Fascinating History. Interesting Medieval Incidents from Indian and Middle Eastern past.

In the first part of this article published last week, it was submitted that while referring to the Golden Age of Islam, Iqbal favoured the mystics and religious guides over the rational thinkers and scientists. It will be opined now that Iqbal was nostalgic for the Muslim past and in doing that, he lost touch with reality. Iqbal desired the Muslims to merge in one large nation that stretched over the continuous block from the Atlantic shores of Africa, through the Arab and Persian heartlands, to the eastern fringes of the Turkistan. In his dreamy scheme for Ummah he, in one of his verses, saw one nation along the geographical line from the banks of Nile to the soil of Kashghar. This was in suppression of historical, ethnic, sectarian, cultural and linguistic realities. While the verse is allegorical and heart warming, the concept harks backs to the Abbasid times when this was the extent of the Caliphate. This axis leaves the status of Indian Muslims as vague and excludes the Muslim ...

It is a tragic epitaph on the literary life of Iqbal that his poetry is more often employed by the religious clerics in their public sermons to further their obscurantist message and by the military to strengthen the morale of their profession, than by the practitioners of natural, liberal or secular sciences. A study of his poetry clearly reveals that this direction of Iqbal's poetry is well deserved. This series of articles will draw attention to a few dichotomies in the ideology of Iqbal as enunciated in his poetry. His poetical progression was divided in two phases; the first as an articulator of an Indian nationalist and the second as a proponent of Islamic revival. These articles will propound the confusing signals that emanate in the second phase of his literary journey. Iqbal was a beneficiary of education from Murray College in Sialkot. Without this missionary school, he wouldn't have stepped on the first ladder of the steep elevator that took him to the British est...

Maestro of Indo-Pakistan cinematic poetry Among the trio of creators of an enchanting eastern melody, while the singer gets the most acclaim and composer an honourable mention, the lyricist often goes unnoticed. That is a tragedy because a memorable song cannot emerge unless it evolves from good words. A great song consists of fascinating lyrics and hypnotizing voice knit around mesmerizing tune. Presence of all these three essential components creates harmony; one or two would just writhe around agonizingly without finding any bliss without the third. This article is about Tanvir Naqvi, one of the greatest Geet (song) writers of Indo-Pak film industry, and two of his Geets; a film song and a national song. Geet is one of the numerous forms of Urdu/Hindi poetry. As opposed to the more sacred Ghazal, whose one verse is unrelated in meaning to others, a Geet has a central theme. The two genre also differ in rhyme (Radif and Kafia) though they are similar in that their verses mostly co...

The song and the musician A haunting melody stirs the strings of our soul. More than any other form of music, it moves us spiritually, bringing our sublime feelings to the fore. In the film industry, the music of some films such as Parwana (1947), Mahal (1949), Aawara (1951), Madhumati (1955), Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam (1962) and some more, had a captivating, apocalyptic and eerie feel. It must be clarified here that haunting music is not horror music. The former is alluring, mesmerising and captivating whereas the later is repulsive, scary and disturbing. The former attracts whereas the later repels. Sub-continent music industry has produced many musicians, such as Madan Mohan, Salil Chaudhari, Shankar-Jaikishen and some others, who have given us memorable haunting melodies. However, the prince of haunting music remains Khawaja Khurshid Anwar. He did not produce this genre of music for just one song or one film. In his professional life, he gave us a series of film adorned with hauntin...

To suffer in silence is a persistent theme in the ghazal genre of Urdu poetry. The lover in its verses strives to keep the identity of his beloved obscure and hidden from the world. Even when the people close to the lover suspect by his demeanour that he is madly in love, he endeavours to keep the existence of his beloved under wraps. Though the lover in a ghazal constantly laments the indifference of the beloved, yet he is secretive about that diffident heartthrob. A faithful lover quietly endures pain, heartbreak and indignities or whatever comes his way, in the quest for his love. This strain of suffering in silence continues even when the lover is dictated by circumstances and society to accept the ultimate ill-fate, and lay down his life. A true lover, our Urdu poetry teaches, opts to willingly give his life with a smile on his face rather than scandalise the name of the beloved. Consider this verse by Qateel Shifai; Khud nu'mai to nahin shay'wa-a-ar...

It was the middle of 1972. I was nineteen and a flight cadet in PAF Academy, Risalpur. I was spending my summer break in Lahore with my family. We were residing in a rented apartment at 'Yadgar Chowk' -now renamed Azadi Chowk. The apartment block is opposite Minar-e-Pakistan, across the Old Ravi lake on the corner of Ravi Road. A part of that apartment building has now been demolished to construct a slip road for traffic coming from the River Ravi and turning left for the Circular Road, under the magnificent oval traffic bridge. The lower portion of the building housed the well known 'Ravi Chargha'; easily located on the google map. People familiar with the area would know that the place is a walking distance to the Shahi Mosque; and that’s what I used to do most mornings during holidays. With everyone at my home out for their daily chores, I would walk to the Mosque for my favourite past time; reading. As I had grown up in the area and had visited the Mosque-Fort co...