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Pakistani Literature

Freedoms Dawn

Introduction

Faiz Ahmad Faiz was born in 1911 at Sialkot and is one of the most highly regarded Urdu poets of the 20th century. As a poet, Faiz began writing on the conventional themes of love and beauty, but soon these conventional themes got submerged in larger social and political issues of the day. The traditional grief of love gets fused with the travalls of the afflicted humanity, and Faiz used his poetry to champion the cause of socialistic humanism.
The poetic works of the late legendary poet has won the hearts of the people of south asia. His first published accumulation was naqsh-e-faryadi, which inspired many young poets. In 1971, after the bifurcation of united Pakistan, the newly elected government appointed him as a cultural adviser, the period, in which he laid the foundation of the Pakistan national council of arts(PNCA). Faiz’s poems flash a deep background against righteous and impishness, though he tried to pull out these things from the society so everyone could leave with peace and love. His remarkable books were nuskha-e-haiwafanaqsh-e-faryadidast-e-sabazindannama and dast-e-tah-e-sang.
Faiz was the first Asian poet who was awarded with the lenin peace prize by the former soviet union in 1963. He was also nominated for the noble prize shortly before his death in 1984. He remained extremely influential in Pakistan and his work continues to influence the country’s literature and arts. Faiz was publicly honored by the Pakistan Government after his literary work was publicly endorsed and posthumously honored him with nation’s highest civil award, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, in 1990 Faiz is a poet of beauty and love. His message is the reign of beauty and love in the country. The passion for enjoying the beauty of life, his deep attachment to love of self and the agony of the world, his love of humanity, his patriotism, his passion for revolution, his sense of justice, are all metaphors of the agony of love. That agony of love which is the soul of his imagination and feeling, on account of which he illuminates the beauty of both worlds with the desolation of his heart.
At the ceremony held in grand Kremlin hall in Moscow, Faiz received the award with stage full of Russian attendees, Faiz thanked the Russian government for conferring the honour, and delivered the acceptance speech at the ceremony, which appears as a brief preface to his collection Dast-i-tah-i-Sang (Hand under the rock) is a great piece of humanist literature, as he delivered:
Faiz Sahib has said that poetry is not only seeing, it is also struggle and in this struggle, one’s participation according to one’s ability is not only a demand of life, it is also a demand of art. Faiz was one the greatest urdu poets. He gave a new dimension to Urdu poetry by introducing new phrases and innovative terms in it. He wrote on various subjects. Most of his poetry is autobiographical. His poem ‘Yad’ is one of the masterpieces of Urdu poetry. His love poems are as appealing as his political poems, and he is considered primarily responsible for shaping poetic diction in contemporary Urdu poetry.

Freedom’s Dawn- Faiz Ahmed Faiz

These tarnished rays, this night-smudged light –
This is not that Dawn for which, ravished with freedom,
we had set out in sheer longing,
so sure that somewhere in its desert the sky harbored
a final haven for the stars, and we would find it.
We had no doubt that night’s vagrant wave would stray towards the shore,
that the heart rocked with sorrow would at last reach its port.
Friends, our blood shaped its own mysterious roads.
When hands tugged at our sleeves, enticing us to stay,
and from wondrous chambers Sirens cried out
with their beguiling arms, with their bare bodies,
our eyes remained fixed on that beckoning Dawn,
forever vivid in her muslins of transparent light.
Our blood was young – what could hold us back ?
Now listen to the terrible rampant lie:
Light has forever been severed from the Dark;
our feet, it is heard, are now one with their goal.
See our leaders polish their manner clean of our suffering:
Indeed, we must confess only to bliss;
we must surrender any utterance for the Beloved – all yearning is outlawed.
But the heart, the eye, the yet deeper heart –
Still ablaze for the Beloved, their turmoil shines.
In the lantern by the road the flame is stalled for news:
Did the morning breeze ever come? Where has it gone?
Night weighs us down, is still weighs us down.
Friends, come away from this false light.

Come, we must search for the promised Dawn

Theme of the Poem
The poet writes this work on the eve of Indian independence, with a sense of melancholy about the fruits of labour, he verifies that this is not the independence that was sought after. The poem begins on a dark note with disillusionment, the bittersweet nature of the triumph. It goes on to describe the single mindedness with which the voyages of this journey resisted the temptations of fancy., and when dawn finally appeared, when the storm clouds cleared then came a sense of clarity between the struggle and the goal. The poet then goes on to describe that the comrades are changing, how in which gratification is sought more than angst, and the pain of partition does not weigh on their apparent disposition. The fine breeze of dawn has just passed by and the wayside lamp barely noticed. The gravity of night has not lightened, and the time for redemption has not yet arrived, so the poet urges his comrades and compatriots to keep walking, for that destination is not in sight.
The isolated experience of confinement led Faiz Ahmed Faiz to compose verse. The theme of this emotionally charged poems is the disillusionment surrounding the partition of India. In an evocative poem entitled Subh-e-Azad (Freedom’s Dawn) Faiz has alluded to Indian Independence in 1947 as a “much-stained radiance”. His disappointments originated from the belief that despite the acquisition of political freedom from pre-partition tyranny, the scope for economic freedom was still very bleak.
Critical Appreciation of Freedom’s Dawn
Faiz Ahmad Faiz was an influential, intellectual and revolutionary poet. Faiz’s poetry has a more naunced relationship with religion in general and with Islam in particular. He wrote to arise patriotic feelings in people of the country. Due to this reason, he was sentenced by government for a short period of time. His writing style was influenced by Ghalib in diction and style. His language is simple with elite diction.
The Dawn of Freedom is a bitter lamentation of the false dawn of independence and the betrayal of the ideals of the movement to gain freedom, dignity and economic justice. Faiz’s poem “Freedom’s Dawn, August 1947, captures the desolation of independence and partition. It is a lyrical rendition that represents the aesthetic mood of an unrequited love and shies away from the violence and dehumanisation of partition. Crucially the journey to freedom remains unfinished.
In the poem “Freedom’s Dawn”, there is a sense of tragedy. Faiz wrote this poem in August 1947 when Pakistan came into being. In the poem, there is an expression of tragedy and possibility of ordinary people caught in the world wind of historical events such as refugee crisis, communalism, rape and horror of partition. The poet says that although this is the same dawn, we have been waiting for a long time. We expected this morning of freedom be filled with brightness, sense of security and victory but it is not so. The poet is hopeful of finding such a dawn:
Dil kay aywaan main liye gulshada shamon ki qatar
Noor Khurshid say sehmay huay uktaiy huay
Husan-e-mehboob kay sayal-e-tasawar ki tarah
Apni tariki ko bhenchay huay lapetay huay
He resembles the hope of finding peaceful place to live with the hope of finding water in desert or finding the last group of star before rising sun. His claiming of sky as desert is dejecting which shows that he is worried for his country’s miserable condition. He still has the hope of fearless and peaceful meaning without injuries or suffering. He says continuous struggle can fulfill our dream of restful dawn, a dawn without worries, bloodshed and sorrows of losing our dear ones in wars, bomb blasts or other acidents. He says that the time of pain is moving slowly but we should be hopeful that the bad time will vanish soon. The hurdles which we are facing due to partition would be leapt soon, our emotional anguish would find rest, is the hope of the poet.
He, in the second stanza, says that when youth sets out on mystic journeys to win the battle of their rights, there are many people who attempts to stop them; their family, home, relations, comforts etc. But the charm of freedom has far more attraction in it. They want to see the nation (muslims) free from the oppression of tyrant rulers, so that they can live happy and with contment. The dream of separate homeland is dearer to tiredness, sufferings and troubles.
But when the battles of freedom came to an end, there is the waiting of fruits of struggle. But at the moment, what observes is that success is a journey and not a destination. There is much to be done. Apart from other grief, there is another problem which people are going to face. The grief is corrupted behaviour of leaders. He says that although there should be the scenes of joy and celebration but there is something which is making the dawn sorrowful. Perhaps he wants to say that tyranny of foreign people is sad but the disloyality of own people is heart breaking. He asks himself that if the war is over then why there is no feeling of security. The lights and brightness of freedom are still dim. He advises his companions in the end, that war is not over yet. It is just the change of phase. Our enemy is changed now. The enemy, now, is more strong and clever. We still need to work harder and harder to reach the destination of what we dreamt for, a place to live according to riles of Islam.
Symbolism in Faiz’s Poem ‘Dawn of Freedom’
First of all Dawn (from an Old English verb dagian “to become day”) is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. Dawn means the first appearance of daylight in the morning.
As a symbol, the dawn can have most of the meanings generally associated with light (e.g., enlightenment, vitality). More particularly, the dawn is the emergence of a new stage of life, a new understanding, or a new start, and the emergence from darkness.
Ye dagh dagh ujala, ye shab-gazida sahar,
Wo intizar tha jis-ka, ye wo sahar to nahiñ,
Ye vo sahar to nahiñ jis-ki arzu lekar
Chale the yar ke mil-jaegi kahiñ na kahiñ;
In the first stanza Faiz has drawn the picture of dawn. He has used the imagery with the words “day break”, “desired crack”, “stars in the sky”. From this imagery he has conveyed the enriching situation of the Muslims of that day. He has referred to the struggle of the independence of Muslims of the sub-continent. The meaning beneath this stanza refers to that ideology for which Muslims of the sub-continent fought against.
Falak ke dasht main taroñ ki akhiri manzil,
Kahiñ to hoga shab-e sust mauj ka sahil,
Kahiñ to jake rukega safina-e-gham-e-dil.
In the second stanza Faiz is hopeful for the day and the misery and struggle will come to an end. He has symbolized the struggle that is going on within Muslims community, mauj ka sahil, and safina-e-gham-e-dil. In the next two lines he has represented the tragedy of Muslims as ‘Jawan Lahu’ which in English is something “exicted or passionable in nature”. The aim of the Muslims to get an independent state was fresh but on the other hand Faiz says that ‘Chale jo yar to daman pe kitne hath pare’ in English represents the hurdles as well as hindrances which stopped Muslims to achieve their purpose.
Jawañ lahu ki pur-asrar shahrahoñ se
Chale jo yar to daman pe kitne hath pare;
In the above two lines of third stanza the poet depicted the thoughts of Muslims. It is about what they thought while fighting for a separate nation. They had a lot expectation with this demand for separate nation. He closed the words which inspires soul to the poem. He has told us that how firm believe Muslim had in this demand they thought independent nation will bring a full stop to their tragedies. This paragraph has captured the temptation that was residing in Muslim’s heart. This is about their faith, their hope and expectations.
Language
Faiz’s Dawn of Freedom was written in August 1947 on the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence and the eve of Bhagat Singh’s Birth Centenary.
Its words are as hauntingly familiar, as evocative, as inspiring as they were 60 years ago. Then, its view of “this night-bitten dawn”, stained by the communal bloodshed of partition,
mocked at the triumphalism of Nehru’s Tryst With Destiny speech which announced that “India will awake to life and freedom”.
His tone varies from stanza to stanza for example in his first stanza pessimistic tone has been found as it reminds us of gloomy and dark situation .In the second stanza deep and reflective tone has been found that analyze the content of the independent war. His third stanza is satirical and realistic. He has told us about the harsh realities but in the end he gives faith to Muslim that destiny is not much far. In the last stanza the poet adopts harsh tone and he seems to be in satirical mode. He declares that fancy has become the reality but it has not brought the fruit “that all the battles have been fought” but he stress that the main aim for which the struggle was set on is yet unfulfilled. He symbolizes this independence as a “false dawn”. He does not consider this independence as a real independence and he forces that this desire remained unfulfilled.
The whole poem can be summed up in one line where he asks “when did it comes and where has it gone”. He is saying that we have forgotten our real aim and adopted a false one. The real aim was establishment of a peaceful society in a cordon with this aim where no anarchy flourishes but the outcome has been opposite to what it should have been. Last four lines reflect Faiz’s in the union of humanity when he negates “the moment of our freedom”. He dictates us the lesson of brotherhood and unity. He says that we can only reach to our freedom and destination when we believe in peace.

