All the poets of world have reflected on different themes and concepts and provided a unique presentation of the thought.
By Noor Ahmed Janjhi
Life is a great blessing. All the other blessings shine through life. The life itself is a complicated phenomenon of thought and action. Thought conceives things and action gets them realized and again a fresh way forward is shown for new thoughts and actions. Poets have unique thoughts because of their creative nature, deep observance and sensitivity of behavior. All the poets of world have reflected on different themes and concepts and provided a unique presentation of the thought. People enjoy reading as well as listening to the poetry and follow the core of thought enshrined it. The poetry communicates a message about any aspect of human life and nature. It provides a food for thought to all of the people irrespective of literate and illiterate as the poetry is also being listened to. The masses like poetry very much and recite it keenly to elaborate their theses and points of view. The heart touching appeal of the poetry motivates man in the street as well as the scholars.
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai has been a great poet who offered pearls of excellent thoughts in the form of baits and waies under different surs. He was very much impressed from the poetry of Rumi and Shah Karim, his great grandfather. Rumi was not only a great scholar but also a pioneer of unique thought influencing the thought of globe. His poetry and prose provide very motivating basis for different aspects of life, maarfat and haqeeqat. Translation of a couplet of Rumi saeen reads as “Run from what’s comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.”
He suggests leaving the comforts of life and expanding the zone of comfort in life. Safety should be abandoned and taking place of fear and threat. False reputations should be left as there must be advancement in life. Human life is a very much complicated and unfathomable. It needs to be led forward. It goes on and on and ahead. Man has created different frameworks and tagged those with different names reflecting honor and stake. However, man has been changing the frameworks since centuries. It is all about taking of risk in life. The risk taking is a great breakthrough in human life. Shah Abdul Latif says:
ڏٺو ڪالهه ڪنهن ، جهونجهارڪو جهڳڙو
هاٿين هڏ مُڇائيا، ريلو رت نئين ،
ڀانئن سا سنئين ، جئان جيءَ جو کو ٿئي
(Did anyone see the fight of brave people yesterday? The bones of the elephants were cut and the blood oozed out. The brave one thinks that straight where there is risk to life)
Bhittai also suggests taking risk as he has also presented a great idea of risk taking in Sur Suhni by saying ‘may matay Mehran men pao tipo de ee (Do jump into overflowing River Mehran)’. Risk taking is the sin qua non for success before Latif. Life itself is a vulnerable phenomenon. It has to cross through the window of death as it crossed the window of birth. Death is also part of life rather than its opposition. It can be opposite to birth but not life.
Rumi has elaborated the sky as standing without any pillars or support. It is over the global context as it is erected on posts and supports. The sky provides an umbrella context to the globe. He says:
سقف گردوں کُو چنیں دائم بود
نز طنابے واستنے قائم بود
Similarly, Shah Abdul Latif presents that point in a bait to elaborate omnipotence and omnipresence of God. Bhittai says:
جيڏو تنهنجو نان ٻاجهه به اوڏيائي مڱان
ري ٿنڀي ري ٿوڻيين تون ڇپر تون ڇان
ڪڄاڙو ڪهان ، توکي معلوم سڀڪا
Shah Latif starts with the name of Allah and begs such a great mercy from Him. The sky sustains without any pillar or post. There is no need to tell things before Almighty Allah as He knows everything.
Rumi says,”Gamble everything for love, if you are true human being. If not, leave this gathering. Half-heartedness does not reach into majesty.”
Love is the central theme of the poetry of most of the poets of world. Rumi advises for throwing everything for sake of love. It is the fundamental requirement of being a human. It enables human being to come forward for sacrifice. Those who sacrifice themselves reach to the sublimity.
Reflecting similar point of view in his poetry, Latif says…..
هل هنيين سين هوت ڏي، پيرين پنڌ وسار،
قاصداڻي ڪار، ڪين رساڻي ڪيچ کي
(Walk heart while going to the beloved …Hoat. Leave the journey on foot. The tradition of a messenger shall not take to the destination…. Kech)
Life is a journey full of many things. It is imperative to move by heart rather than on foot. It is the real essence of ‘bundagi’. Everyone does journey on foot but some people move ahead by heart. They go towards the beloved eagerly and reach the destination. The messengers only take a message. Only taking message does not lead towards Kech. It is the journey of heart that takes towards the destination.
In this way, the thought(s) of the poets of different language, correlate and create a good sense of moving ahead. Rumi discusses about a voice in a story of Mathnavi. He says:
آں نداۓ کاصلِ ہربانگ و نوا ست
خود ندا آنست وایں باقی صداست
(The voice which is the origin of every cry and sound: that indeed is the (only) voice, and the rest are echoes….translated by R. A. Nicholson)
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai mentions the same concept in his bait as:
پڙاڏو سوئي سڏ ، جي ور وائي جو لهين
هئا اڳهين گڏ ، پر ٻُڌڻ ۾ ٻه ٿيا
(Echo is the sound if you can understand the twisting of the resonance. Both were together but the listening perception of the both of them is different)
These are some of fragrant thoughts of Rumi and Bhittai. Both have started and concluded with the theme of love. Love accommodates life. Both the poets differ in point of views too.
Risk taking, vast context of nature, role of sacrifice in human life and the relation between the sound and the echo are elaborated in the couplets cited above. There are so many examples available in the poetry of world to facilitate human thought towards the beloved and the destination.
[author title=”Noor Ahmed Janjhi” image=”https://sindhcourier.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Noor-Ahmed-Janjhi-Sindh-Courier.jpg”]Noor Ahmed Janjhi is a senior educationist based in Desert District Tharparkar Sindh. He is author of several books in Sindhi and English language on folk literature including two poetry books. [/author]
