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review Can
prose be poetry? Shah
Hussain, despite his undisputed greatness as a Punjabi poet, was practically
unknown for about three centuries. Here's an authentic compilation of all his
available kafis By
Nadir Ali 'Maaye
Nee' Kafian Shah Hussain (Punjabi
Text with English translation) Translated
by Ghulam Yaqoob Anwar Compiled
by Shafqat Tanvir Mirza Published
by Dost Publications Pages:
442 Price:
Rs. 375 Shah
Hussain stands tall among the all time greats of the Punjabi poetry. Although
not a definitive list, they were Baba Farid, Guru Nanak Damodhar, Shah
Hussain, Hafiz Barkhudar, Sultan Baahu, Bulhe Shah, Waris Shah, Sachal
Sarmast, Main Mohammad Baksh, Khawaja Farid, Najm Hosain Syed, Bhai Gur Da,
Qadir Yar and Najabat. The names of Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das and Guru
Arjan's could conveniently be added but each addition necessitates another
inclusion. The irony is that most of us are not familiar with the work of
these masters.
Shafqat
Tanvir Mirza has been associated with every major publication of Shah
Hussain's work. This is a volume of 193 'kafis' (songs) with all the known
kafis. The original was a volume of 138 kafis, discovered by late Dr Mohan
Singh Diwana, a Persian scholar and teacher at Oriental College. It was a
printed volume found at a library in Sindh. Although published at Lahore in
the beginning of 20th century no other copy of this 'find' exists. This 'lost
and found' phenomenon illustrates the fate of most classic Punjabi poetry
except what is preserved in the 'Granth Sahib' the Sikh Holy Book or Mian
Mohammad Baksh and Khawaja Farid's work, the two who lived and died in the
age of the printing press. There was no dearth of hand written manuscripts in
Punjabi, a few thousand are still gathering dust at Punjab University
Library, Punjab Public Library and a handful of private libraries in Punjab
and Sindh. Shafqat Tanvir Mirza deserves credit for bringing together all the
available kafis. The ones found by Dr. Mohan Singh (138) are the least
tampered with. To these Dr Mohan Singh added twenty six found in the Punjab
University Library and an 'ashlok' from 'Gur Blas' and 'Gun Shahd Ratnagar.'
Twenty seven were added by late Dr. Nazir Ahmad in the 'Packages Edition'
that were collected from various sources in East Punjab and India Office
Library in London. Shafqat
Tanvir Mirza was also associated with the Urdu translation in verse by Abdul
Majid Bhatti published by "Lok Virsa". He must have persuaded
Ghulam Yaqub Anwar for the English translation. Anwar was a second generation
poet of Punjabi language. His book on Punjabi prosody "Bol Te Tol",
is an authoritative work on Punjabi metres and rhymes "Marooz". The
collection also carries an English essay on Shah Hussain's life and poetry by
Lajwanti Rama Krishna. Titled 'Madho Lal Hussain' the essay is based on the
hagiographic sources. The author laments the unreliability of the sources of
certain events for example, "on hearing of Madhodal's death, Shah
Hussain went to Madho's house and asked him, the dead Madho, to rise. Madho
rose from the dead and thereafter converted to Islam!" Another
significant note in her essay is about a quote from 'Tazkira Awliya-i-Hind'
"which puts the number of Shah Hussain's followers at ninety thousand
but says that other sources put the number at a million." The latter
figure seems correct. The 'Hussaini Silsila' was phenomenal at Lahore and
Kasur, the two large urban centres in the 17thcentury. I have orally heard
Shah Hussain's kafis from old ladies in Gujranwala. One, an 85 years old and
illiterate, and the other, a 70 year old, literate but unaware of Shah
Hussain's printed work: therein lies the secret of Shah Hussain's
disappearance. The
ordinary people knew and sang Shah Husain, while academics remained unaware
of him. He was not a religious party leader as most hagiographic accounts
would like to paint him. All historical accounts agree on his having shaved
clean his beard and having sung and danced in the streets of Lahore drunk
with the rejects of the society; the poor, the dispossessed and the
"branded sinners." Blessed are the streets of the great city of
Lahore. Accursed are those who have been re-inventing Islam and history to
serve different rulers. Shah Hussain was obviously 'harmed' because of his
rebellion against the conventional religion. Shah
Hussain is mentioned in the 'Haqiqat al Fuqra' written during Emperor Shah
Jehan's time. The book in Persian was printed and translated, courtesy
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza and Majlis Shah Hussain of which both the compiler and
translator were active members includes a Kafi in the Persian text. There
were two major editions of Shah Hussain's poetry, the reprinting of Dr.Mohan
Singh's collection by Majlis Shah Hussain, Punjabi Academy and Pakistan
Punjabi Adabi Board (several reprints). The Adabi Board edition was edited by
late Prof. Asaf Khan and included a definitive essay by him 'What is Kafi?'.