Conclusion

Subh-e Azadi” (“Dawn of Freedom”) by the brilliant Urdu Marxist poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, best expresses to me the sense of tragedy and possibility of 1947 for ordinary people caught in the worldwind of historical events: an independence brokered through ethnic cleansing, refugee crisis, communalism, rape, and horrors of partition.
The poet writes this work on the eve of Indian independence, with a sense of melancholy about the fruits of labour, he verifies that this is not the independence that was sought after. The poem begins on a dark note with disillusionment, the bittersweet nature of the triumph. It goes on to describe the single mindedness with which the voyages of this journey resisted the temptations of fancy., and when dawn finally appeared, when the storm clouds cleared then came a sense of clarity between the struggle and the goal. The poet then goes on to describe that the comrades are changing, how in which gratification is sought more than angst, and the pain of partition does not weigh on their apparent disposition. The fine breeze of dawn has just passed by and the wayside lamp barely noticed. The gravity of night has not lightened, and the time for redemption has not yet arrived, so the poet urges his comrades and compatriots to keep walking, for that destination is not in sight
The darkness of the night has not ended yet. The moment of liberation of hearts and minds Has not come yet. Keep going, for we have not come To the end of our journey yet!? The Dawn of Freedom is a bitter lamentation of the false dawn of independence and the betrayal of the ideals of the movement to gain freedom, dignity and economic justice. So, Faiz’s poem Freedom Dawn also symbolizes Muslims faith, their expectations, their hope, their determinations as well as their sufferings in particular.

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Bulley Shah(Detailed Analysis)

June 12, 2014 Leave a comment

Introduction
Somewhere nearer to the local vernacular, 30 miles away from Lahore, in the tiny unknown city of Kasur lived an unknown man, named Abdullah Shah, a man whose writings are barely understood even by those who speak his language and which contain amongst them, such enlightening philosophies that even Smith and Kant would have been proud to claim them as their own. Mysterious is the turn of time. The man who had been refused by Mullahs to be buried after his death in the community graveyard because of his unorthodox views, today enjoys worldwide reverence and recognition. Bulleh Shah is universally admitted to have been the greatest of the Punjabi mystics. No Punjabi mystic poet enjoys a wider celebrity and a greater reputation. His poetry has gained immense popularity. He is in fact, the greatest Sufi of the world.
A large amount of what is known about Bulleh Shah comes through legends and is subjective to the point that there isn’t even an agreement among historians concerning his precise date and place of birth. Some facts about his life have been pieced together from his own writings and other facts seem to have been paved down through oral traditions. Bulleh Shah is believed to have been born in 1680 in the small village of Uch, Bahawalpur, Punjab, now Pakistan. When he was six years old his parents relocated to Malakwal, where his father, Shah Muhammed Darwaish, was a preacher in the village mosque and a teacher. Bulleh Shah received his earlier education in Pandoke and then moved to Kasur for higher education. He gained knowledge of Arabic, Persian and the Quran through his traditional teachers. After that, in an effort to move to the next level, he searched for a spiritual guide and eventually he found his Murshid in the form of Inayat Shah Qadri. Although Bulleh Shah was of a much higher Syed caste, yet he accepted Shah Inayat as his spiritual master and subordinated his life to his lower caste Murshid. Much of Bulleh Shah’s verses about love are actually written directly for his spiritual guide, Shah Inayat.
Although much of what is known today about Bulleh Shah comes through folklore and is anecdotal, however, what is neither anecdotal nor folklore, are the Punjabi verses that have been authored by Bulleh Shah. His style of writing is called Kafi – an established style of Punjabi poetry used by Punjabi Sufis and Sikh gurus. Though the number is disputed, Bulleh Shah is credited with authoring from fifty to one hundred and fifty Kafi. His life span overlapped with many legendary Punjabi poets like Waris Shah, Shah Abdul Latif Bhattai and Sachal Sarmast.
His writings represent him as a humanist, someone providing solutions to the sociological problems of the world around him, describing the turbulence his motherland is passing through, while concurrently searching for God. His poetry highlights his mystical spiritual voyage through the four stages of Sufism: Shariat (path), Tariqat (observance) , Haqiqat (truth)and Marfat ( union).This simplicity with which Bulleh Shah has been able to address the complex fundamental issues of life and humanity is a large part of his appeal.
His time was marked with communal strife between Muslims and Sikhs, but in that age Bulleh Shah was a beacon of hope and peace for the citizens of Punjab. As a poet, he is different from the other Sufi poets and represents that strong and living pious nature of Punjabi character which is more reasonable than emotional or passionate. He practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry established by poets like Shah Hussain and Shah Sharaf. He thus pleaded to reach to Allah through the love of humanity and tameness of inner self.
Bulleh Shah was an evolved soul, a perfect faqir and a true lover. Through the love of his master, he realized the Lord. His life and writings are replete with subtle secrets of the path. They not only strengthen the love of a true lover but also encourage him to undergo the hardships for reaching the spiritual goal. His life and writings will serve as a lighthouse from times immemorial to true seekers of spiritual realization.\

