'Allaamah Iqbal's Persian Poetry
Naseer
Recently there has been much discussion about Ghalib's Persian poetry
and how he saw it in comparison with his Urdu poetry. Nagesh Sahib has
"spurred" me on to begin a thread abut Iqbal's Persian poetry and how
he fares in the Persian speaking world. I am aware that some people
view his poetry finding a niche in Iran at least, because of his pan-
islamic message. This may be true to some extent but according to
others there is more to his poetry than merely religion. I shall begin
the discussion with a Tajik link which mentions Lahore and Iqbal. I
hope other readers will come in and join the discussion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYQjGRwdmd4&feature=related (Parsi
patriotic song)
(Nagesh Sahib, note the pronunciation. Even the izaafat pronounced in
the Classical manner. diivaar (wall) is "devaar"!)
Naseer
nages...@yahoo.com
To my ears the pronunciations sounds more similar to Persian than to
Urdu, and the music is much more Western (none of the gamaks that
Indian music uses).
I'm curious about others' reactions. Similarly for the music that
Jamil Sahib was kind enough to link to.
Regards,
Nagesh
Naseer
On Nov 2, 8:23 pm, nageshsa...@yahoo.com wrote:
> To my ears the pronunciations sounds more similar to Persian than to
> Urdu, and the music is much more Western (none of the gamaks that
> Indian music uses).
The pronunciation sounds "similar" to Persian because it *is* Persian
and *not*Urdu. There is of course bound to be a difference between the
"lab-o-lahjah" (accent) of a person from the sub-continent reciting
classical Persian poetry and people from Afghanistan and Tajikistan
reciting the same. We are no doubt well aware of the Iranian accent.
When I was talking about classical Persian pronunciation, I was
talking more about the value of the vowels rather than the intonation.
Now that I have a bit more time from life's drudgeries, I hope to
provide some momentum to the posts that I have initiated.
KHair-andesh,
Naseer
Naseer
> Now that I have a bit more time from life's drudgeries, I hope to
> provide some momentum to the posts that I have initiated.
This is what ShaiKH Abdul Qaadir, the editor of "MaKHzan", Lahore, had
to say in his introduction to "BaaNg-i-daraa".
Ghalib awr Iqbal meN bahut sii baateN mushtarak haiN.agar maiN
tanaasuKH kaa qaa'il hotaa to zaruur kahtaa kih Mirza Asadullah Khan
ghalib ko Urdu awr Farsi kii shaa'irii se jo 'ishq thaa us ne un ki
ruuH ko 'adam meN jaa kar bhii chain nah lene diyaa awr majbuur kiyaa
kih vuh phir kisii jasad-i-KHaakii meN jalvah-afroz ho kar shaa'irii
ke chaman kii aab-yaarii kare awr us ne Punjab ke ek goshah meN jise
Sialkot kahte haiN do-baarah janam liyaa awr Muhammad Iqbal naam
paayaa.
Sialkot meN ek college hai jis meN 'ulaamaa-i-salaf kii yaad-gaar awr
un ke naqsh-i-qadam par chalne vaale ek buzurg Maulavii Sayyid Miir
Hasan Sahib 'uluum-i-mashriq kaa dars dete haiN. Haal meN unheN
government se KHitaab-i-shamsu_l'ulaamaa' bhii milaa hai. un kii
ta'liim kaa yih KHaasah hai kih jo ko'ii un se Farsi yaa 'Arabii
siikhe us kii tabii'at meN us zabaan kaa saHiiH mazaaq paidaa kar dete
haiN. Iqbal ko bhii apnii ibtidaa-i-'umr meN Maulavii Sayyid Miir
Hasan saa ustaad milaa. tabii'at meN 'ilm-i-adab se munaasibat
qudratii taur par maujuud thii. Farsi awr 'Arabii kii taHsiil Maulavii
Sahib mausuuf se sone par suhaagaa ho gayaa........
