the children play for a little while”…
@Umar,
This was her’s
Khalistan was only one of the issues among 9 major
problemetics coming from BB,
5 were major financial frauds, corruption, money laundering in /outside the country
3 were security risk including external agencies,
1 was denouncing rather
surrendering Khalistan to India,
4 other denouncing & sabotaging international aid programs for Pakistan, related to UNO, USA and EU
3 other similar cases related to Arab Emirates
1 with Saudis , but they refuted her and threatened her !
kahan tak suno gay, kahan tak sunaon !!
Noor jehan Merhooma
its nice
oh iffi
Blessed are we.. for people like Aitizaz Ahsan are still amongst us to lead us.
Zulm phir zulm hay barhta hay to mit jaata hay
Hum zulm mitanay niklay hain
Aao hamaray saath chalo!
Aoa.
If anybody knows that poem -full- called zaalim dar k bhag raha he, adal k iwwaanon me asli muc=nsif phir ayenge……plz share. I love that poem but kind find it
aoa its very mice i like that now its time to save pakistan from such evils pakistani utho apni quom ka lia laro quaid_e_azam ki enanat hai isa sambhal ka rakho sudharo or sudhro
Aitazaz ahsan gi did very exellent job. We have to follow him
wonderful. once i heard aitzaz ahsan on ptv here in india and one felt hope is the only way to go.