It’s All in One Contained & Strange are the Times

Bulleh Shah was the greatest Sufi poet of Punjab. His pure life and high spiritual attainments have made Bulleh Shah’s poetry very popular among every community. Considered as the greatest mystic poet of Punjab, his compositions have been regarded as, ‘the pinnacle of Sufi literature’. In his poetry, he preaches love, humanity and tolerance. It highlights the philosophy of reunion with God. He criticizes the religious orthodoxy of his day, and revolted against the no go areas of Muslim Mullahs and pleaded to reach Allah through love of humanity and tameness of inner self. Bulleh Shah’s poetry can prove very helpful in bringing tremendous change in this world of today, where people habitually magnify hatred or differences based on the racial prejudices.
It’s All in One Contained is a poem by Bulleh shah, emphasizing on the oneness of God. The poem highlights the philosophy of reunion with God. Bulleh Shah conveyed that the spiritual progress lay in detaching one’s mind from the outside world and attaching it to the God within. He preaches divine love. He condemns all futile ways for searching God. He believes that Man and God are inseparable. He says that the Beloved is not apart from me. Without the Beloved, there is nothing. But there is no eye to judge. Doing good and serving humanity, is in fact serving God. He advises us to study only one single point in which all knowledge is contained, and to leave all other calculations. He strictly disapproves the hypocritical religious or social behavior of the people, and condemns the malicious or greedy behavior of mullahs, hafiz or common people, who run after accumulating wealth, gaining high positions, lusting in his mind for enjoyment. They become evil and they start drowning spiritually into the polluted ocean of their worldly wishes. They lose their attachment with the Pivot. They indulge in a sinful life and lose their humanity. Meanwhile, if they perform the religious practices, they become just affection to impress others as they are very virtuous.

“In vain, you rub your forehead on the ground and you display a long visible mark on it.”
By prostrating during the prayer, the forehead gets rubbed and gets a mark, Bulleh Shah says, “Why do you show this mark as a mark of your piety?”

In second kafi, Strange are the Times, Bulleh Shah expounds on the mysteries of changing times. According to various scholars, this kafi teaches us that when things deteriorate, God re-adjusts the world. This kafi represents the tumultuous time in the history of Punjab when the Mughal Empire was declining and the Sikhs were uprising. He presented various absurdities in the kafi, which presents how the natural order of the things have been changed. Those who were once kings, have now been lowered to the level of the slaves, the crows sweep on hawks and sparrows do eagles stalk. At the end of the Kafi, Bullah gives the message that although the time has been changed yet people must accept this change as the God’s will and no matter how incomprehensible this life will get, the love of God will soon get us through this.
It’s All in One Contained:

The verse form Bulleh Shah primarily employed is called the Kafi, a style of Punjabi, Sindhi and Siraiki poetry used not only by the Sufis of Sindh and Punjab, but also by Sikh gurus. Bulleh Shah’s poetry and philosophy strongly criticizes Islamic religious orthodoxy of his day.

What use is it bowing one’s head?
To what avail has prostrating led?
Reading Kalma you make them laugh
Absorbing not a word while the Quran you quaff
The truth must be here and there sustained
It’s all in One contained

The kafi, “It’s All in One Contained” emphasizes the oneness of God. Bulleh Shah says that: Be one with the One and only the Almighty Creator, leave all complicated sources you have made to reach him, free yourself from the fear of hell, make your heart grand, and only then you will understand. But what do you do? You just rub your forehead against earth, you show off that you offer prayers, you profess to believe him just to impress people, but you don’t try to truly understand by using your heart, can’t you see that to find truth you need to search, but you limit yourself to few religious rituals. But what many do? They perform Hajj, then they even show off by their very apparel, and even during Hajj they don’t cease to usurp the rights of others (humans), how could you justify that? How could reality be denied? Then there are ones (birds) which go in search of food on a day to day basis, and there you are, on the other hand, who tire yourself for future and thus do nothing except to waste your own self. But when you submit yourself completely to your Murshid (teacher) you become one with God, you get indifferent to the world and get drunk in that ecstasy to find Him, you don’t wish anything, you don’t ask for anything in fact you appear as you have gone dumb, and then your heart is immensely cleansed. The truth is that there is nothing but the One.

What use is it bowing one’s head?
To what avail has prostrating led?
Reading Kalma you make them laugh
Absorbing not a word while the Quran you quaff
The truth must be here and there sustained
It’s all in One contained

The Point or Dot is the starting point of anything or everything. The Dot explodes with Big Bang and becomes the universe. The explosion’s effects are dynamic. The Universe continues to expand. In this universe there are microcosms: the earth, man, his spirit, etc. All emanates from one point.
There are the birds that go in search of a grain, mere grain. They trust their God. They don’t store food. They praise God every morning. On the other hand there is a man who is so mistrustful, who is so concerned about his future, who torments himself in search of food, in search of money, in search of fame. He has no idea what his life is about. He’s been tiring himself for ages. He isn’t even sure about his future, still he likes to store for years. Bullah says they are senseless people who don’t know the meaning of life. What they’d get from these stored grains if they didn’t get to see a future? He is not going to last forever. His life is a short phase which he has to face. It’s a very short period then why is he drying himself up? We’ve lost our trust in God. We accept the concept of “God” and afterlife and yet we lack belief. And when Moaazan says Azaan, sometimes a man is too busy to pay attention to the call of his God. A man gets too tired that at night when he comes back home he becomes too ignorant to offer Isha prayer, because he’s been working all day for his family’s future. And what if there’s no future? What if this future word is only being used to escape the present? We’ve lost happiness. We’ve lost peace; we are living a life of misery just because we’ve lost our identity. We’ve lost our belief in God. We’ve forgotten the purpose of life. It’s all in One contained means we just need to know God. We have to believe in his oneness and his greatness. Then our desires would be finished. We will feel real ecstasy in the mere remembrance of Allah.

It will lead you to mystic abandon
And help you to get attuned to the Lord
It’s the truth that Bulleh has gained
It’s all in One contained

Bulleh Shah was one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time. He has delineated his spiritual journey of a Sufi through various stages as known to his times in his poetry, these being: Shariat, Tariqat, Haqiqat and Marfat. He started his spiritual journey as a conformist.Shariat is the preliminary stage when the Salik conforms to the Sharia or the code of conduct as dictated by Islam. It is saying prayers five times a day, observing fasts during the month of Ramadan, besides faith in the supremacy of God and Prophet Mohammad as His Messenger. It is said that Bulleh Shah knew the text of the Holy Quran by heart. The way he quotes the Islamic scriptures in his verse speaks volumes for it. Says Bulleh Shah:

Understand the One and forget the rest,
Shake off your ways of a non-believer
Leading to the grave and to hell, in quest.

Bulleh Shah advises us to study the One point in which all knowledge is condensed, and to leave all other calculations aside. All other pretentions rituals are futile. He tells us to be far away from people who talk about kufar.Kufar is a term in Islam for something that is related to non-belief. Someone who commits or talks kufar is doomed to go to hell for eternity. One who believes goes to heaven. Bulleh Shah asks everyone to remove these punishments and rewards from their lives. And to cleanse ones heart of desires of going to heaven. The point of knowledge resides in such a heart and who understands it, he doesn’t need to understand anything else.
The point of these lines is that repetition of religious content without contemplation and clean heart is useless. Sort of like that saying:

Hands that help are holier than the lips that pray.

If someone needs help, it is much better to have good intentions and help out that person. Even if you do not do rituals, if your heart is pure, you are better off than people visiting temples and mosques every day to get pardoned of their sins.

Strange are the Times:
The Mughals quaff the cup of poison.
Those with coarse blankets are up.
The genteel watch it all in quiet,
They have a humble pie to sup.
The tide of the times is in spate.
The Punjab is in a fearsome state.
We have to share the hell of a fate.

