Author: Guri
Date: Jun 20th 1995

Sorry, guys, for coming around here less often than I've wanted to...been engulfed in a production ...I had started this post in the days of RJGK 22, when I think it was Ashok who said the article on Sahir's life talked about 'Universal Love' in his shaayari but not about his 'socialistic' tendencies...here's what methinks :))

The guy who wrote:

	zindagHi sirf mohabbat nahiN kuchh aur bhi hai
	zulf-o-rukhsaar ki jannat nahiN kuchh aur bhi hai
	bhookh aur pyaas ki maari huyi is duniyaa meiN
	ishq hi ek haqeeqat nahiN kuchh aur bhi hai

found it quite natural, at one time, to get immersed in a 'revolution' of his own design...a war against injustice of 'all' kinds as he perceived it, be it the injustice done to him by people like his father/his beloved's father, or that perpetrated by other perceived oppressors against the man on the street. Sometime in the early sixties, Sahir's pen seemed to become his sword in this war, and he wrote:

	ham amn chaahte haiN magar zulm ke khilaaf
	gar jang laazmee hai to phir jang hi sahi

	zaalim ko jo na rokay vo shaamil hai zulm meiN
	qaatil ko jo na Tokay vo qaatil ke saath hai
	ham sar-ba-kaf uTThay haiN ke haq fatehyaab ho
	keh do usay jo lashkar-e-baatil ke saath hai

	is Dhang par hai zor to ye Dhang hi sahi

	[sar-ba-kaf=hatHeli par sar lekar
	haq=truth
	fatehyaab=victorious
	lashkar-e-baatil=jhooTh ki senaa]

Very quickly, of course, these 'socially-conscious' pieces brought the poet himself a label of 'the socialist'...all kinds of movements of a similar nature readily owned Sahir as their spokesman, and Sahir wrote more:

	zulm phir zulm hai, baDtaa hai to miT jaataa hai
	khoon phir khoon hai, Tapkegaa to jam jaayegaa

	zulm ki baat hi kyaa, zulm ki auqaat hi kyaa
	zulm bas zulm hai, aagaaz se anjaam talak

	khoon phir khoon hai, sau shaql badal saktaa hai
	aesee shaqleN ke miTaao to miTaaye na bane
	aese sholay ke bujhaao to bujhaaye na bane
	aese naaray ke dabaao to dabaaye na bane!

kuchh din tak chaltaa rahaa ye pravaah 'zulm' ke khilaaf 'jang' ke jazbaat ka...Pdt. Nehru died...1965 ki Indo-Pak conflict apnay saath jang ki us bhayaanak shaql ko lekar saamne aayi jisme apnay roobaroo apnay khoon ko bemaqsad behtay dekh kar Sahir ko apni hi likhi huyi usi ghazal ki akhri do laayineN jaise yaad aa gayiN

	tum agar aaNkh churaao to ye haq hai tumko
	maine tumse hi nahiN, sabse mohabbat ki hai
	                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

baat to vohi mohabbat se shuroo huyi tHi, jang-0-khooN meiN kaise aTak kar reh saktee tHi? He wrote:

	khoon apnaa ho ya paraayaa ho
	nasl-e-aadam ka khoon hai aakhir

	jang mashriq meiN ho ke magHrib meiN
	amn-e-aalam ka khoon hai aakhir

	jang  to khud hi ek mas_alaa hai
	jang kyaa mas_aloN ka hal degee
	aag aur khoon aaj bakhshegee
	bhookh aur ehtiyaaj kal degee
	[mas_alaa=samasyaa
	ehtiyaaj=needs]

	isliye ae shareef insaano
	jang Taltee rahe to behtar hai
	aap aur ham sabhi ke aaNgan meiN
	shammaa jaltee rahe to behtar hai
	
	bartaree ke suboot kee khaatir
	khooN bahaanaa hi kyaa zarooree hai?
	ghar ki taareeqiyaan miTaane ko
	ghar jalaanaa hi kyaa zarooree hai?
	[bartaree=baDappan]

Sufi-poets usually equate ISHQ with IBAADAT, and many a time therefore, oppose organised religion and organised conflict (war) of all kinds. They also talk about love with the beloved being the same as love with God as well as with all of His creation. They consider this kind of love to be, sometimes, a difficult, yet the only way to 'get there'. Previous sufi-poets who have left a huge treasure of kalaam (usually sung, not recited...a lot of it in the form of Qawwalis / KaafiyaaN / Dohay / Rang) etc. They express a close affinity to all the popular love-ballads: Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Majnu, Sassi-Punnu, Dhola-Maaru, Shirin-Farhaad, even Radha-Krishna and Seeta-Ram.