These Kafis were partially corrected during Asaf Khan's terminal illness.
Those corrections were not included because the translations in this book
were done of the original versions published by Majlis Shah Hussain in the
nineteen sixties. 'Packages
Edition' of Shah Hussain's Kafis was edited by Dr. Nazir Ahmad and printed in
deluxe edition by 'Packages Ltd.' This made an invaluable edition (27 kafis)
to the existing known kafis. Unfortunately not all the existing sources have
been tapped. Dr. Lajwanti's essay has some kafis that are not included in
either of the two major editions. The third significant edition was printed
by Maqsud Saqib for Suchet Publishers. It made lot of corrections to the
existing kafis but Saqib did not include 'Packages Edition' kafis because of
the copyright constraint. The book under review has the largest number of
kafis of Shah Hussain, printed anywhere. Translated
verse is a daunting, nearly impossible, task in any language. This remarkable
collection, however, has poor English translation. For translation and
explanation Muzaffar Ghaffar's work is a milestone. The kafis that have been
taken from Package Editions by Murtaza Rizvi are poor. One example, in this
regard, is kafi 179. "Says Hussain, faqir of the Lord; how to pass the
sieve of separation?". The Punjabi word 'Jaali' has been wrongly
translated as 'the sieve of separation'. 'Jaali' from Punjabi verb 'Jaalna'
means 'to endure to abide' or 'tolerate.' By brining in the Divine we only
add the first letter in capital changing 'he' or 'she' to 'thee' or 'thou'
'Lover' 'Friend' 'Dear' 'Husband' 'Beloved' 'Master' but do not
proportionately enhance the meanings or make it clearer. Look at one example
of a translation of a kafi by Ghulam Yaqoob Anwar: May I be
sacrificed, Over
you, my Lord by Groom; Do come
and see sometimes, The
plight of the maid afflicted, whenever
you feel some mercy. Attacked
by the wolves of separation, There is
anguish for me at day, And
torture during the night. For ever
in tears am I, Wet is
my shirt, Soaked
in the monsoon of tears. I do
beseech thee Lord, With a
scarf around my neck, And all
treasures at Thy feet...
By
Abrar Ahmad The
Quarterly 'Adabiyat' -- 77, 78 October 2007 Editor:
Mohammad Asim Butt Published
by Pakistan Academy of Letters Pages:
582 Price:
Rs.50/- Can
prose be poetry? It sounds paradoxical and more so when we use the term
'prose-poem' -- a genre which took off majestically in the decade of 1960s.
Baudelaire is considered to be its pioneer in the west. Here we have a number
of claimants and one finds it difficult to spot a single name since they all
got their poems published during 1961-62. Muhammad Salim-ur-Rahman, Qamar
Jamil and Mubarak Ahmad were amongst those who initially fought for
prose-poem. Qamar Jamil declared it as the greatest ever rebellion in our
poetic history. A fierce
criticism ensued in the literary circles, though competently dealt with by
the modernists at that time. The controversy stays alive to date.
Interestingly the bone of contention has not been prose-poem itself but the
claim that it must be considered poetry instead of prose. The practising
poets remained adamant and unyielding to all such discussions and continued
to bring forth some excellent poems. These included poets who had displayed
their command over metric poetic genres. 'Adabiyat'
77-78, the prestigious magazine by the Pakistan Academy of Letters has
published its 'Nasri Nazm number'. Each section of the voluminous issue deals
with the controversial genre -- nasri nazm -- beginning with its early days.
More than two hundred respectable and credible literati have contributed to
the magazine, making things easier for the diligent editor Mohammad Asim
Butt. The volume includes new poems, selection of older pieces, dialogue with
four important intellectuals and advocates of the prose-poem, specified
sections and critical essays attempting to comprehensively dissect the
phenomenal poetic genre. Wazir
Agha in 1986 wrote in a preface to a collection that he dismissed the term 'nasri
nazm' since it was not poetry. He demanded that the poets must come out with
convincing works to prove the validity of the genre. With that assertion it
is a pleasant surprise to see his two prose-poems included in the Issue.