Baba Bulleh Shah was one of the greatest humanist, philosopher, rebel, internationalist, teacher and Sufi poet of all times.Bulleh Shah, the greatest mystic poet of Punjab, had lived the most tumultuous period of the subcontinent history and was a Punjabi Sufi poet and humanist. The verse form Bulleh Shah primarily employed is called the Kafi (Refrain), a traditional style of Punjabi poetry used by Punjabi Sufis and Sikh gurus. A common theme of his poetry is the pursuit of self-knowledge that is essential for the mystical union with the Beloved.
Bulleh Shah clearly established that human relations and consciousness are determined by historical conditions. Bulleh Shah was witnessing the declining Mughal empire, its ruling elites’ downfall while the Sikh movement was rising. ‘Bhurian wale raje keete’ (the blanket-wearing people are becoming rulers) is understood to be a reference to Sikh guerillas which comprised the artisans and poorest section of the Sikh Jatts of Punjab. Some Sikh literary critics have interpreted Bulleh Shah’s symbol of “Bhurian wale” as a slight but they fail to understand that Sufis preferred “Bhura” over the Mullah’s white sheet. Though Sikhs had not captured state power by then, Bulleh Shah’s sharp eyes could see where history was heading.

The Iraqis are despised
While the donkey are prized.
Strange are the times!

According to the scholars the kafi, Strange are the Times, of Bulleh Shah reflects a tumultuous time in the history of Punjab. The poet perceives radical changes taking place in society around him. This was the middle of 18th century when the Sikh power was in the ascendancy and the Mughal power was waning. The 18th century was one of the most troubled times in Punjab: the Mughal empire was declining and there were uprisings all around; it was a time of chaos as there was no law and order. Bulleh Shah sees rampant corruption and societal decay. The general tone of the poem is pessimistic, as is obvious.

In this kafi, Bulleh shah presents logical absurdities and impossibilities like:

Crows swoop on hawks
Sparrows do eagles stalk
Strange are the times!

These absurdities show that how the natural order of things has had been completely reversed. The prey and the predator have changed places. This refers to the decline of the Mughal Empire that how once those who were the conquerors are now at the mercy of their conquered. With the Sikh uprising and the repeated attacks by Abdali, the Mughal dynasty from Aurangzeb and especially after his death, was speedily going downhill. Bulleh Shah, despite being a Sufi, was a keen observer of everything around him, could see how times were changing.
Even if seen without its political context, this kafi is representative of the religious and ethical conditions of the time in which it was written. Bulleh Shah says:

There is no accord between fathers and sons,
Nor any between mothers and daughters
The truthful ones are being pushed about,
the tricksters are seated close by.

Bulleh Shah has perfectly captured the moral degeneration of his time. It was a time of anarchy, social and moral corruption and injustice. Religion had become only a set of rituals for the Muslims and, instead of using it for their spiritual exaltation, it had become a matter of appearances. It is for this reason that we can find in most of Bulleh Shah’s kafis social commentaries and critique on the hypocrisy of the so-called religious figures of his time.Also, another point worth noting is that in one translation of the kafi, Bullah seems to be resigned to the situation around.

Those in tatters have turned into kings,
the kings have taken to begging
O Bulleh, that which is His command
who can alter His decree.

On one side, he seems to be flaunting God’s omnipotence, but on the other side, the note of pessimism and despair also resonate. But in another translation, the kafi ends as:
It’s not without reason or rhyme ,

Strange are the times!
Says Bulleh, kill your ego
And throw away your pride.
You need to forget yourself
To find Him by your side.

This alternative translation of the kafi has a more optimistic note to it. Bullah says that despite the fragility of time and the mayhem of events around, believers can still make it through by putting their trust in the wisdom of God and trusting Him to always help in all times. Obedience to God will lead to a close relationship with Him, and God never deserts those He loves. So, this translation completely changes the meaning of the kafi and ends on a positive and an optimistic note. But the first translation expresses feelings of despair and resignation. Bullah still seems to be exalting God and his ultimate power, but there seems to be no constructive message to the reader. The kafi seems to be saying that although times have completely gone topsy-turvy, one must simply accept them as God’s will. But the second translation says that no matter how incomprehensible life gets, the love of God shall get us through.The language of this kafi, considering both translations, is simple and straightforward. In the first translation, the refrain “Strange are the times!” occurs at the end of the each stanza, but in the second translation, there is no refrain. Bulleh Shah makes use of several common images, and this kafi is easy to understand by the layman. However, to appreciate its message completely, one must refer to the socio-political scene of Bulleh’s time, and its conditions.

Bulleh Shah’s Concept of Rabb:

Mullah and Pundit became old reciting the name of God

Despite many prostrations, they could not find any clue of God.

The Holy Quran indicates that in your heart dwells God.

Bulleh says only those who kill their desires find God.

Bulleh Shah’s concept of God is central to his poetry. Without understanding Bulleh’s spiritual and religious beliefs, one cannot properly appreciate the depth of his poetry.

Tear down the mosque and temple too, break all that divides
But do not break the human heart as it is there that God resides.
Bulleh Shah was a Sufi poet who lived in Pakistan from 1680 to 1758. His given name was Abdullah Shah, Bulleh was a nickname and it is the name he chose to use as a poet. Bullah traveled to Lahore in search of a Murshid (master). He found Hazrat Shah Inayat, a well-known Qadiri Sufi and gardener by profession. He asked Inayat, “I wish to know how to realize God.” Inayat Shah replied, “What is the problem in finding God? One only needs to be uprooted from here and replanted there.” Inayat graced Bulleh with the secret of spiritual insight and the Knowledge of God.

Seek your master, say your prayers and
surrender to God.
It will lead you to mystic abandon
And help you to get attuned to the Lord
It’s the truth that Bulleh has gained
It’s all in One contained
-Hold fast to your Murshid
Become a devotee of all creation,
Intoxicated, carefree,
Without desire, indifferent to the world.
Let your heart be fully clean.
Bullah asks, can the truth then be stopped?
At this one point, all talk ends.

Bulleh Shah’s poetry highlights the philosophy of a reunion with God. He believes that Man (creation) and God (Creator) are inseparable. He says that the Beloved is not apart from me. Without the Beloved there is nothing. But there is no eye to judge. Doing good and serving humanity is in fact serving God. Bulleh Shah preaches divine love, and for delivering his message of love to the reader, he employs a genre of poetry called the Kafi.

Bulleh Shah! I will never die.
Someone else is lying in the grave.

Here Bulleh Shah says that by being one with God, he has become immortal. He will never die. The dead body in the grave does not belong to him. It belongs to dust, matter, and earth. Soul is universally superior to the body. The Body is the dress of soul. So the main emphasis should be on purifying the soul. It must not become impure. Anger, lust, greed, jealousy, enmity, bad behavior, pride and hatred make it impure.
The Sufi cult is akin to mysticism. It is believed in some quarters that it was born out of interaction between Semitic Islam and Aryan Vedantism on the soil of India. This is not the whole truth. Sufism took birth in Arabia in the ninth century. However, the Aryan perceptions in Iran and then in India influenced it a great deal, more particularly in accentuating the emotional content as against the dry-as-dust self-denial of the Arabs. The Arabs laid stress on asceticism and disciplining of the body, while the later Sufis in Iran and India, under the influence of Greek philosophy, Platonic ideology, Christian faith, Vedantist thinking, Buddhist lore, etcetera believed in leading an emotionally ~rich life. They drank and danced and advocated that physical love could sublimate itself into spiritual love. They had faith in God: they loved the Prophet but they maintained that the Murshid or Guru could also lead to realization of the Divine Reality.

Literally speaking, a Sufi is one who is pure or one who goes about with a woolen blanket. In Greek, he is a Sufi who is enlightened. The cardinal features of the Sufi cult are:

a) God exists in all and all exist in God.
b) Religion is only a way of life; it does not necessarily lead to Nirvana.
c) All happenings take place as per the will of God; nothing happens if He does not ordain it,
d) The soul is distinct from the physical body and will merge into Divine Reality according to
a person’s deeds,

e) It is the Guru whose grace shows the way and leads to union with God.
The Sufis loved God as one would love one’s sweetheart. God for a Sufi is the husband and humankind his wife, Man must serve, love, undergo asceticism, gain enlightenment and then get merged in God, The Indian Sufis laid stress on repeating the Name (Japu), concentration (Dhyan) and meditation (habs-i-dam). A Sufi must eschew sin, repent, live a simple and contented life and should look for the grace of the Murshid or Guru. The Sufis maintain that the soul has been separated from the Divine Reality and the supreme mission of human life is to achieve union with God.
According to Bulleh Shah, the road to the union with God begins with Shariat or the observance to the rituals of Islam. The second stage is that of Tariqat.

