Adil Najam
(Editor’s Note: 2011 marks Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s 100th birthday. We will be carrying a series of posts on Faiz Sahib to mark this centenary).
From the very first post on this blog, the poetry of Faiz Ahmad Faiz has been a beacon of wisdom in which we have sought solace, inspiration and insight into understanding the reality of Pakistan today.
All great poetry, and certainly Faiz’s poetry, has the quality of timelessness. It is great precisely because it does not lose its relevance to the ravages of time. Each generation can find new meaning and new relevance in it. And each can find solace, inspiration and insight into its own context. Unfortunately, in Pakistan’s case, even the context has not changed by much.
The video I am posting today – reportedly, the last recorded Mushaira in which Faiz sahib participated – is a treasure for its own sake. But its value is made all the more great because it can help us understand how best to cope with the avalanche of crises that have been falling upon us in a steady and unending stream. As we sit in a stunned state of shock, trying desperately to make sense of the senseless, here is a voice from the past that not only helps us understand how to deal with the present, but maybe also how to chart a path to the future.
The video takes a few seconds to start, but it is worth the wait. From the very first line – from a recording that must be from the very late 1970s or very early 1980s – Faiz sahib seems to be speaking directly to us and about event happening around us right now:
Iss waqt tou lagta hai, kaheen kuch bhi naheeN hai
Mehtab, na sooraj, na andheera, na saweera
He speaks, as he always speaks, with an acute understanding of the pain of the present, but never in a tone of hopelessness. Faiz Ahmed Faiz is not a hopeless optimist, precisely because he is never without hope and never ready to give up.
Ab bair na ulfat, na koee rabt, na rishta
Apna koee taira, na paraya koee mairaMaana kay yeh sunsaan ghaRi sakht KaRRi hai
Laikin mairay dil, yeh tou faqat ik he ghaRi hai
Himmat karo, kjeenay ko tou ik umr paRRi hai
The message that Faiz always conveys, again in the three poems in this video, is not a message of angry protest. It is a message to staying steadfast to one’s convictions. To respond to adversity with resoluteness. To keep doing – to keep saying (Bol!)– that which we know to be right.
Na tan mein khoon faraham, na ashq aankhouN meiN
Namaz-i-ishq tou wajib hai, bay-wazoo he sahee
Kissi tarah tou jam-aye bazm maikaday waalo
NaheeN jo baada-o-saghar tou Haa-O-hoo he sahee
But the greatest gem in this selection comes right at the very end of this recording. It is not a message of “count your blessings”; it is, instead, the message of “never give up.” It is a verse that has been quoted on our pages often. Once again, we owe it to ourselves to repeat the sentiment. To reinforce it. To remember it.
Halqa kee-aye baithay raho iss shammaa ko yaaro
Kuch rooshni baaqi tou hai, har chand kay kumm hai
Do listen to what Faiz sahib has to say, dear readers. Please. Do listen.
Excellent find. And how timely. And timeless. Could have been written about the headlines in today’s paper!
Thanks to Adil and ATP, I have come to know Faiz.
I must say, I like so many others, grew up in shadows of the great Allama. My father could switch back and forth from his Farsi to Urdu and kept me on my toes with accompanying translations, recitations.
Faiz to me was the “Soviet”. Not my cup of tea.
But now, in this cursory setting, I have begun to appreciate the style differences between the great Allama and Faiz. And their times too.
Allama was both a dreamer and a doer. A rare and great combination. His poetry to me always invokes hope, glory, but somewhere there is an action too. A reminder, some cajoling.
Perhaps the closest comparison I can relate, is the “hum dakhay ghain” and Allama’s “jis khet say”. Faiz postpones the reckoning to another Day. Allam, takes the bull and tosses it over. Maybe it is not a good comparison, but them I am weak in Faiz.
But certainly there is one more thing style that jumps up for me: lamentations of Faiz. Quite missing in Allama. Even Shikwa has movement. Jawab is “la-jawab”.
It seems Faiz is inclined and prone to lament, even if it “bol” or as @Ghiasuddin put it so elegantly, the optimism of struggle. But if it is, it is certainly on the basis that there is much beyond fulfillment, and thus the lamentations.
It might also fit the personal experiences of Faiz, but it certainly does not fit the needs of a nation. Nations need hope, but more than hope, a vision.
Perhaps this is why, I gravitate to the man of action, the great Allama.
Perhaps, this is why, I admire the personal style of President Obama. His line, “I have audacity of hope with fierce urgency of now”, in turn part borrowed from Dr. King, is my ringer.
Audacity of hope!
Sweet words.
Defeats fears.
I have audacity of hope with fierce urgency of now.
@Ghiasuddin
Far-out!
Tip of the hat sir.
@Natasha
I think you are missing the point of this post as well as of Faiz’s poetic message.
The verse you quote is itself in the context of that poem’s title “Hum tou majboor-i-wafa hain” and was written at ZAB’s death. The message if NOT of pessimism, it is of struggle.
That is ALWAYS Faiz’s message. In that same poem:
Hum tou Majboor-e-Wafa hain Mgr Ae Jan-e-jahan
Apnay Aushaq say Aise bhee Koi kerta hai
Teri Mahfil ko Khuda Rakhay Abd Tak Qaim
Hum tou Mehman hain Ghari Bher kay Humara Kia hai
There is NO pessimism in Faiz, just as there is no optimism. But there is always hope that struggle will succeed and there is always the call to action.
I have always thought that the villain in Faiz’s poetry is NOT the Zalim. Like the mazloom, the zalim will always be a zalim. That is his job. The villain is he who gives up the struggle. Who gives up. The one who gives up is often the pessimist. That is why there can be no pessimism in Faiz.
Faiz on today’s Pakistan. The pessimistic view :
http://natashasuleman.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/fai z-says/