Farsi meN shi'r kahne kii raGhbat Iqbal meN ka'ii asbaab se paidaa
hu'ii awr maiN samajhtaa huuN kih unhoN ne apnii kitaab Haalaat-i-
tasavvuf ke muta'alliq likhne ke liye jo kutub-biinii kii us ko bhii
zaruur is taGhayyur-i-mazaaq meN daKhal ho gaa. is ke 'ilaavah juuN
juuN un kaa mutaala'ah 'ilm-i-falsafah ke muta'alliq gahraa hotaa
gayaa awr daqiiq KHayaalaat ke izhaar ko jii chaahaa to unhoN ne
dekhaa kih Farsi ke muqaabalah meN Urdu kaa sarmaayah bahut kam hai
awr Farsi meN ka'ii fiqre awr jumle saaNche meN Dhale hu'e aise milte
haiN jin ke mutaabiq Urdu meN fiqre Dhaalne aasaan nahiiN, is liye vuh
Farsi kii taraf maa'il ho ga'e*
[* People may or may not agree with this line of thought]
magar ba-zaahir jis chhoTe se vaaqi'ah se un kii Farsi-go'ii kii
ibtidaa hu'ii hai vuh yih hai kih ek martabah vuh ek dost ke haaN
mad'uu the jahaaN un se Farsi ash'aar sunaane kii farmaa'ish hu'ii awr
puuchhaa gayaa kih vuh Farsi shi'r bhii kahte haiN yaa kih nahiiN.
unheN i'tiraaf karnaa paRaa kih unhoN ne sivaae ek-aadh shi'r kahne ke
kabhii Farsi likhne kii koshish nahiiN kii. magar kuchh aisaa vaqt
thaa kawr is farmaa'ish ne aisii taHriik un ke dil meN paidaa kii kih
da'vat se vaapas aa kar bistar meN leTe hu'e baaqii vaqt vuh shaayad
Farsi ash'aar kahte rahe awr subH uThte hii jo mujh se mile to do
taazah GhazaleN Farsi meN tayyaar thiiN jo unhoN ne zabaanii mujhe
sunaa'iiN.......is ke ba'd vilaayat se vaapas aane par go kabhii
kabhii Urdu kii nazmeN bhii kahte the magar tabii'at kaa ruKH Farsi
kii taraf ho gayaa. yih un kii shaa'irii kaa tiisraa daur hai jo 1908
ke ba'd se shuruu' hu'aa awr jo ab tak chal rahaa hai....".
...................................................................................................
Iqball's Persian works are as follows:-
asraar-i-KHudii (Secrets of the Self) (1915)
rumuuz-i-be-KHudii (Mysteries of Selflessness) (1917)
Both of the above, I believe, were translated into English by
Professor Nicholson of Cambridge University.
Payaam-i-Mashriq ( Message of the East (1923). This work was in reply
to the German poet Goethe who wrote a diivaan from the west.
Zabuur-i-'Ajam (1927) Translated as "Persian Psalms" by Professor
Arberry, also of Cambridge University.
Javed Naamah (1932) Translated as " Book of Eternity" by Professor
Arberry
Pas chih baayad kard ai aqvaam-i-sharq (1936)
ArmaGhaan-i-Hijaaz (1938)
KHair-andesh,
Naseer
Naseer
> Iqbal's Persian works are as follows:-
> asraar-i-KHudii (Secrets of the Self) (1915)
> rumuuz-i-be-KHudii (Mysteries of Selflessness) (1917)
> Both of the above, I believe, were translated into English by
> Professor Nicholson of Cambridge University.
> Payaam-i-Mashriq ( Message of the East (1923). This work was in reply
> to the German poet Goethe who wrote a diivaan from the west.
> Zabuur-i-'Ajam (1927) Translated as "Persian Psalms" by Professor
> Arberry, also of Cambridge University.
> Javed Naamah (1932) Translated as " Book of Eternity" by Professor
> Arberry
> Pas chih baayad kard ai aqvaam-i-sharq (1936)
> ArmaGhaan-i-Hijaaz (1938)
Let me begin this post with a correction or two as well as some
additions.
rumuuz-i-be-KHudii (Mysteries of Selflessness) (1917) was not
translated by Professor Reynold.A.Nicholson but by Professor
Arthur.J.Arberry. Apparently all of Iqbal's masnaviis were in the same
metre as Rumi's famous "masnavii-i-ma'navii".
