Courtesy Girijaa Upadhyay
Majeed Amjad
WHAT THEN WOULD BE?
that there neither be firmament nor earth
neither wilds and rivers nor mountains and deserts
that day be devoid of light, night bereft of darkness
that the moon be evaporated, the sun unreal.
in featureless, boundless airs
that no star shine
that there neither be inception nor some infinity,
no radiant splendor nor veiling
that nowhere there be a mark of existence
that nowhere be the notion of the world
death nonexistent, life extinct
that there be no reality nor deception
that nowhere remain the insignia of existence
that nowhere a single breath be drawn
that neither be this world, nor God
that nowhere even an atom be floating
this when I think I tremble
if there be nothing here then what would be?
Original Poem: "Phir Kya Ho" (from Shab-e-Rafta) in Kulliyat-e-Majeed Amjad (New Delhi: Farid Book Depot (P) Ltd., 2011), p. 71.
ETERNITY
bellowing earthquakes swelled, firmament's vault collapsed, blazing cities rocked
the day of reckoning arrived the world crashed into sun's dark shield
somewhere, snuffed stars of worlds turning to ashes
turning of shadows in an arrested multitude
somewhere in this erupting broiling lava of tortuous worlds
the vanished of the dusky embankments, part-opened window,
a face peeking from the ruined frame of some dying centuries,
is still fused with the fated lips smeared in the blazing dust of lands and skies in a way
as if
presently dawn shall decant the illusion of live sunshine on the hamlet
the street shall awaken, courts shall buzz with action
someone, rising with eyelids laden with slumber,
shall exclaim… "what a raging storm in the night!"
Original Poem: "Dawaam" (from Imroz) in Kulliyat-e-Majeed Amjad (New Delhi: Farid Book Depot (P) Ltd., 2011), p. 372.
SHADOWS OF THESE LUSH GREEN TREES
black stones, on scorching streets, shadows of these lush green trees
how cold is the wind here, how cold too the smears of shadows on the breeze,
through this cluster of trees when I passed,
in my body quivered shards of icy shadows,
falling from my body they shattered,
in my soul slithered an astounding novel chill,
the singular coolness of pleasant days,
how wonderful were those days, when a silky current of dewy breaths
touched the swelter of the sparks of my heart,
those misty joys that, veiling hiding at each turn, forever in a fresh disguise,
come and fuse with the souls, fuse and part, as if
perforated smears of shadows on winds,
in the air, scattered fragments of numerous bright and dark suns,
on the dust, unconnected, lineless outlines,
all this merely till a stride or two…
then further, the same sunlight, rushing towards blooming green agonies
sunlight spreading on the stone-fragments,
till the boundaries of nonexistence!
Original Poem: "Sarsabz PedoN ke Saaye" (from Imroz) in Kulliyat-e-Majeed Amjad (New Delhi: Farid Book Depot (P) Ltd., 2011), pp. 435-436.
SINCE LONG, EARTH…
since long, in the sleep of earth they already have been asleep,
the ones who now awaken in my slumbers,
just this instant, my world was asleep,
under the guard of their waking eyes,
just this instant, they were somewhere here, in the ages of my dreams,
just this instant, a bit fragment of their dusky eternity had melded
in these eyes of mine,
and in my self-centered vision could be seen
all those cool glacial elations which
were the affection and love of their hearts, for me,
just this instant, all this was within the comprehension of my non-comprehension,
and now in my wakefulness all have vanished, the ones who stay wakeful in my slumbers!
Original Poem: "Kab Ke Mitti" (from Farda) in Kulliyat-e-Majeed Amjad (New Delhi: Farid Book Depot (P) Ltd., 2011), pp. 592.
* * *
Amiq Hanafi
PRAYER
from the encumbrance of untold solar systems if
you can spare a moment,
cast a glance at the tear of penitence on the watery edge of
my eyes too
a twinkling star like some hymn of mercy
this earth
a lowly atom of your creation
and I an inconsequential element of this atom
my role, to preserve words in the joyful rhythm of meanings'
pulse
my words, x-rays of contagion spread by my split-image germs
alien world-alien its experience
word, alien-rhythm, alien
even so someone wheezed into my ear
whatever I am doing
whatever I am writing
is my creation
I too, in my own bounds-a creator
and this diabolical wheeze
got to my head
my spirit
I found in motionless quaver over waters for six days
invoking the word "Be" when I opened my eyes, I saw
this earth, this sky
light, water, air, land, trees,
the moon, the sun, the milky-way, beasts, jinns, humans, angels,
have become one as a chorus
and are smirking at me
all around me is blissful creation
oh Lord of the daybreak
if you can spare a moment
on my hushed selfhood
confer some light and warmth from your sun
and pronounce: go, my creation, be my sign
from me to your soul
or from the soul, become a chronicle of my passing
(All poems translated by Riyaz Latif)
*******
Majeed Amjad 9104-1974) an Urdu poet from Pakistan was described as a "philosophical poet of depth and sensitivity" Ignored for years by mainstream Urdu literati in South Asia, Amjad was introvert and reclusive, lived in a small town away from the literary glitter of Lahore. He published sparingly in his lifetime, constantly worked on his poems and it was only after his death that his poems in different stages of completion, notes and letters were found in his small apartment. They were brought out as a collection, Shab-e Raftah ke Ba'd (1976). Subsequently, his collected works or Kulliyat were also published.
Amiq Hanafi (1928-1988) a major voice in modern Urdu poetry was born Abdul Aziz Hanfi in Indore, educated at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh and majored in Political Science and History. He published his first poetry collection Sung Pairahan in 1958 that reflected the impact of Progressive poetics. He would later grow as a modernist as his later collections of poems Shajar-e-Sada, Shab Gasht , and his long poem Salsat-ul-Jaras show. He also wrote critical books on Amir Khusro and poetry and poetics called Sher Cheeze Deegar Ast that looks at Eastern and Western poetics.
Riyaz Latif is an art-historian of Islamic cultures. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the MIT, he taught art-history at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, USA. He emerged as a significant voice in Urdu poetry during the last decade of the twentieth century, and his poems have been published in reputed Urdu literary journals of India & Pakistan. In addition to two collections of Urdu poetry,Hindasa Be-Khwaab Raton Ka (2006) and 'Adam Taraash (2016), as well as a book of translations into Urdu from European poetry,Mera Khoya Awazah (2014), he has published articles on composite dimensions of literature, culture, art and architectural history. He also translates from Urdu and English, and some of his work can be found in the Annual of Urdu Studies.
Riyaz Latif in The Beacon
Source: https://www.thebeacon.in/2021/06/10/trees-earth-a-prayer-poetry-by-majeed-amjad-amiq-hanafi/
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