Hum Jeetay Ji Masroof rahai..

Last night after I read this comment on my post about Faiz sahab, I was left feeling guilty. Precisely because someone who has been reading his work for over two decades considers himself  short of words when it comes to talking about Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

I will however still write about this book that introduced me to Faiz sahab's poetry because, one its not as difficult to understand as I had initially assumed and two it is relatable and three his poetry gives me hope. And hope for a person like me is the magic potion that saves lives.

I'd like to share the poem from the title of the "Hum jeetay ji masroof rahai"

Woh log bohat khush kismat thai

Jo ishq ko kaam samjhtai thai

Ya kaam se ishq kartey thai

Hum jeetay ji masroof rahai

Kuch ishq kiya, kuch kaam kiya

 Kaam ishq key aahrey ata raha

Aur ishq se kaam uljhata raha

Phir akhir tungg aa ker hum ne

Dono ko adhora chorrh diya

- Faiz Ahmed Faiz

No, I had never read this before. And it gives this heavy feeling in chest, where my supposed heart feels restless. Restless because the last line of the poem will haunt me forever. I've had two line from this poem stuck in my head -  Hum jeetay ji masroof rahai / Dono ko adhora chorrh diya.

Punjabi poetry for me was limited to punjabi songs from Pakistan and from across the border. The only Punjabi poets I knew of were Baba Bullah Shah, Sultan Bahu, Baba Farid and Waris Shah. When I reached the Punjabi Poems' chapter of the book, I was taken aback. Mostly because with the kind of urdu Faiz Sahab used didn't even slightly flicker Punjabi accent in it and Punjabi poetry is immensely influenced by sufism. And unlike other famous Punjabi poets Faiz sahab wasn't a sufi.

Agha Nasir, the author of the book, states that Faiz sahab believed that some subjects for poetry are better expressed in Punjabi. Faiz sahab believed that Folk songs couldn't be sung in Urdu. Poems and songs about countryside, farmers are better suited for Punjabi language. 

It took me a while to grasp Punjabi written in Urdu but this poem like everything else I had already read in the book before it was a master piece on its own.

Meethray yaar mere, jani yaar mere

Tere qoul tey asaa'an wasa kar key

Jhaanjhara'n waa'ng, zunjeera'n chunkaaiyan ney

Kaddi kaa'ni mundaara'n paaiyan ney

Kaddi paai'ri bairiyaan chhai'yan ney

But Faiz Ahmed once said about his Punjabi poetry: "Baaee baat yoon hai, itna parhney likhney aur riyazaat key baad hum shaayed Ghalib jaisa aik adha shaaer keh leyn gay, lakin agar saari umer bhe lagay rahain tu Bullay Shah aur Waris Shah jaisa aik bhe nahi keh saktey."

In 1935 he had to move to Amritsar from Lahore. There he met a well versed couple, Sahibzada Mehmood Al Zaffar and Doctor Rasheed Jehan. Mr. Mehmood was a vice principal at local college and his wife was a doctor by profession. They were both Marxists. When they met Faiz Ahmed, he was madly in love and they soon found out about it. It was then that they tried to convience the young Faiz sahab by saying:

"Tum ishq aur aashiq key chakkar mai parray ho. Yeh sab fazool baat hai. Dunya key jo dukh hein unn ki nauyaat ziyada sangeen hai. Ashiqi ka yeh tumhara chota sa mumalah hai."

According to Faiz sahab, Doctor Rasheed Jehan taught him that personal miseries are minor as compared to the global issues and fretting over personal matters is but only selfishness. And it was then that Faiz's poetry was transformed from love to revolutionary and political.

Faiz sahab's poems have been sung time and again by renowned singers but when Madam Noor Jehan sung this piece by him, all he had to say was, "Yeh nazum ab humari nahi rahi. Hum ney tu yeh Madam Noor Jehan ko dey di hai."

I've probably made my point here. Faiz Sahab's poetry like Sami Saayer said, has hit me hard.

(Part 2 of 2 of Hum jeetai ji masroof rahai).