Sahir was never very far from this preoccupation with ishq...he had written earlier in 'TalkhiyaaN':

mere sarkash taraane sun ke duniyaa ye samajhtee hai
ke shaayad mere dil ko ishq ke nagHmoN se nafrat hai
[sarkash=revolutionary]

magHar ae kaash dekheN vo meree pursoz raatoN ko
main jab taaroN pe nazreN gaaDkar aaNsoo bahaataa hooN

maiN shaayar hooN mujhe fitrat ke nazzaaroN se ulfat hai
meraa dil dushman-e-nagHmaa-saraayi ho nahiN saktaa
[fitrat=nature
nagHmaa-saraayi=geet gaanaa]

mujhe insaaniyat ka dard bhi bakhshaa hai qudrat ne
meraa maqsad faqat sholaa-nawaayi ho nahiN saktaa
[faqat=sirf
sholaa-nawaayi=aag barsaanaa]

The late-sixties saw a number of sufiyaanaa stuff from Sahir in the movies. When he talked about the fundamentals of sufism in... Barsaat Ki Raat / Roshan:

	ishq aazaad hai, hindu na musalmaan hai ishq
	aap hi dharm hai, aur aap hi imaan hai ishq

	Allah aur Rasool ka farmaan ishq hai
	yaani Hadees ishq hai, Quraan ishq hai
	Gautam ka aur Maseeh ka armaan ishq hai
	Ye qaaynaat jism hai, aur jaan ishq hai
	ishq Sarmad, Ishq hi Mansoor hai
	ishq Moosaa, Ishq Koh-e-toor hai
	khaq ko but, aur but ko devtaa kartaa ishq
	intehaa ye hai ke banday ko Khudaa kartaa hai ishq!

And, BTW, the following couplet in this qawwali is 'inspired' by the famous Sufi Amir Khusrau :)

Sahir:
	bahut kaThin hai dagar panghaT ki
	(ab) kyaa bhar laaooN maiN jamunaa se maTakee
	maiN jo chali jal jamunaa bharaN ko
	(dekho ri sakhi ri)
	maiN jo chali jal jamunaa bharaN ko
	Nand ko chhoro mohe rok-ke chhaaRo 
	(to) kyaa bhar laooN maiN jamunaa se maTakee

	(ab) laaj raakho mere ghooNghaT-paT kee

Khusrau:
	bahut kaThin hai dagar panghaT ki
	kaise maiN bhar laaooN madhwaa se maTakee

	paniyaa bharan ko maiN jo gayi tHee
	dauR jhapaT moree maTakee paTakee

	Khusrau nizaam ke bal-bal jaayiae
	laaj raakho mere ghooNghaT paT kee 

Back to Sahir...he talked about the khokhlaapan of organised religion and man-made divisions of this planet in ...Dhool Ka Phool / N. Dutta:

	achhaa hai abhi tak teraa kuchh naam nahiN hai
	tujhko kisi mazhab se koyi kaam nahiN hai
	jis ilm ne insaan ko taqseem kiyaa hai
	us ilm ka tujh pe koyi ilzaam nahiN hai ! 		

	maaliq ne har inssan ko insaan banaayaa
	hamne usay hindu ya musalmaan banaayaa
	qudrat ne to bakhshee tHee hameN ek hi dhartee
	hamne kahiN Bharat kahiN Iran banaayaa

	nafrat jo sikhaaye vo dharam teraa nahiN hai
	insaan ko roNday vo qadam teraa nahiN hai
	Quraan na ho jisme vo mandir nahiN teraa
	Geeta na ho jisme vo haram teraa nahiN hai

And he put ishq-o-mohabbat above takht-o-taaj in... Tal Mahal / Roshan:

	aap daulat ke taraazoo meiN diloN ko toleN
	ham mohabbat se mahabbat ka silaa dete haiN

	takht kyaa cheez hai aur laal-o-jawaahar kyaa hai
	ishq waale to khudaayi bhi luTaa dete haiN

And he questioned the sin-virtue concept pushed by organised religion in...Chitralekha / Roshan:

	ye paap hai kyaa, ye punya hai kyaa ?
	reetoN par dharm ki mohreN haiN
	har yug meiN badalte dharmoN ko
	kaise aadarsh banaaoge ?

And when he came back to the love with khudaayi, this time he compared God with baabul in...Dil Hi To Hai / Roshan:

	bhool gayi sab bachan bidaa ke
	kho gayi maiN sasuraal meiN aake

	koree chunariyaa aatmaa moree
	mael hai maayaa jaal
	vo duniyaa more baabul ka ghar
	ye duniyaa sasuraal
	jaa ke babul se nazareN milaaooN kaise, 
	ghar jaaoN kaise
	laagaa chunaree meiN daag chhupaaooN kaise

He wrote plenty of love-songs, plenty of zamaanaa-khilaaf songs, plenty of insaan-ki-insaan-se-mohabbat songs...most of this stuff had couplets that relate to the concept of sufism (which may comment on 'pre-occupation' with material things, and may disagree with putting 'daulat' ahead of 'dil' but does not have an 'unconditional' problem with the use/enjoyment of material things as such) a lot more than to the narrower concept of anti-capitalism...understandably I guess, because when he found himself in the midst of success and 'capital' the guy did not abstain from an extravagant personal life-style himself ! He supported it thus:

	ye bhog bhi ek tapasyaa hai
	tum tyaag ke maare kyaa jaano

	ham janm bitaa kar jaayenge
	tum janm gaNvaa kar jaaoge !