The phrase ‘Urdu poet’ evokes the largely indisputable image of a man with dishevelled hair, not fussy about his clothes and having a bohemian attitude towards life and society. Anyone who has a refined sartorial sense and is cultured in his interaction with others doesn’t readily fit into that box. Is this the reason that Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim is yet to get the recognition that he richly deserves as a poet? The emphasis is on the adverb ‘richly’.

Pirzada sahib is an extremely learned man, a scientist by profession and a top-notch poet. Unfortunately, his poetry is seldom discussed with as much fervour as it merits. There are countless verses written by him that have now become proverbial. For example:

Shehr agar talab kare tum se ilaaj-i-teeragi
Sahib-i-ikhtiar ho, aag laga dia karo

[If the city asks you to get rid of enveloping darkness
You have the authority, set the town on fire]

Gah gah wehshat mein ghar ki samt jaata hoon
Is ko dasht-i-hairat se waapsi na samjha jaey

[Every now and then, I keep moving towards home in disgust
This should not be taken as return from the land of wonderment]

Dr Pirzada Qasim’s third collection of poetry has arrived after a span of many years. And the wait has been worth it

To the chagrin of his admirers, it’s been a while since Pirzada sahib published a collection of his poems. His first book of ghazals and nazms, Tund Hava Ke Jashn Mein [In Celebration of the Brisk Wind] came out in 1990. It was followed a few years later by Sholay Pe Zaban [Tongue on Fire]. Both were very well received. His admirers, ever since, had been waiting to read his verses in cold print. Well, the wait is over. And it’s worth it.

Pirzada Qasim’s new collection of ghazals and nazms, titled Bey-Musafat Safar [Endless Journey], has hit the bookstores, and it is a book worth reading both with concentration and enthusiasm. The collection has a little more than 100 ghazals and 40-odd nazms.

Interestingly, the book — before even getting all poetic — gets off to an excellent start: Pirzada sahib has dedicated it to the eminent philanthropist and renal transplant surgeon Dr Adeebul Hasan Rizvi. It goes to show the kind of a person the poet is: sensitive to the core. And this sensitivity pours into his poetry rather unwittingly, because anyone who has met, seen or heard him speak will vouch for his amiable demeanour. However, there’s a layer of melancholy to his personality that only emerges in his creative pursuits. Here’s a sample, two lines from the very first ghazal:

Suna raha hoon magar mujh pe kia guzarti hai
Ajeeb qissa hai apna hi noha gar main hoon

[Though I’m narrating the tale, it takes its toll on me
Strange: I’m my own elegy writer]

This is what distinguishes the poet from his contemporaries. Suffering is the centrifugal force that attracts all other ideas that assume poetic form. But this is the kind of suffering that Pirzada sahib has endured and is not apologetic about. He seems to follow the dictum propounded by Milan Kundera in one his novels: “The basis of the self is not thought but suffering, which is the most fundamental of all feelings. While it suffers, not even a cat can doubt its unique and uninterchangeable self. In intense suffering the world disappears and each of us is alone with his self. Suffering is the university of egocentrism.”

Pirzada Qasim is aware of it all. He knows that living in a world that is pockmarked with contradictions on many levels –– economic, social, political and romantic –– it’s not easy to survive, leave alone thrive. And he has moved on with a great deal of grace. Now keep this in mind and read this beautifully phrased ghazal:

Tumhein jafa se na yoon baaz aana chaahiyay tha
Abhi kuch aur mera dil dukhana chaahiyay tha
So aa basay meray dil mein ke bey-sahara gham
Kaheen tau jaatey, kaheen tau thikaana chaahiyay tha
Yeh waqt saarey zamanon ka khoon chaat gaya
Magar yeh hijr, isay beet jaana chaahiyay tha
Yeh meri haar thi kaar-i-jahaan se haara mein
Bichharrnay waalay tujhay yaad aana chaahiyay tha

[You shouldn’t have refrained from punishing me
My heart needed a bit more pain and agony
These wandering moments of grief have settled in my heart
Because they needed a shelter, a fresh start
Time has dried the blood off all ages, all eras
Still, this moment of estrangement, why doesn’t it pass?
I lost the battle of worldly pursuits, it was my defeat
You, who fell out with me, should’ve remembered that]

In nazms, though, the reader can feel a slight contextual departure. It is not a fundamentally different take on life; it overtly carries erudition and wisdom as the chief motif of the form, whereas the same — erudition — lurks in the ghazals as potent metaphors. Pirzada sahib is fond of the metaphor of roshni [light] and bedaari [awakening]. His nazms convey them in his trademark soft style. ‘Zindagi Bey-qeemat’ [Worthless Life] is one such example:

Is manzar-i-namuraad mein hum
Roshan koi raah dhoondtay hain
Khud apni shanaakht chaahtay hain
Bedaar nigaah dhoondtay hain
Ay zulmat-i-shab nizhaad-i-imroz
Farda mein panaah chaahtay hain
Yeh manzar-i-namuraad sub ko
Beytaab rakhay ga ta-qayaamat
Hum laakh banein charaagh apnay
Roshan karein apnay apnay sooraj
Jab tak na ho roshni khirad ki
Kuchh bhi nahin zindagi ki qeemat

[We, in this fruitless picture,
Look for an enlightened pathway
Look for our own identity
Look for a bright vision
O ye dark night, the descendent of the present
We look for refuge in the future
This fruitless picture
Will keep everyone restless till Judgement Day
No matter if we light our lamps
No matter if we make our suns rise
Unless there’s light of wisdom
Life has no value, no worth]

Isn’t that beautiful and worth pondering? The entire book is.

The reviewer is a member of staff

Bey-Musafat Safar By Dr Pirzada Qasim Rang-e-Adab, Karachi ISBN: 978-9697665853 280pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, March 1st, 2020