If Bulleh Shah’s verse is any guide, he did not take long to leave Shariat as a spiritual path behind. At best, he employed it as a stepping-stone. He moved on to Tariqat which is an important landmark in a Salik’s career. The cardinal feature of this stage is the assistance provided by the Murshid or Guru. In fact, what Sharia does in the life of a common devotee, Tariqat does in the case of a Sufi. The literal meaning of Tariqat is manner or observance. Tariqat according to Bulleh Shah is the bridge which helps the seeker pass the arduous path of hard spiritual exercises with the help of the Murshid. The Guru or Murshid is like the philosopher’s stone which converts metal into gold. Good deeds are the dowry that the bride collects at this stage and then qualifies for union with the lord. In the first instance, Bulleh Shah discards the rituals and the ceremonials prescribed by the Shariat:

Burn the prayer mat, break the water pot,
Quit the rosary and care not for the staff.

Haqiqat is the third stage of his spiritual journey to which Bulleh Shah refers time and again in his verse. The devotee understands and accepts the existence of God. God is truth. God exists in everything around us. This concept has been described in the Sufi idiom as Hamaost. When the Salik comes to realize it, he no longer discriminates between the Hindu and the Muslim, and the temple and the mosque. He hears the call of the Muezzin in the flute-strains of an idol worshipper:

Pour not on prayers, forget the fasts.
Wipe off Kalma from the sight.
Bulleh has found his lover within,
Others grope in the pitch-dark night.

What a spark of knowledge is kindled ~
I find that I am neither Hindu nor Turk.
I am a lover by creed;
A lover is victorious even when swindled.

Marfat is the last stage of the spiritual evolution of a Sufi. It is the merging into Divine Reality called Fana and thus attaining the life eternal known in the Sufi idiom as Baqa. The Murshid helps the seeker arrive at this stage but it is the grace which makes possible the ultimate union. The moment this happens, caste and creed cease to have any meaning. The Atma (Soul) and Paramatma (God) become one. When Bulleh attained this stage, the entire world appeared to him as a reflection of the Divine Reality, Bulleh has merged in God:
Remembering Ranjha day and night,

I’ve become Ranjha myself.
Call me Dhido Ranjha,
No more I be addressed as Heer.
I abuse Ranjha but adore him in my heart.
Ranjha and Heer are a single soul,
No one could ever set them apart.

Bulleh Shah as a Humanist:

Bulleh Shah’s writings represent him as a humanist, someone providing solutions to the sociological problems of the world around him as he lives through it, describing the turbulence his motherland of Punjab is passing through, while concurrently searching for God. His poetry highlights his mystical spiritual voyage through the four stages of Sufism: Shariat (Path), Tariqat (Observance), Haqiqat (Truth) and Marfat (Union). The simplicity with which Bulleh Shah has been able to address the complex fundamental issues of life and humanity is a large part of his appeal. His humanism lies in his depicting the troubles that were being faced by the Muslims of his time, his rejection of caste system, and in his concept of God.
Bulleh Shah preaches that how knowledge is used by various levels of the religious establishment and how it makes them degenerates, and compares them with Satan who was the most learned angel of God but went against God’s will. For Bulleh Shah real knowledge comes from history and real-life experiences. In the following Kafi, he points out that he has acquired the understanding of the world from the course of history where anarchy shows the naked realities hidden under the ongoing states affair. For example in the following Kafi he predicts his understanding of the reality of socio-economic relations within society and how they can be put upside down with the change of time:
Times have gone upside down
That is how I discovered the secret of love

Bulleh Shah was witnessing the declining Mughal Empire, its ruling elites’ downfall while the Sikh movement was rising. Though Sikhs had not captured state power by then, Bulleh Shah’s sharp eyes could see where history was heading. That is why he states:

The crows are killing eagles
The sparrows have put hunting birds down
The blanket [wearing] people have become kings
The kings are made to beg
Bullah, this is the dictation from the Supreme
Who can stop it?

The real duty of a humanist is to depict the society’s circumstances and evaluate them. Bulleh Shah has done this job in the above Kafi. Bulleh Shah clearly established that human relations and consciousness are determined by historical conditions. In the verse ‘ hukam hazoroon’ (Orders from the Supreme), he affirmed the concept of a pre-determined historical process but also unearthed the dynamics of change where the weakest can conquer the most powerful.
Bulleh Shah aptly discovered the basic contradictions of the society that were reflecting in religious differentiations. The following verse highlights his understanding of the essence of conflicts among people:
Somewhere he is called Ramdas and elsewhere Fateh Muhammad

This dispute is from eternity
Once the quarrel between them was settled
Something else came out of it.

Within the bounded scope of “dictations from the Supreme” or history, real knowledge leads one to relate to humanity, nature and the universe. This goal can be achieved only through first surrendering your ego in front of your Murshid (spiritual master) and fall in deep love with this relationship:

Jad main sabq ishq da parhia
Daryia waikh wahdat de wr’iya
Ghuman Gharian de vich ar’ia
Shah Inayat laiya par.
[When I learned the lesson of love
I entered the river of unity
I was trapped in whirlwinds
Shah Inayat helped me to get across.]

As the last line of the Kafi indicates, Bulleh Shah became a follower of Sufi Shah Inayat Qadiri, who was a member of the Arain tribe of Lahore. For Bulleh Shah taking an Arain as his Murshid was an act of declassing, or surrendering his ego and negating the ingrained caste system. He was probably the only classical Punjabi who openly expressed ishq (love) for his Guru.
“For a distinguished scholar [Bulleh Shah], who belonged to the line of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), to accept an ordinary vegetable grower as his master was a very extraordinary event in the social conditions of Bulleh Shah’s times. It was like an explosion which shook the prevailing social structure.” (The Life of Bulleh Shah)

We find this expected reaction in his Kafi:

To admonish Bullah came his sisters and sisters-in-law,
Why have you brought disgrace to the prophet
And to the progeny of Ali?

Listen to our advice, O Bullah, and leave the hem of the Arain’s skirt.
The reply to this reveals his humanistic attitude rather than the extremist. Bullah preached fearlessly that the guidance of a Master was indispensable for spiritual realization, and the caste of the Master did not at all matter in this pursuit. Even if he belonged to the lowest caste, his help would still remain indispensable. Thus, he proclaimed at the top of his voice that pride in being a Sayyed would land one in hell, and the one who held the skirt of a Master like Inayat Shah would enjoy the pleasures of heaven.

Let anyone, who calls me a Sayyiad,
Be punished with tortures of hell,
And let him revel in the pleasures of heaven,
Who labels me an Arain.
If you seek the pleasures of the spring season,
Become a slave of the Arain.

This quarrel of caste system disturbed him so much that he expressed this notion of annoyance in one of his Kafi as:

Chal Bullehya chal othey chaliye jithey saray annay
Na koi saadi zaat pehchany, na koi sanu mannay
(O’ Bulleh Shah let’s go there where everyone is blind
Where no one recognizes our caste and where no one believes in us)
Bulleh Shah articulated the role of organized religion and other obscurantist ideologies that were employed to sustain an uneven and unjust society. Bulleh Shah aptly discovered the basic contradictions of the society that were reflecting in religious differentiations. So, he declared himself unknown in one of his Kafi to degrade the class, caste and social status system. When he says I am unknown he is professing his humanistic view that is free from all the restrictions.

