Ali Sardar Jafri(1913-2000)
Dr.Mazhar
Naqvi
Ali Sardar Jafri is famous as a progressive and prolific
Urdu writer India has ever produced. He was also a poet, critic and wrote lyrics
for silver screen. While his contribution to Urdu literature is widely acclaimed
, Jafri’s attempt to turn “Al Atash” ( I thirst), the cry emanating from ‘Khayam-e-Husssaini’(
Camp of Imam ) into a universal symbol of distress remains mostly unknown to
Imamis. Al Atash reads as under:
“Phir Al-Atash ki hai sada
Jesay rijz ka zamzama
Phir raig e sehraa par rawan
Hai ahl e dil ka karwan
Nehr e Furaat atish bjan
Ravi o Ganga khoon chukan
Ae Karbala! Ae Karbala!”
Jesay rijz ka zamzama
Phir raig e sehraa par rawan
Hai ahl e dil ka karwan
Nehr e Furaat atish bjan
Ravi o Ganga khoon chukan
Ae Karbala! Ae Karbala!”
(Again the cry, “I thirst!”
is heard
Like a fountain of thundering war hymns.
Again the caravans of people of the heart,
Are moving across the desert sand.
The river Euphrates flows with fire
The Ravi and the Ganges, stream with blood.
O Karbala! O Karbala!)
Like a fountain of thundering war hymns.
Again the caravans of people of the heart,
Are moving across the desert sand.
The river Euphrates flows with fire
The Ravi and the Ganges, stream with blood.
O Karbala! O Karbala!)
Born into an aristocratic family of Balrampur on November 29, 1913, Jafri spent his formative years in his native place
before taking admission at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).He drew inspiration
from Josh Malihabadi, Firaq Gorakhpuri and Jigar Moradabadi.at AMU, he
developed leaning towards communist ideology and expelled from the university
in 1936.Plight of Indians touched his heart and he used thirst of Imam Hussain’s
camp as a metaphor to highlight distress
of people all over the world.
Today is Shaam-E-Ghareeban. Hussain and
his followers have beebn martyred in the day. There is complete silence in ‘Khayam-E-Hussaini’.
Children are no longer crying Al Atash even though they were still thirsty. The
exhausted, hungry and tired survivors sat in loneliness and thought not about water
but the loved ones they had lost in the
unjust battle on 10th of muharram 61 AH. Since then, Karbala has
been a constant source of inspiration to poets and writers to use martyrdom of
Imam Hussain and his companions in their literary pursuits to highlight its relevance
to modern world that is plagued with evils of all sorts. The blogger thought it
appropriate to post Jafri’s similar attempt to mark Shaam-e-Ghareeb. Al Atash
has assumed more relevance and significance in the current era as situation has
worsened for the mankind despite technological advancement.(References
available on request. Photo courtesy Google Images).
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