Shamsur Rehman Farooqi observes in about two-decades-old article "The
most significant identity of a poem is its language". He finds
prose-poem an impossible term and prefers calling it simply 'nazm'. He adds
that the genre can only be established if the coming generations readily
accept it. Qamar
Jamil, the loudest advocate, writes, "Prose poems are written in
personal, not a collective rhythm. Here the poet expresses himself in a
battery of new metaphors including the most private ones... the foundation of
a prose-poem is the poetic experience expressed in poetic image. Only metric
obligations are absent here, not the rhythm." He identifies the element
of mystery and implores the casual poets not to break the hypnosis which a
prose-poem is capable of generating. Zafar
Iqbal acknowledges the sublime intensity of a true poetic experience but
suggests that it should be presented in the form of paragraphs. Since it has
no traditional support of meter, it must be heavily loaded with powerful
content. Naseer Ahmad Naser includes the opinion of Ruth Wildes Shuller, the
editor of an American Journal 'Prophetic voices'. "One of the most
prevalent remarks that we find editors scrawling across our poems these days
is: This is not poetry. And so what is poetry? Rhythm? A certain beat? A
certain amount of syllables? They had forgotten that what we call traditional
poetry was at some earlier time a new form whereas the prose-poem that tells
a story, dates back to biblical times!" A similar argument is expressed
by Muhammad Salim-ur-Rahman on the opening page of the journal. Before
this only one Journal 'Nusrat' 1974, published an exclusive book on the genre
titled 'Ghair Aroozi Nazm Number'. However the quality, content and
involvement of a huge number of literati makes the current issue of 'Adabiyat'
stand out amongst everything that has been done so far. The
established and celebrated poets of formal forms like Zafar Iqbal, Tausif
Tabbasum, Jalil Aali and the young Shanawar Ishaq display innovative
excellence in their prose-poems, appearing perhaps for the very first time.
Hasan Manzar, Nasreen Anjum Bhatti, Abdul Rasheed, and Saadat Saeed are
impressive with their unique pieces on the subject. Anwaar Fitrat and Zahid
Masood contribute with style but Naheed Qamar known for her individualistic
metric poems earning her a reputable status, brings out a haunting prose-poem
'Kiya Reh Jata hai Aakhr-e-Kaar'. Some memorable poems of the past are also
included and an intent unbiased reader cannot fail to notice the unique and
rich experience it is to read something captured in a form we are not
accustomed to. It was
Russel Edson who wrote, "we want to write free of debt or obligation to
literary form or idea; free even from ourselves, from our own expectations.
There is more truth in the act of writing than what is written." If you
ask our talented practising poet he would reply that the unrhymed line, the
intensity contained within it, the harmonious emission of linguistic aroma,
the depth of meanings and the subjective inversions so frequented in
prose-poem have a severe solemnity and unbending energy and for those who
refuse to accept, it must be remembered that man's imaginative life thrives
on anti-thesis. About
two decades prior to the organised introduction of the genre Sajjad Zaheer in
his preface to nasri nazm collection 'Neela Pathar' wrote, "The others
might have marvelled in traditional expression and they would continue doing
so, but my creative work is definitely my own and it's irrelevant for me if
its dismissed as worthless and futile."
Play-going
was a popular pastime in the Elizabethan era. You would imagine that only the
literati and the upper crust of Elizabethan society patronised it. The
plebeians, after all, had their regular, sadistic entertainments such as
seeing screeching chimpanzees, tied to the back of a horse, clinging for dear
life as wild dogs leapt at them -- or watching people's ears and noses being
lopped off in public, not to speak of executions -- but you would be wrong;
the groundlings flocked to the theatre as well. There,
for the price of a penny, they stood in the open around the stage for the
entire length of the play -- and plays sometimes lasted more than four hours.
"That an audience, moved to tears one day by a performance of Doctor
Faustus, could return the next to the same space and be just as entertained
by the frantic deaths of helpless animals may say as much about the age as
any single statement could", writes Bryson. Theatres
were mushrooming in London by the time Shakespeare arrived on the scene. They
were all relegated to an area outside the city walls where city laws and
regulations did not apply. It was a neighbourhood they shared with prisons,
whorehouses, unconsecrated graveyards and lowly enterprises like dyeing and
tanning. The famous asylum for lunatics -- Bedlam -- stood close by.
Play-goers had to encounter foul and beastly smells before they reached a
playhouse, but this did not detract them. The
reason why all the playhouses had to be confined to the outskirts of the city
was that the Puritans who controlled the administration considered the
presence of theatres a distraction from worship. To them, a playhouse was a
den of iniquity. Indeed, they would have had all theatres closed for good if
it were not for the Queen who liked her theatrical entertainment. Elizabeth
refused all attempts to limit public amusements. She would often send
visiting dignitaries to see a spectacle of bear-baiting. Incredibly enough,
the theatre and other amusements were allowed to function even on a Sunday. Shakespeare's
rise to fame as a dramatist coincided with the growth of theatres in London.