Na main momin vich maseeta
Na mai vich kufr diyaan reetaan
Na mai paakaan vich paleetaan
Na mai Musa na Firaun
Bulleh ki jana mai kaun
[Neither am I a believer in the mosque
Neither am I an infidel
Neither amongst the virtuous nor amongst the sinners
Neither am I Moses nor the Pharaoh
Bulleh, who knows who I am]

Inayat Qadiri’s alienation with Bulleh Shah is a much-talked-about myth in which it is claimed that he had to learn dancing and went back to his Murshid dancing in female attire. The cue of this myth is taken from Bulleh’s famous Kafi:

Tere ishq nachaiya kar ke thayya thayya
(Your love made me dance beat by beat)

Such was the devotional attitude of Bulleh Shah. Bulleh Shah, taught people to liberate themselves from the prison of bigotry. Bullah’s message through much of his poetry matches his broad perspective of universality that is much deeper than the mere appraisal of natural beauty—it has deep roots that reach down to the human soul and human heart. This concept is larger than life: divinity to universality and then to spirituality; all are interconnected and cannot be separated. This interrelation is characterized by the phrase “Ana ul Haq” (“I am divine”). Uttering such a phrase was considered at the time such a blasphemous expression that when it was uttered by the seer Mansoor Halaj he was forced to drink poison for his spiritual crime. Bulleh Shah was a unique voice at that time in the Muslim world (and certainly in the present place and time as well), as he asked the people to destroy the mosque and the temple since it is in the human heart that God dwells. The concept of “self” is his focal point as he addressed mankind, asking in one of his more famous poems (known as a kafi), Come to Our Abode:

Time and time again you go to temples and mosques,
But have you ever entered your own heart?

This concept of forsaking the established constructs of prayer, and in particular the physical trappings of worship, such as mosque, church, and religious books, later drew universal attention, and brought new awareness to people like Malcolm X and others who felt disenfranchised by the majority religion and culture by which they were ruled. Such an awareness or enlightenment often can be found to turn many from criminal outcasts to leaders and visionaries. To regard all as equals, to achieve a humanistic equality, is paramount to the path of the human being on earth, which was and remains the heart of Sufism:

Remove duality and do away with all disputes,
The Hindus and Muslims are not other than He.
Deem everyone virtuous, there are no thieves.
For within everybody He himself resides.
How the trickster has put on his mask!

To sum up all these three humanistic approaches we can say that at the time Bulleh penned these works, Islam had become a fundamental part of everyday life in the Punjab. The influence of religious doctrine was an important element of the political and social structure of life in the Punjab region of Pakistan. Indeed, to speak out against the so-called caste-system was equivalent to blasphemy, or at the very least, it was seen as a rejection of one’s own society. But Bulleh Shah rejected this system and proposed that all are equal in the eyes of God. Secondly, it was Bulleh’s perspective as a Sufi that guided him away from the formalist religious and political establishment and toward a more open-minded, humanistic, yet deeply spiritual view of God in one’s own life. Thirdly, he lived during a time of darkness and decay where the Muslim spirit had been broken down, much like today. A time when Punjabi Muslims were beaten down and were powerless. Baba Bulleh Shah was a humanist before the term was created, his message although forgotten, can still be appreciated. He sought to bring the Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus of Punjabis together, realizing that beneath the skin lies the same blood.

Bulleh Shah’s Language:

Like the Iranian Sufis who sang the praises of Yusaf Zulaikha, Laila Majnun and Shirin Farhad, the Sufis in the Punjab idealized the romances of Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun. Preoccupied with the metaphysical, they restored the use of symbols drawn from everyday life around them like the spinning-wheel, boat, dowry, etc. As poets, they employed kafi, baramah, athwara, siharfi, doha, baint and deodh as their favorite poetic forms. Their language is simple and conversational, light and lyrical. There is no denying that they made an indelible impression on the life and thought of the people of the Punjab. More important among the Sufi poets who wrote in Punjabi were Shah Husain (1538-1599), Sultan Bahu (1629-1691), and Shah Sharaf (1640-1724). They were preceded by Farid in the 12th century and followed by Bulleh Shah (1680-1757), Ali Hyder (1690-1785), Hashim Shah (1735-1843) and others in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Bulleh Shah is credited with the following works:
Kafis: 150
Athwara: 1
Baramah: 1
Siharfi: 3
Oeodh: 49
Gandhan: 40

This is the whole lot that appears in his name in various collections published from time to time. A considerable part of it is unauthentic. The first time an academician, Dr. Mohan Singh researched on Bulleh Shah’s work, he seems to have found only 50 Kafis genuinely composed by the Sufi Saint. This was in the thirties of the twentieth century. Syed Nazir Ahmed of Lahore (Pakistan) compiled a fairly prestigious volume of Bulleh Shah’s work in 1976 in which he has included 66 Kafis besides a few miscellaneous pieces. Interpolations have been galore. His Kafis at times seem to vary as they travel from Pakistan to India.
Kafi has no specific mould, and is called Chhand in Punjabi poetics. It has, however, a prescribed manner of presentation as light classical music. Rather than a Raga, some scholars have called it a Ragini. Long before Bulleh Shah, Guru Nanak wrote three Kafis. We have five more Kafis in the Holy Granth, one each of Guru Amardas and Guru Ram Das, two of Guru Arjan and one of Guru Tegh Bahadur. These Kafis are available in Ragas Asa, Suhi, Tilang and Maru. Besides light classical musicians, Kafi singing is popular with Qawwals who make their presentations in choruses and carry the audience with them as if in a trance. Kafis, as text, sing the praises of the Murshid and the Divine Reality, refer to the transitoriness of the world and also describe the pangs of separation of the devotee from the Guru and seeker from God. At times Kafis deal with social and political themes as well. Bulleh does it time and again. As regards the form, more often than not, Bulleh provides a refrain which provides relief as well as underlines the theme of the Kafi:

Strange are the times!
Crows swoop down on hawks.
Sparrows do eagles stalk.
Strange are the times!

The Iraqis are despised
While the donkeys are prized.
Strange are the times!

Those with coarse blankets are kings,
The erstwhile kings watch from the ring.
Strange are the times!

It’s not without rhyme or reason.
Strange are the times!

Bulleh Shah’s language is Central Punjabi but when he is emotionally charged, he waxes eloquent into Lehndi, the South-eastern dialect. There are traces of other Punjabi dialects also in his poetry which could, perhaps, be attributed to interpolations and the fact that his work has travelled from mouth to mouth. While singing in chorus the Oawwals are known to deviate from the original text. Bulleh Shah employs classical terms and phrases whether from the Persian or the Sanskrit according to the philosophic content of his verse. His language is replete with eternal truths, which are in common use in the Punjab in everyday life. As a poet, some of his expressions remain unsurpassed:

The sun has set; its flush only is left.
A peacock calls in the grove of passion.

Mohammad Baksh, a great bard of his time, writing in 1864, was, perhaps, the first to recognize Bulleh Shah’s talent. Says he:
Listening to Bulleh’s Kafis rids one of blasphemy.
He, indeed, has swum
God’s ocean of eternity.