Payaam-i-Mashriq ( Message of the East (1923)'s "laalah-i-tuur"
section comprising rubaa'iyaat was translated into English by Profesor
Arberry and selected verses of the remaining part were translated by
Hadi Hassan. Parts 1 &2 of Zabuur-i-'Ajam (1927) were translated by
Professor Arberry but "gulshan-i-raaz-i-jadiid" and "bandagii-naamah"
were translated by Bashir Ahmad Darr. Pas chih baayad kard ai aqvaam-
i-
sharq (1936) was rendered into English by the same author. Musaafir
(1934) by Jamil Naqvi and ArmaGhaan-i-Hijaaz (1938) by Q.A Kabir.
In a thread entitled " 3 Persian/Urdu Related Issues" and initiated
by Birthe & T. S. Kalsi, janaab-i-Afzal Sahib wrote:-
Iqbal's fate as a Persian poet is not much better. Most of his poetry
had religious overtones and emphasised the PanIslamic concept.
Although his claim as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) Urdu
poet of this century is undisputed, his Persian
poetry has also been placed "on the backburner", so to say. Apart from
the fact that the appeal of his poetry is not all that universal,
another contributory factor has been the decline of Persian as a
language in India. It would be quite true to say that
the number of people interested in it is now confined to a few
scholars and University students. His popularity in Iran and Pakistan
must be at a higher level, but I am unable to express any definitive
opinions in this behalf. Afzal Sahib Jan 1999
I think there is some truth in what Afzal Sahib has written above but
the situation has changed as far as Iqbal's worth is concerned in the
Farsi speaking part of the world. Whilst at university I was told by
my Iranian friends that an intellectual figure called Ali Shari'ati
"introduced" Iqbal to Iran. This was during the late Shah's regime.
Since the revolutuin, Iqbal is studied as a poet in their school and
college texts. Similar situation prevails in Tajikstan and
Afghanistan.
With regard to the "quality" of his poeytry and his "standing"
compared with the classical masters, it might be beneficial to quote
some of the Persian scholars who have been involved in translating his
work as well as people from the Persian speaking world.
‘Iqbal’s magnum opus’, writes his biographer S. A. Vahid, ‘is the
Javid Namah. Within a few years of its publication the poem became a
classic, and one great scholar proclaimed that the poem will rank with
Firdausi’s Shah Namah, Rumi's
Mathnawi, Sa‘di’s Gulistan and the Diwan of Hafiz. Nor was this
tribute an exaggeration, as subsequent criticism showed ... In judging
a poem we have to consider two things: the style and the substance.So
far as the style is concerned,
Javid Namah belongs to the very first rank of Persian verse. It is
unsurpassed in grandeur of expression, in beauty of diction and in
richness of illustration. As regards theme, the poem deals with the
everlasting conflict of the soul, and by telling the story of human
struggle against sin, shows to mankind the path to glory and peace. In
every line the poet makes us feel that he has something to say that is
not only worth saying, but is also fitted to give us pleasure. Thus,
as regards style as well as theme the poem is a masterpiece.’
Whilst still talking about the "Jaaved Naamah", Professor Arberry
writes:-
"Both the Asrar-i Khudi and the Rumuz-i Bekhudi were composed in
rhyming couplets, following a very long tradition in Persian didactic
poetry going back a thousand years. The metre chosen by Iqbal for
these poems is the ramal-i musaddas-i maqsur, the same as that
employed by the greatest of Persian mystics, Jalal al-Din Rumi
(1207-1273), in the greatest didactic poem in Persian literature, the
Masnavi. I have summarized the early history of this verse-form in the
preface to my
Tales from the Masnavi (Allen & Unwin, 1961), which the reader may
wish to consult. One noteworthy feature of the convention is that the
poet lightens from time to time the weight of formal exposition by the
introduction of illustrative anecdotes; to this tradition Iqbal also
conformed. When, however, he came to compose the third of his trilogy,
Iqbal varied the pattern strikingly; the Javid-nama is conceived as a
narrative poem, or rather, a poetic drama, in which the didactic is
put into the mouths of the dramatis personae. A further remarkable
novelty is the interspersing of lyrics, in various metres and in the
mono-rhyme characteristic of the Persian ghazal, the effect of which
is a very great enhancement of the poetic tension of the whole."
In the preface to zabuur-i-'Ajam (1927), Professor Arberry writes:-
"Those familiar with Iqbal’s poetry are however aware that, remarkable
as he was as a writer in these two forms (masnavii and rubaa'ii) he
possessed an altogether extraordinary talent for that most delicate
and delightful of all Persian styles, the ghazal. It was principally
with the object of making available some specimens in translation of
his lyrical productions, that I approached the task of putting into
English his Zabur-i ‘Ajam (‘Persian Psalms’)...........
