Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. vaheed aKhter (1935-1996), hyderabad, poet, writer and critic. He did his PhD in philosophy from osmania university and later taught at aligaRh. His compositions are very thoughtful and thought provoking and reflect his scholarship of philosophy. His ‘free verse’ nazm are extremely musical. This is a highly irreverant nazm questioning received wisdom and is linked to ‘uloohiyat-ehtejaaj’ on the Theme Index page.
1
jis ko maana¹ tha Khuda Khaak² ka paikar³ nikla
haath aaya jo yaqiiN⁴ vahm⁵ saraasar⁶ nikla    1.agreed, believed 2.dust, clay 3.image, figure 4.certainty 5.illusion, superstition 6.end to end, embodiment
That which I believed to be god turned out to be a figure of clay/human. When I got hold of certainty/faith, it turned out to be the embodiment of supersition/illusion. This may be a declaration of the poet’s atheism, or it is possible that by ‘Khuda’ he means some long held principle/belief or some highly respected person. In all three cases – divine being, long held belief, respected person, the result is disillusionment upon close examination.
2
ek safar¹ dasht²-e Kharaabi³ se saraaboN⁴ tak hai
aaNkh kholi to jahaaN⁵ Khwaab ka manzar⁶ nikla     1.journey, path 2.desert, wilderness 3.ruins 4.mirages 5.world 6.scene, panorama
There is a journey, a path, from the wilderness of ruins to the illusion of mirages. When I opened my eyes, the world turned out to be a panorma of dreams. The beginning of the journey is the desert of ruins – which might well be life of earth, reflecting the desolation, hardship and despair that humans feel. The end of the journey is illusion … we console ourselves with visions of heaven. The world that we perceive is nothing but a panorama of dreams, we project our desires on to future reality.
3
kal jahaaN¹ zulm² ne kaaTi thiiN saroN ki fasleN³
nam⁴ hui hai to usi Khaak⁵ se lashkar⁶ nikla     1.where 2.oppression, cruelty 3.harvest 4.moist, wet, irrigated 5.earth 6.army
Wherever oppression cut heads to reap a harvest, the earth was soaked in blood and a new army emerged. The imagery is of a cultivated field, harvested and new growth keeps coming up. Thus oppression will never succeed, new resistance movements will keep rising.
4
Khushk¹ aaNkhoN se uThi mauj² to duniya Duubi
ham jise samjhe the sahra³ vo samandar⁴ nikla     1.dry 2.wave, tide 3.desert 4.sea
When tears flowed from dry eyes a tide rose and the world drowned. That which we thought was dry land turned into a sea. Dry eyes are symbolic of the fortitude of oppressed people who struggle against their oppression stoically, without showing it through tears in their eyes. But when oppression increases to an unbearable level, the dam bursts with profuse weeping and the resulting floods are symbolic of the destruction that their rebellion can cause. It may be a warning to the oppressor to avoid getting swept away by the flood.
5
zer¹-e paa² ab na zamiiN hai na falak³ hai sar par
s’ael⁴-e taKhliiq⁵ bhi girdaab⁶ ka manzar⁷ nikla     1.under 2.feet 3.sky 4.flood 5.creation, creativity 6.whirlpool 7.scene, view
This may be yet another example of the poet’s irreverence for orthodoxy and its attendant unscientific fables. The ‘flood of creation’ – s’ael-e taKhliiq is the flood of stories/fables of creation of the sky, the earth, sun and moon etc. This may include the fable of Noah’s flood and the preservation of species associated with it. These stories are neither about the earth beneath our feet nor about the sky overhead but the scene of a whirlpool – an empty claim.
6
gum¹ haiN jibriil² o nabi³ gum haiN kitaab⁴ o imaaN⁵
asmaaN Khud bhi KhalaaoN⁶ ka samandar⁷ nikla     1.lost, unavailable 2.archangel Gabriel 3.divine messenger 4.book (of revelations) 5.faith 6.emptiness 7.sea
The poet/seeker is looking for answers but all the conventional/orthodox sources of knowledge – Gabriel, divine messenger, book of revelations and faith, are either missing or failing to provide satisfactory answers. Even the sky (seat of god) turned out to be a sea of emptiness.
7
arsh¹ par aaj utarti hai zaminoN ki vahi²
kurra³-e Khaak⁴ sitaaroN se munavvar⁵ nikla     1.sky 2.revelation, divine message, wisdom 3.pile, heap 4.dust 5.bright
This is a role reversal between earth and sky, humans and god. Conventionally, divine messages descend from heavens to the earth. Now it seems that such messages/revelations/truth is ‘descending’ from earth to the sky. This heap of dust i.e. the earth, turned out to be brighter than the stars i.e., we are the source of our own knowledge.
8
har payambar¹ se sahiife² ka taqaaza³ na hua
haq⁴ ka ye qarz⁵ bhi nikla to hamiiN par nikla   1.prophet, messenger 2.book, scripture 3.demand 4.truth 5.obligation
Here, I read ‘taqaaza’ as a demand that humans make, a demand for answers/knowledge that may be embodied in a ‘sahiifa’-book. None of god’s messengers could fulfil this demand. Humans had to step up and pay this qarz/obligation themselves. This is a qarz of haq/truth/knowledge.
9
guuNj¹ uTha naGhma²-e kun³ dasht⁴-e tamanna⁵ meN vaheed⁶
paa⁷-e vahshat⁸ had⁹-e imkaaN¹⁰ se jo¹¹ baahar nikla    1.echoed, reverberated 2.song 3.creation 4.desert, wilderness 5.desire 6.pen-name of the poet 7.step, foot 8.frenzy, passion 9.limit, boundary 10.possibility 11.when
When frenzy/passion (against the advice of wisdom/knowledge) stepped beyond the limits of possibilities, the wilderness of desire reverberated with the song of creation, O vaheed. What a powerful way of inviting us to step outside our capabilities, test our limits. When we do that all creation rejoices. Said Ghalib …
hai kahaaN tamanna ka doosra qadam yaa rab
ham ne dasht-e imkaaN ko ek naqsh-e-paa paaya