Conclusion

Bulleh Shah is a radiant star in the galaxy of the great Sufi poets. Bulleh Shah lived from 1680 to 1757 during the period of the Mughal King Aurangzeb, who was the most communal and orthodox Muslim ruler the subcontinent ever faced. His time was marked with communal strife between Muslims and Sikhs. But in that age Bulleh Shah was a beacon of hope and peace for the citizens of Punjab. The Sufi does not care for his individual life and he would never indulge in narrating details of his life. The verse form Bulleh Shah primarily employed is called the Kafi, a style of Punjabi, Sindhi and Siraiki poetry used not only by the Sufis of Sindh and Punjab, but also by Sikh gurus. He held a spiritual position in the eyes of his followers, who were from all over the world, and he was a man who was against the division of human beings for religious reasons. His kafis have gained unique popularity. Bulleh Shah’s poetry and philosophy strongly criticizes the Islamic religious orthodoxy of his days. Bulleh Shah’s writings represent him as a humanist, someone providing solutions to the sociological problems of the world around him as he lives through it, describing the turbulence his motherland of Punjab is passing through, while concurrently searching for God. His poetry highlights his mystical spiritual voyage through the four stages of Sufism: Shariat (Islamic Law), Tariqat (Observance), Haqiqat (Truth-Essence) and Marfat (Union or God knowledge). The simplicity with which Bulleh Shah has been able to address the complex fundamental issues of life and humanity is a large part of his appeal.
Bulleh Shah’s poetry can help to bring about a tremendous change in our part of the world where unfortunately we habitually and traditionally magnify hatred and differences. As a result we have hindered the progress of the whole region. Bulleh Shah breaks all such types of barriers. He is among the very few poets who are equally popular amongst all faiths of this region. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians as well as non-believers love his poetry. Due to his humanistic poetry he can be called a poet of South Asia or of a modern world in search of peace. There has never been a more urgent need in the history of the world to find the common ground on which societies can rebuild tolerance, trust and a shared desire to end the suffering of those least able to protect themselves. Life’s rich tapestry has become fragmented; it must not be destroyed with weaponry, but should instead be repaired stitch by stitch to glorify this world – a place in which people could share the wealth and beauty with each other. Those who attempt this ideal should be honored and respected. One such member of humanity is Bulleh Shah.
Sufi poetry all over the world is erotic in expression, but in meaning, it is essentially symbolic. Almost all the Sufi poets wrote about the Divine Beloved in the terms applied to their beautiful women. This was an innovation Bullah brought about in the Panjabi Sufi verse. The change was due to the following causes.
• Firstly, there was the natural growth of his own character. He never sought the shelter of a woman’s love. He fell in love with the universal Lord and, therefore, found worldly love entirely superfluous. This was the first and the chief cause why his poetry was essentially non-erotic.
• Secondly, it was due to the growth of his spirituality. Once he had cast off the veil of ignorance and had found the Lord, he had found his own self. He therefore could not write poetry in the material sense, following tradition and poetic convention. Nowhere in his kafis do we find fabulous descriptions of the eyes, nose, neck, cheeks, etc of the Beloved.
So we can safely say that his poetry represents truly what is naturally felt in loving the divine. His verse is suffused with divine love. This is the greatness of Bulleh Shah.
This paper traversed through two of Bullah’s kafis, It’s All in One Contained and Strange are the Times. Their underlying themes have been highlighted by means of referring to the socio-political circumstances of Bullah’s time. Moreover, Bulleh Shah, apart from being analyzed as a Sufi poet, is also discussed as a humanist. His language, his concept of God and his Sufism are also discussed in length while constantly referring to his poetic works.

Ode to Death (Daud Kamal)

June 12, 2014 Leave a comment

Introduction:-
Daud Kamal (1935–1987) was a Pakistani poet and academic, from Peshawar city. Daud Kamal was born on January 4, 1935 in Abbottabad. His earliest inspiration came from Burn Hall, Cambridge School in Srinagar, Kashmir where he studied for seven years. He was a Professor of English Literature at University of Peshawar. He wrote some poems in English. His poems were recorded for the Library of Congress in the United States. He also did translations of the classic Urdu poet Ghalib in English. He received three gold medals for his poetry from the Triton College and his poems were recorded for the Library of Congress, Washington DC. USA.‘Remote Beginnings’ and ‘A Selection of Verse’ are his anthologies. He also did translations of the classic Urdu Poet Ghalib in English. Kamal’s poetry is interwoven with local and religious imagery; of kingfishers and monasteries, of Hindu temples Silhouetted by the glamour and mystique of the Arabian Nights. Yet his poetry over-arches into the present where the Arabian Nights have twisted endings that reflect the violent contemporary.His writing style is deeply influenced by the Imagists. “Poetry for him was Yeats and Pound” recalls his daughter Fatima. However, he was a voracious reader of poetry, “I have never seen one enjoy reading others’ poems as much as he did,” shared his daughter.

In his later life, he was deeply moved by Latin American authors. A man of heightened sensitivities, he was not unaware of what was happening around him. His poetry has a unique sense of history and the need of an artist. The need to connect to the culture of the past – images of monasteries, miniature paintings, bullock carts and antiques are recurrent themes. As Carlo Coppola, in his writings, pointed out, Daud’s poetry is like a “primordial scripture of a people betrayed not only by kings and priests but by weather, geography, history, foreigners, and most treacherously by each other”
A mere biographical sketch would clearly be unjust to a man of his brilliance and the pride he brought to the country. Daud Kamal won three gold medals and two certificates of recognition in the international poetry competition in the US, the Faiz award in 1987, and a posthumous Pride of Performance award in 1990.
Daud Kamal passed away on December 5, 1987. He is buried in the cemetery of the same university where he taught. At the time of his death, he remained unrecognized locally, as archived documents from his colleagues show “the crowning irony was a week later, a list of luminaries who had passed away that year was published and Daud was not amongst them.” As he wrote in An Ode to Death

But let bygones be bygones
Who was the deceiver and who the deceived?
Was I on the floating Island
And were you on the shore?
Which one of us moved away?

 

Text Of Poem 

“An Ode To Death”

Your ode to death is in the lifting of a single eyebrow. Lift it and see. (Conrad Aiken)
Death is more than certain, says e.e Cummings,
But the clocks go on ticking as before
And in every particle of carbon dust
There lives a diamond dream
How many galaxies yet to be explored-
How many seeds in the pomegranate of time?
The pine tree blasted by last year’s Thunderbolt
And the burn out match stick in my ashtray
Look so terribly alike
I have sat by your bedside and felt
Your sinking pulse. Are the hair and bones
Really indestructible and how long
Does it take for the eyes
To dissolve in the grave?
Two streams mingle in a forgotten river.
Between the eye and the tear
There is the archipelago of naked rocks
Only sleep and silence there-
No anchorage for grief.
I, too, have wandered in a forest of symbols
And clutched at the harlots of memory.
I have seen the “stars plummet to their dark addresses”
I have felt your absence around my neck
But let bygones be bygones
Who was the deceiver and who the deceived
Was I on a floating island
And were you on the shore?
Which one of us moved away?
(Daud Kamal)

 

Theme of the Poem “An Ode to Death”

Conrad Aiken says that “Your ode to death is in the lifting of a single eyebrow. Lift it and see”.

An ode to death is a short poem about the universal approach of death. Death is the central focus of the poet. It means that death is not a mystery but something that can be understood through observation of life.

Theme of decay and decline
In this poem “An Ode to Death” theme of decay and decline is given. Not only human beings are subject to death but each and every thing in this world e.g materialistic things are subject to decay. By using reference of ‘clock’ Daud Kamal is giving the uncertainty of time and behind this he has the view that with time everything will be finished. Similarly the time of time of born and time to die is defined by our creator. For example if we buy something from bazar, salesman make sure the customer that we are giving you the guarantee of this thing for three or four years. It means that after this defined guarantee time thing will be expire. Similar case is with human beings’ life and death. Stephen Crane says:
“Death is a secret of life”

Fragility of life and temporality:
In this poem it is written that life is temporary and death is marked as permanent. Nothing in this world is permanent but death is permanent. After meeting with death there is no chance of life anymore. Life is fragile and humans are weak as well. Weak things cannot survive for long period of time.

Theme of materialism:
Death is something through which materialistic aspects of life are destroyed by spiritual consciousness. Death is not only used as a theme but also as a recurring motif. By reading this poem one can analyze that Death is not concerned with particular human beings or ethnic group or a religion. Everyone has to taste the flavor of death.

Critical Summary
Ode to death is one of the best poems of Daud Kamal. This poem is about the ultimate reality of death and it is written in a very beautiful way. He has used symbols and imagery very brilliantly he has also given comparison in it. Its language is really simple but the manner in which he has conveyed a deeper thought of universal interests is admirable. There are three major themes in it first is the ultimate reality of death, second is uncertainty of life and third is eternal life after death. One thing which is very interesting about this poem is that he has added two quotations of two different American but contemporary poets, in the beginning one after another. In the opening lines of the poem he has quoted Conrad Aiken:

Your ode to death is in lifting
of a single eyebrow.lif it and see.

This very first quotation shows that there is very little distance between man’s life and death. The story of man’s life end exactly at a time when, death grasp him in its arms. It happens within seconds and it takes even much little time than lifting of an eyebrow. How minuscule is distance between a man and death.

Death is more than a certain, says E.E Cummings,
But the clocks go on ticking as before

Then he takes the quotation of E.E Cummings that: Death is more than a certain.Death is an ultimate reality, it’s certain and undeniable fact. No one can escape from its grip. There is a saying of Owen Meredith that:
                           

                                   There is nothing certain in a man’s life that he must lose it.

No doubt that everyone experiences to perish one day, but it’s likewise a fact that time bears no effect with the demise of a soul. No one can die with the grief of his loved ones death, at last he have to come towards his routine life. As the needles of clock never stop ticking for anyone same is the case with human beings they never stop taking breath with the death of their beloveds.