Iqbal accepted the ghazal as he found it, with all its age-long
rigidity of form and matter; and, with the true touch of genius, he
took it one stage forward. While remaining absolutely true to both
pattern and image, he gave the form a new meaning by making it express
his individual message. The ghazal had been put to a variety of
derived uses by the old masters; the panegyrists had taken the love-
motive and directed it to patron-flattery; the mystics had used the
language of human passion to express their devotion to God. Nor for
the first time the ancient form was made to clothe the body of a new
philosophy. What that philosophy is,
the reader may discover by consulting the extensive literature on
lqbal, especially Iqbal as a Thinker, B.A. Dar’s Study in Iqbal’s
Philosophy and S.A.Vahid’s Iqbal, his Art and Thought, all of which
have been published by Shaikh Muhammad Ashraf of Lahore. When he has
attentively studied these expositions of Iqbal’s thought, he will be
ready to recognise the special meanings which lie behind the poet’s
use of common words and images, and he will be able to admire the
astonishing freshness
and beauty, the amazing range and depth of his expression.He will find
himself in a new world of thought and feeling, a world vibrant with
hope and high endeavour, a world revealing the vision of a great
thinker who saw in these sorely troubled times the dawn of a new age."
Arberry then goes onto talk about Iqbal's language (obsecurity being
one feature) and innovation:-
Iqbal presents the translator with all the usual problems connected
with translating poetry, and with further problems, still more
difficult of solution, posed by his elusive style and idiosyncratic
vocabulary. That this elusiveness was deliberate is proved by a remark
he jotted down in a notebook dating from 1910, and published by his
son Javid in 1961 : ‘Matthew Arnold is a very precise poet. I like,
however, an element of obscurity and vagueness in poetry; since the
vague and the obscure appear profound to the emotions.’ In choosing
Persian as the medium for conveying his universal message, Iqbal was
not adding materially to the difficulties of interpretation; rather
the contrary,for Persian had been preferred by Indian Moslem poets for
centuries over the local idioms, Persian being the court language of
the Moghul Empire. (The rise of Urdu, and the consequent decline of
the knowledge of Persian, in fact happened during Iqbal’s lifetime;
his own genius did very much to enhance its status and mature its
style.) But Persian is a language almost ideally suited to deliberate
vagueness, on account both of its grammatical and syntactical
simplicity, and of its rich and at the same time somewhat imprecise
philosophical vocabulary. Or rather, imprecision is not the crux of
the matter; the case is, that the terms available for was are capable
of a variety of meanings, and Iqbal, like every original thinker, not
infrequently attached to quite simple words and clichés his own
private signification.
This last point has been well made by S. A. Vahid in his Iqbal, his
Art and Thought. ‘The remarkable point about Iqbal’s poetry is the
sense of "newness", and the main reason for this is that although
Iqbal was not actually anti-traditionalist, he uses certain words and
combination of words to express his visions which are entirely
original. Some of these words are coined by him; others represent old
words used in an entirely new sense ... He is also a superb phrase-
maker and has wonderful felicity of phrasing by which language
acquires meanings beyond those formally
assigned by the lexicographer. These words and phrases act as the
keystone for the entire arch of the poetic inspiration. As the removal
of the keystone is sure to cause the downfall of the entire arch, so
if we try to substitute something else for the master word or phrase,
the whole artistic expression is marred. The use of those words and
phrases give to Iqbal’s poetry not only a sense of "newness" found in
very few Urdu and Persian poets, but also the quality of surprise
which characterises all great poetry.’
Nicholson, in his preface to "asraar-i-Khudii" writes..
"The Asrar-i-Khudi was first published in Lahore in 1915. I read it
soon afterwards and thought so highly of it that I wrote to Iqbal,
whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Cambridge some fifteen years
ago, asking leave to prepare a translation. My proposal was cordially
accepted....."
"He is no mean poet and his vese can rouse or persuade even if his
logic fails to convince..."
Enough of this for the time being. In the next post I hope to bring
the views of people from Iran and Tajikistan.