He was lucky to have arrived at a time when plays were staged in theatres and
not in inn-yards or halls of aristocratic homes. This allowed him the
opportunity to write drama that was ambitious and more complex in
construction. He helped acting styles to become less bombastic, more
naturalistic. Hamlet's
great speech to the actors, now a set audition piece for drama students the
world over, gives us a very clear idea of the style of acting that was
prevalent at the time. Actors, apparently, intoned words in the manner of a
town-crier. When they launched into a longish passage they made heavy weather
of their passion. There was no subtlety about their gestures; they posturised,
they strutted and they bellowed, splitting the ears of the spectators. Hamlet
tells the actors, good-humouredly, that if they treat the speech he has
written for them with such crudeness, he would have them whipped. He advises
them to suit the action to the word and the word to the action, always
bearing in mind that the "purpose of playing whose end both at the first
and now, was and is to hold as 'twere the mirror upto nature." In this
speech Hamlet also takes a swipe at the groundlings "who for the most
part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noises." Did
this passage offend the groundlings? Did they throw half-eaten apples and
pears at the actor playing Hamlet? Probably not, because by the time the
speech is made, the audience's sympathy is entirely with Hamlet. We have
no evidence that Shakespeare's censure revolutionised the acting technique of
the time, but in his own theatre, the Globe, where he directed most of his
own plays, it must have led to a more temperate genre of acting. 'Hamlet'
is, arguably, Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. Look at the way he opens the
play No invocation, no De-Dum de-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum. The first scene
begins like a thriller: Bernardo:
Who's there? Francisco:
Nay answer me. Stand and unfold yourself. Bernardo:
Long live the king. Francisco:
Bernardo? Bernardo:
He. Fifteen
words that leave us in no doubt that it is the dead of might, that the
characters are soldiers and that there is tension in the air. It is a scene
that can only make sense if you suit the action to the word; in other words,
act it realistically. It would
be redundant to mention how much the English language owes to Shakespeare.
According to Bryson, Hamlet alone gave the audience six hundred words that
they had never heard before. In his most productive period (the years in
which he wrote Macbeth, Hamlet, Lear) he coined a new word -- or gave new
meanings to an older word -- every three lines: Abstemious, frugal, dwindle,
leapfrog, zany and many others are some of the words which we cannot do
without today. As a
phrasemaker he was a past master. Among them: 'vanish into thin air', 'play
fast and loose', 'go down the primrose path', 'more sinned against than
sinning', 'be cruel to be kind', etc, are so irresistible that, as Bryson
says, "we have debased them into cliches". One tenth of all the
most quotable utterances, in spoken or written English, belong to
Shakespeare. And yet
at the time that Shakespeare was enriching English as a language, Latin was
the official language, not just the language of official documents, but of
all serious works of learning -- and literature. Bryson points out that in
1605 the Bodleian library in Oxford possessed six thousand books of which, a
mere 36 were in English. Even the first textbook in English was written in
Latin. Bryson
does not make conjectures. He admits that today we have a plethora of
information about Shakespeare's work, but little knowledge about the man, his
habits, beliefs, his political, religious or sexual attitudes. Having delved
deep into the biographies of Shakespeare -- his reading on the subject is
truly formidable -- he makes an astute observation: scholars, he says, can
tell us that Shakespeare wrote over 138,000 commas, and over 26,000 colons,
but they can shed no light on what he was as a person. Was he sociable, or
quiet and withdrawn? Was he a misanthrope, a recluse, a freethinker or a
hidden Catholic? We do not know, but we know, that of all the writers he is
unique in that a biographer or a scholar "can find support for any
position he wishes on Shakespeare." Thanks
in no small measure to Shakespeare and his fellow dramatists English rose to
preeminence within a decade. "It is telling", writes the
Shakespearean authority, Stanley Wells, "that William Shakespeare's
birth is recorded in Latin but that he dies in English as William
Shakespeare, gentleman." (Concluded)
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'Maaye
Nee' is the largest collection of the bard's poetry published to date.
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza, the editor, and the late Ghulam Yaqub Anwar, the
translator are among the pioneering propagators of Punjabi language. Shah
Hussain, despite his undisputed greatness as a Punjabi poet, was practically
unknown for about three centuries probably on accusations of apostasy. Unless
we investigate and understand this censor, we cannot comprehend the essence
or meanings of Shah Hussain's poetry. The hagiographic accounts of his life
are historically flawed, like all hagiography. 
