Poet Nations
The one art form that is unequivocally loved across Pakistan
is poetry. Hamd and nauha, qawwali, mushairas, ghazals set to music, lyrics of
pop songs, sufi poetry at the shrines of saints, qawwali , poetry written on
rickshas buses and trucks, on the walls of dhabas – there is something for
everyone. I am not referring to poetry
that hides in books read by fellow poets, but the public sharing of poetry.
While all nations celebrate their poets, few have
assimilated poetry into the very fabric of society from politics to leisure.
Arabs held the poet in high esteem. From simple phrases or saj to rajaz, qitah and qasidah, the poet inspired warriors,
belittled the enemy, recalled past glories, celebrated the romance of desert
life. The poet was the most respectable
member, sometimes leader, of the tribe. Poets were believed to have wisdom, judgement
and a sense of history. Aswa or
commercial markets developed into cultural fairs where an arbitrator, for whom
a red tent was erected, was appointed to judge between the poets and poetesses of
various tribes. The best poems were written in gold and hung in the Ka’aba
known as the Mualaq’at. The Quran
itself persuaded by its eloquence. Poetry, focusing on subtle nuances,
contributed to the development of language -
1000 words for sword, 5000 for camel and specific words for the eight
stages of thirst. Muhammad Ahsan Shakoor writes, Arab poetry became ‘the
archive of their history, the evidence for what they consider right or wrong
and the principle basis of reference for most of their sciences and wisdom’.
Somalia is presented as a starving, war torn nation. Less
known is it identity as a nation of poets. Somali scholar, Said Sheikh Samatar,
explains oral poetry is central to Somali life, influencing culture and
politics and was once the chief means of mass communication. Richard Burton wrote in 1864, ‘Somali society
teems with poets’. The Dervish Movement was led by a poet, who used his verse
to unify people against the British colonialists. Defeat and new restrictions,
quietened the verse of rebellion. The dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, used poetry
to establish his authoritarian regime. Today poetry is used to create peace
between warring tribes, but is more romantic than revolutionary.
The Pakistani nation invariably turns to poetry to express
the otherwise inexpressible. Poetry
provides solace, humour, a platform to voice indignation, to call for justice
and represent the voiceless. The poetic forms of Ghazal and Qasidah travelled
from Arabia via Persia during the Muslim rule of India and became incorporated
in Urdu, and regional languages. The emperors and nawabs patronized poets. Bahadur
Shah Zafar, the poet king, held poetry gatherings in his court. With great
ceremony, a candle was placed before the poet whose turn it was to recite. The
Sufis developed poetry in vernacular languages. Char Bayt developed to inspire
soldiers where lively competing groups accompanied poetry with dufs. Today public
mushairas are held, ghazal evenings, bait bazi ( a competitive poetry game) . Religious
devotion is expressed in qawwali, naats and nauhas. Cinema and pop music
established new possibilities for poets. Political philosophy was encapsulated
in writings of poets like Khushal Khan Khattak,
Gul Naseer Khan, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Habib Jalib. Feminism found a voice
in Parvin Shakir and Fehmida Riaz. Political rallies develop their own poetic songs.
Humourous cell phone messages start with Faraz kehtay hian…
Poetry invigorated the freedom movement. While many worked towards the creation of
Pakistan, the national narrative presents it as the dream of a poet, Muhammad
Iqbal.
Some years ago I asked
Ishaq Khamosh, a Baluch poet activist, what we could do to bring unity
to Pakistan. His solution was to hold a multilingual mushairah!
Durriya Kazi
January 13, 2020
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