KHair-KHvaah,
Naseer
Naseer
The following piece has been taken from a speech made by Ayatullah
Sayyid Ali Khamene'i during the "First International Conference on
Iqbal, held at Tehran, March 10-12, 1986, on the occasion of the 108th
birth anniversary of the poet of the Subcontinent". Here is the link
to the full speech.
http://www.khamenei.de/books/iqbal.htm (Iqbal by Sayyid Ali Khamene’i)
"But in my view Iqbal's Persian poetry is to be regarded as one of the
miracles of poetry. We have a large number of non-Persian-speaking
poets in the history of our literature, but I cannot point out any of
them whose poetry possesses the qualities of Iqbal's Persian poetry.
Iqbal was not acquainted with Persian idiom, as he spoke Urdu* at home
and talked to his friends in Urdu or English. He did not know the
rules of Persian prose writing. A specimen of Iqbal's Persian prose is
available to us in his prefatory note to his mathnawi, Rumuz-e bikhudi
(The Secrets of the Selflessness) and Asrar-e khudi (The Secrets of
the Self). If you read them you will see that it is hard for the
people whose mother tongue is Persian to understand it. Iqbal never
studied Persian at any stage in a school or college during the years
of his childhood or youth. In his father's house he used to speak
Urdu. Iqbal chose the Persian language as his medium of literary
expression only for the reason that he felt that his ideas and themes
could not be effectively expressed in the Urdu language. As such he
was attracted towards Persian and he studied the collections of the
Persian poets like Sa'di, Hafiz and Mawlawi as well as the Persian
poets who wrote in Indian style like 'Urfi, Naziri Nishaburi and
others. In spite of not having tasted the Persian way of life, never
living in the cradle of Persian culture, and never having any direct
association with it, he cast with great mastery the most delicate,
the most subtle and radically new philosophical themes into the mould
of Persian poetry, some of which are unsurpassable yet. In my view
this is what can be explained as his poetic genius. When you compare
his poetical works with those of
other non-Iranian poets who wrote poetry in Persian, you will realise
the greatness of Iqbal. Some of the ideas that he has expressed with
ease in one couplet, if one tries to render them into prose it will
take a long time and great deal of effort to do so. It is not an easy
job even for us whose mother tongue is Persian."
The Tehran Times, on November 9, 2008printed the following article.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=181954
A small section is reproduced below.
"There can be no better introduction of Iqbal than his poetry. In no
other way we can introduce Iqbal more truly. Some of the Persian poems
of Iqbal are the most sublime pieces of Persian poetry."
......................................................................................................................
This is what an Iranian critic has had to say about Iqbal's Persian
poetry.
http://www.art-arena.com/devpoet.htm
"Three poets, of this period are worthy of particular note in terms of
originality and attractiveness, one in the Indian subcontinent and two
in Iran. Iraj (who has already been mentioned as a satirist) soon
abandoned his earlier Khorasani style for a more intimate and
idiomatic language, in which he wrote mostly casual and satirical
poems, but also delectable lyrics. Parvin (1910-41), who remains,
with Iraj, one of the two most popular poets of the period, is an
eloquent writer of passionate humane feelings and ethical outlook.
She is best known for her tender, fable-like moqatta’ats (pieces)
written in moving tones with moralizing intent. The third is Iqbal of
Lahore (1877-1938), an admirer of Rumi, who sought in a series of
impassioned poems to expound his vision of Islam as a dynamic faith
and a panacea for the
social and political ills of the Muslim world. An intellectually
endowed poet of fertile mind and reformist ambitions, his lively
imagination is matched by his emotive intensity and mastery of
expression. Iqbal may well be considered the
most significant poet in the classical Persian tradition since
Hafez.
..............................................................................................
Below is a piece taken from Momen Qanaat, the editor of the Tajik
magazine "Seday-e- Sharq"
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Geography/common_culture.htm
"The new poetry in Tajikistan is mostly concerned with the way of life
of people and is revolutionary. The modern poetry of Russian scholar
Mikavoski did not produce a good result. From the 50's until the
advent of new poetry in France, Asia and Latin America, the impact on
the modernization drive was strong. In 60's Iranian modern poetry and
that of Mohammad Iqbal Lahouri made very good impression in Tajik
poetry and in my opinion this period is the most rich, prolific and
active period for development of themes and forms in our poetry. "
..................................................................................................
KHair-KHvaah,
Naseer