Shades of Grey

Preamble:

I recently came across an article by one of my former classmates, Ali Hashmi. In the article titled “Growing up Red”, Ali laments the trials and tribulations he had to endure while growing up. He especially bemoans the fact that people took him for a communist and hence a Dahria. He perhaps correctly identifies his Grandfather as the root cause of his troubles. True or not, Faiz and his ideology seem to be the common motif that runs through the article. I feel that I need to tell the other side of the story as I inadvertently fall in the group of individuals who indicted Ali as a Dahria. I for myself never harbored any ill will towards Ali or Faiz though.

There is something about Faiz that still evokes controversy long after his death. For some he was a great poet, for others a great teacher and a revolutionary. Nearly all of us agree that he was a good human being. Yet for a person like myself, who is not so well versed in Urdu literature in general and Faiz in particular, these facets of Faiz’s personality are befuddling. I think the problem arises when people confuse Faiz the poet with Faiz the thinker and revolutionary. Here is my take on the issue.

Faiz the poet:

His place as one of the greatest poets in Urdu literature is secure and beyond argument. I would have gone as far as to claim that I consider him as the second greatest poet after Iqbal in Urdu literature but this sort of claim stipulates that one should have read most of the other poets and made comparisons; I however, fall well short of that achievement.

My first real exposure to Faiz’s poetry was in Princeton, NJ in 1994. Although I had known about his remarkable achievements as a poet through some of my Medical School buddies, who were ardent readers of him, all that was secondary knowledge though. I remember that we used to spend the evenings discussing his poems. We particularly liked Shaam besides his other perennial favorites such as Mujh Say Pehli Si Mohabat. Shaam uses deceptively simple language and similes that make words come to life. You can see vermilion on the Prohaat’s forehead quite vividly. We all used to marvel at his mastery of the language; it almost seemed as if he had sold his soul to the devil to get this gift. Unfortunately, some people tend to think he did.


Faiz the thinker and revolutionary:

The most contentious facet of Faiz’s life is his wooing the communists. This irks a lot of people for various reasons. The religious types have always rejected any other social philosophy except Islam arguing that one needs to look no further than Islam for social justice and distribution of goods which seems to be the main preoccupation of socialism. Traditional politicians have also shunned the socialist agenda partly because of our historical subservience to the West and partly as a reaction to our neighbors’ socialistic proclivity in the past.

However a common man like me is too embattled in life’s struggles to even think along clear cut ideologies. Life comes in various shades of grey for people on the street - even dark and bleak for some – to mull over this plethora of competing doctrines. I was handed down a pre-packaged list of heroes in my school and I am embarrassed to admit that the list has not been altered since then due to sheer negligence and lack of creativity. I suspect that the majority of people are like me - hero and hero worship in our culture follows herd mentality for the most part. However, for some Faiz has more meaning and utility than a common man does and they have different reasons to celebrate his greatness.

I remember that some of my friends ate, drank and breathed Faiz in College. At a time when everybody was vying for limelight and self-actualization Faiz gave one not only an eloquent voice and a portal of expression but also an ideology that was not as mundane as say traditional Islam and had a higher wow factor.


For some intellectuals in Pakistan he represented a new wave of thought. The seeds of this change had been sown long ago. As a conscious ploy on the part of the British Raj and after the seminal work of Sir Syed and his cronies traditional Islam took a backseat in the sub-continent. Westernization (as opposed to Modernization) became the new mantra for the millions of struggling Muslims in the subcontinent who were too dazed and confused at the time.

At the same time the collective intellect of Muslims in India was working at a feverish pace to get out of the rut. Sir Syed is well known for his movement, Iqbal came up with the idea of the Two Nation Theory, while Maulana Ashraf Thanvi and Maulana Maududi saw deliverance through Islam. One such movement was initiated in 1936 along the lines of the Russian Socialist movement and is purported to be the brain child of Faiz among others.

