KARACHI: It was an evening that lived up to its billing. Eminent artist Zia Mohyeddin has been entertaining and educating audiences for a long, long time with his inimitable recital of Urdu poetry and prose. Wednesday night at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) was no different, and had a little extra. What was that extra bit? Music composed by Arshad Mahmud and efficiently played and sung by faculty and students of the academy.

But on the whole, it was Mohyeddin who, as he always does, ran the show and read and recited one beautiful piece of prose and poetry after the other by Faiz Ahmed Faiz on the occasion that marked the poet’s 108th birth anniversary.

The evening began with Napa students led by Nigel Bobby singing ‘Jashn ka din’. It, in a manner of speaking, set the tone for the show.

Rich and serene imagery of Faiz’s poetry mellifluously presented by the artist

Mohyeddin came to the stage and from the get-go talked about his association with Faiz. He said while he could address Josh Malihabadi as Josh and Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib as Ghalib, he couldn’t do that with Faiz, and he’d always call him Faiz sahib. He highlighted the fact that the poet was also a prose writer of high merit. This led him to set the agendum for the event: to interconnect Faiz’s letters with his poems. He did exactly that, and it proved to be a wonderful experience for the packed-to-capacity audience.

The letters that Faiz wrote to his wife from prison have a significance of their own. Mohyeddin linked them to his poetry in such a way that it seemed as if both were mutually reinforcing. The first poem that he recited after reading bits from a letter was ‘Ek Manzar’ (Baam-o-dar khamashi ke bojh se chur). The transition from one mood to another was seamless, as if a story was being told, and indeed that was the case. Because it didn’t take him long to read ‘Chalo phir se muskuraen’ and from there to the famous poem ‘Chashm-i-nam-jaan-i-shorida kaafi nahin’.

Then came the transition from tahtul lafz to singing, when a young female vocalist Sajar sang the ghazal ‘Phir aaena-i-aalam shaed ke nikhar jaey’. The young girl has a nice voice but she sounded a little overawed by the occasion. Her second performance, the beautifully composed ghazal ‘Nahin nigah mein manzar to justuju hi sahi’ was a far better effort. She has talent, for sure.

Whenever Mohyeddin in his illustrious career has read ‘Zindan ki aik shaam’, he has opened new vistas for interpreting the nazm. His rendition on Wednesday night had the same result. The rich and serene imagery, that every line of the poem is replete with, was mellifluously presented by the artist. There were members of the audience who knew the lines by heart so they were able to enjoy it even more.

Next up was a nice little experiment with sitar player Nafees Ahmed who, after Mohyeddin introduced Faiz’s ‘Nazr-i-Khusrau,’ sang the opening bit of the poem.

Equally impressive was Mohyeddin’s reading of one of the English pieces of prose. All in all, it was a memorable evening.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2019