And in every particle of carbon-dust
There lives a diamond dreams.

If we understand the chemical composition of a diamond it’s made up of carbon. But it is not necessary that every molecule of carbon dust becomes a constituent of the diamond or diamond itself. Like is the case with men that it is not necessarily in the fortune of every human being that he accomplish all his desires in this really short animation. Because:
Death is certain but the time of death is uncertain

There are two lines from Hairat Allahabadi’s poetry which shows the uncertainty of life:

Aagaah apnii mout se koi basher nahiin
Saamaan sau baras ka hai pal ki khabar nahiin
How many galaxies yet to be explored—–
How many seeds in the pomegranate of time?

Human beings has great ambitions and wishes in their life, but it is impossible for a man to fulfill them all because time is like a pomegranate and the deeds and wishes of man are its seeds and he cannot fulfill them all. He cannot make all his whishes in really limited life.
According to Bahadur Shaw Zafar:

Umr-e-daraz mang-ke laye tthe char-din
Do arzu-me kat gaye, do intezar-me

The pine tree blasted by last year’s thunderbolt
and the burnt-out match-stick in my ashtray
looks so terribly alike.

These are really beautiful lines because the poet has made a comparison between big and small creature very intelligently. He points out that what is a difference between a huge pine tree which was ruined by a crash of thunder last year and a small match stick which he has burnt out in his ashtray. The end of both is same. Both have to taste the flavor of death.
If there die a great baron of a country and a poor beggar of the same nation, what difference is in between both. The last destination of both is grave. There is an Italian proverb that: When the game is over, the king and pawn go into the same box.

I have sat by your bedside and felt
your sinking pulse. Are the hair and bones
really indestructible and how long
does it take for the eyes
to dissolve in the grave?

It’s a conversation between poet and a person who is going to die. To express the uncertainty of life poet address to a person, that is on a deathbed and says I am holding your sinking pulse and feeling you taking last breath. Normally it is considered that hair and bones of body stayed long while all body parts dissolved soon. So he demands a question here that how much time your hair and bone will take to dissolve in the grave and do I too live alive till that time. Do I have the assurity of my own life that how long I live. It’s a very nice quotation of Euripides about the uncertainty of life: No one can confidently say that he will be living tomorrow.
Two streams mingle in a forgotten river,
Between the eye and tear,

In this verse the poet wants to say that, the Existence of human beings is the combination of soul and body, and these two elements mingle into the luxuries and colors of life. The word ‘two streams “used in these lines which means that, the human soul and human body and which “mingle into the forgotten river” of world. The relationship between life and death is like the relationship between an eye and tear. In the busy life people forget death will come as rapidly as tears flow out from eye. No one knows that when tears will begin to move outside the eye similarly, no one knows that when death will come but it will surely happen.
There is an archipelago of naked rocks
Only sleep and silence there,
No anchorage for grief.

Now the Daud Kamal presenting the condition of grave after death, there is a silence, and endless sleep in the group of islands. The silence in the island in literature is the symbol of danger and also shows the silence of death because there are no more hardships of life. Actually Daud Kamal here presents the Islamic point of view about the eternal life after death. He says that this is a place of barrel naked rocks, and there is no space of grief, it is free from all trails. Troubles, sorrows of life.
I, too have wandered in a forest of symbols
And clutched at the hanots of memory,
In this verse the readers also seems Daud kamal’s, personal feelings about his own past life. He says that he had indulged in ethically bad habits. He says that,

when I imagine his own death time, and thinks about his past life,there is nothing except the darkness of prostitutes.I have seen the stars praament to their dark addresses I have felt your absence around my neck…

Now here Again Daud Kamal presenting the concept of death that death is a ultimate reality. Everyone have to die. We can take an example from the history, that the brave leaders like Muhammad bin Qasim and even cruel leaders like Hitler was came, but the end of all was death. Death is blind it never see who is in front of it, either it is a huge or small creature.

But let bygones be gones
Who was the deceiver and who the deceived
Was I on a floating island?
And were you on the shore,
Which one of move away.

These lines are about the feeling which a man feels when death occurs and poet has express all these feeling very beautifully. He says that I am feeling that my life is moving away from me. Death as a cruel monster is engulfing my life. I can feel but can’t do any do anything because I am hopeless. The poet is expressing pessimists feeling of man. The poet says that no one knows; either life is deceiver or death or which one of them is going to deceive or both are giving deceive to each other. Daud kamal is asking a question to life that either on floating Island or you was on a shore actually no one knows who moves away he is conversing with life that either you moved away from me or I came near to death.

Technical Analysis
Ode (Lyrical poem):-
A poem that expresses deep personal feelings in a way that is like a song. This poem of Kamal has personal thoughts and feelings. Ode is a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form in which a person expresses a strong feeling of love or respect for someone or something. This poem is written as an ode form.
Poem:-
An ode to death is a poem about the ultimate reality of death that death must happen in every one’s life. So, when a man comes in this world a dream is also born with him. In the poem “An Ode to Death” the diction employed by Daud Kamal is finest. His writing style is deeply influenced by the imagists. “Poetry for him was of Yeats and Pounds”. He was the true son of soil.
Tone:-
The tone of the whole poem is pessimistic, gloomy and dark. It is full of suspense and sensation. It does not vary from stanza to stanza, it remains consistent, spiritual. The theme of death is so gloomy and serious and that seriousness reaches to its height by his using diction like thunderbolt, grave, forest of symbols etc.
Metaphor:-
It is a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar. So, he has used metaphorical expressions in the first stanza such as:
“And in every particle of carbon-dust
There lives a diamond dreams”
Every man nourishes a dream which dies with his death. So, here ‘diamond dream’ and ‘carbon dust’ represent death of man’s dream with his death.
“ how many galaxies yet to be explored” here the word ‘galaxies represent man’s wihes or dreams that are not yet fulfilled but death finished it.
“ The pine tree blasted by last year’s thunderbolt
And the burnt-out match-strike in my ashtry look so terribly alike”
Here poet compares the man’s death with the death of ‘pine tree’ and “match strike”. He tells about the uncertainty of death and says that thing can be big like pine tree and can be small like match-strike but everything has to taste the death.
Imagery:-
Imagery means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. So, poet has used imagery in the second stanza like:
“I have sat by your bedside and felt
Your sinking pulse. Are the hair and bones
Really indestructible and how long
Does it take for the eyes?
To dissolve in the grave”
In this whole stanza the poet has depicted the whole scenery and he appears to be a witness of a person’s breathing his last.
Islamic Approach:-
“Two streams mingle in a forgotten river.
Between the eye and the tear
There is the archipelago of naked rocks
Only sleep and silence there-
No anchorage for grief.”
In this stanza the poet describes Islamic approach using the word ‘forgotten river’ that our soul and physical body mingle in forgotten river, and we have forgotten our real aim and so busy in the luxuries of the life that we have ignored eternity. Forgotten river is the ignored eternity. ‘Sleep and silence’ symbolize the eternal peace.
Style:-
The style of this poem is dramatic monologue and dramatic monologue is a poem in the form of a speech or narrative by an imagined person, in which the speaker inadvertently reveals aspects of their character while describing a particular situation or series of events. Daud Kamal representing this poem in the form of dramatic monologue he represents in these verses such as:
“I have felt your absence around my neck
But let bygones be bygones
Who was the deceiver and who the deceived
Was I on a floating island?
And were you on the shore?
Which one of us moved away?”
So, the poem ends on the confusing note that this is an address to a man by his soul or soul is addressing to the man. Hence suspense remains till the end.

Conclusion

It is concluded that “An Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal is a poem about the certainty of death. It is not written for the special area. It is a universal phenomenon. By using different examples like ‘clock’, ‘thunderbolt’, ‘galaxies’ etc. he creates the effect of naturality. Images create concrete pictures in our mind. That images have symbolic interpretations for e.g. clock is the symbol of uncertainty of life as time is uncertain. It does not wait for anyone. Language used by Daud Kamal is very simple and easy. Construction and arrangement (syntax) of words is easy to understand. Equally important are inter-woven stanzas that create the boundage of thought throughout the poem. In the whole poem reader finds himself engaged with the idea of happening of death. Whole poem revolves around the opening verse of poem that is “Death is more than a certain”. In the last he has personal feelings as he was involved in ethically corrupt habits.