While all these thinkers, intellectuals and revolutionaries were trying to control and expand their own intellectual fiefdoms the general cultural stream for better or for worse, took a turn towards secularism albeit under the canopy of Islamic laws. Humanism gave way to codices like the Quran as a means to problem solving in daily lives. Depending upon personal whims Islam itself was amalgamated with western ideology in various concoctions. Under the new thought Mula became demonized while Gora Sahib was lionized and feared at the same time. Parallel to that, a kind of Desi Renaissance Man emerged. This was an impeccably suited man who was at least bilingual, if not a polyglot and at ease with the sophistications of the Western culture. The concept over the past years has been fine-tuned to suit contemporary tastes but the idea remains the same.

After the British, the beaurocrats and the army were the logical inheritors of this cultural legacy. Faiz represented a modern intellectual man – intelligent yet unassuming, well versed in the Quran but not carrying a heavy theological baggage, and above all speaking stridently for the common man and his plights in a language that was so empowering at the time. Intellectuals love to quote Faiz because he not only provides them with a superior lingo but also expands their horizons in cultural thought. Fortunately or unfortunately, I myself was groomed to be a part of that microcosm in our society.

Then there are some that have an axe to grind. These are the ones who were physically and ideologically closer to Faiz – the innermost coterie if you will. Their very identity and sustenance depends on being associated with Faiz and his movement. Like in any other movement the central figure gains more stature after his death and the ones closest to him freely interpret his ideas and ideology after their leader is gone. Faiz therefore, has experienced a renaissance that is not unexpected. They say that distance lends enchantment to the mind. The apotheosis of Faiz as the unofficial poet laureate of Pakistan is yet another manifestation of this phenomenon.

Questions, questions and more questions:

I am however, perplexed by certain inconsistencies in Faiz’s life. Firstly, how did a kid growing up in Sialkot and memorizing the Quran eventually become a socialist?

Secondly, why did a man who rose to the rank of Leutinent Colonel under the British Raj choose to be at odds with his own government?

Thirdly, how could a person accept Lenin Award defying the national spirit of the time when relationship between the U.S.S.R. and Pakistan was cold at best?

Therefore, when I look at his and some of the family’s busy resumes it is hard for me to imagine that they were just innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire between the powers to be and the socialist movement. Moreover, when I hear about their hardships and then look at some other poets and their families, who lived abhorring lives, I think Faiz did pretty well in the end – as did his family. Although a political failure his movement had a very strong presence in defining our society’s literary milieu in recent decades.

I, therefore, think that growing up red is still better than growing up grey. On the other hand there are perhaps really good alternate explanations to all these questions. Perhaps he was guilty by association, perhaps he did not have that Machiavellian sense of political survival or was it that he is just misrepresented in the annals of history - I will never know for sure. The good part is that I do not have to pick my brain for I am not an intellectual seeking for answers regarding Faiz’s political agenda and I do not have an axe to grind. As for some members of his family like Ali, I feel sorry. But that is only when we assume that he was an inadvertent and unwilling inheritor of his granddad’s legacy – as is probably implied in his article. If that is not true then we have to realize that in revolutionary movements there are fighters as well as martyrs and before jumping into the fray you should accept this harsh realty.

Final thoughts:

It is quoted in Sahih Muslim that,’Amr b. Sharid reported his father as saying: One day when I rode behind Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him), he said (to me): Do you remember any Poetry of Umayya b. Abu Salt. I said: Yes. He said: Then go on. I recited a couplet, and he said: Go on. Then I again recited a couplet and he said: Go on. I recited one hundred couplets (of his poetry). This hadith has been reported on the authority of Sharid through another chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of wording. (Book 028, Number 5602).

I think there is a lesson to be learned from the above hadith. The prophet was a busy man. He however, took time to enjoy finer things in life once in a while. In this case it was a poet from the days of Jahliya. For me Faiz is a poet that I enjoy reading once in a while. I will always remember him as somebody who wrote mighty good poetry – nothing more nothing less.