The battle of Karbala has undergone a major historical, legendary and metaphorical transformation over the years. In the sub-continent as early as ~1100 AD, the Sufi thinker, Chishti portrayed Karbala as a struggle between evil and virtue, as the essence of faith, raising it above the sectarian divide. Poets during the heyday of the influence of the Progressive Writers’ Association and later further metaphorically raised the event above religion, region and time using it as a symbol of an epic struggle between good and evil, justice and injustice and even painting it in a socialist hue. There are examples of such use in mohammed iqbal, maKhdoom, ali sardar jafri, shaz tamkanat and most powerfully in josh malihabadi.
azmat e insaan – josh malihabadi
In this marsia Josh sings praises of the human being and essentials of humanity from a Sufi point of view. He calls upon “the pen” or the written word to speak/write about the greatness of man (pardon my sexist language, but it reflects the original composition). Before doing so, he sings praises of “the pen”.
The first 11 stanzas (qalam 1-11) are pure pleasure in their musicality, metaphorical imagery, wide vocabulary the combination of which gives them great power. The content is totally secular and praises the pen/written word.
Stanzas 12 through 31 (insaan 12-31) are similarly powerful with essentially same characteristics. Having called upon the pen to praise human achievement, Josh proceeds to do so himself in the same delectable style. The content here also is secular.
Stanzas 32-40 (sufiyana 32-40) lose some of the character of the earlier stanzas. They are rather didactic and might get tiresome. Josh transitions from the greatness of human achievement to the greatness of “man” and oneness of all creation in the Sufi tradition of “an al haq” (I am the truth, declaration of Sufi scholar mansur al hallaj, influenced by vedic philosophy).
In stanzas 41-54 (husain 41-54) are pure praise of Husain. Josh transitions into this by characterizing Husain as the personfication of love of humanity, driven by the oneness of all creation. The content may not appear to be secular but it is in the sense that Husain is the personification of resistance to injustice. The language is lyrical and the metaphors are rich.
Stanzas 55-65 (karbala -55-65) deals with Husain’s struggle in Karbala, not so much in the sense of mouring but with intense praise for resistance to injustice. It requires some background to the history/folklore of Karbala, which I have tried to give.
In stanzas 66-88 (aajkal 66-88) uses the backdrop of Karbala and turns the attention of the audience to the present day. It calls upon people to rise up against injustice using the example of Karbala. The rendering is lyrical, emotional and at times inciteful and can best be enjoyed by letting Josh seduce you.
