The greatest Urdu sher
By Justice Katju
Many people have asked me which sher ( couplet ) I regard the greatest.in Urdu poetry.
Now there are many great shers of Mir, Ghalib, Momin, Faiz, Josh, Sahir, Majrooh, etc
But when asked my opinion I have invariably referred to this sher of Firaq Gorakhpuri :
” Har zarre par ek kaifiyat-e-neemshabi hai
Ai saaqi-e-dauran yeh gunahon ki ghadi hai ”
Before explaining the meaning of this sher it is necessary to mention that Urdu poetry has often a literal, outer, superficial meaning, and an inner, deeper real meaning, and often one has to wrack one’s brain to understand what the poet is really seeking to convey. Urdu poets often express themselves not directly, but indirectly, by metaphors, allusions, hints, and indications.
Now keeping this in mind let us examine the above sher.
The word ‘ zarre ‘means particles, ‘ kaifiyat ‘ means condition, ‘ neem ‘ means half, ; shab ‘ means night, ‘ saaqi ‘ means the wine serving woman, ‘ dauran ‘ means era, and ‘ gunahon ‘ means sins.
In my opinion this sher is one of the greatest shers ever written, and ranks along with the best shers of Ghalib, the greatest Urdu poet. In a marvel of condensation it describes the transitional era our society and nation are going through, from a backward, semi-feudal society to a modern, highly industrialised society. At present we are neither totally feudal nor totally modern, but partly both.
A transitional period in history, like the one India is passing through presently ( transition from a semi-feudal, predominantly agricultural society to a modern, highly industrialised society ) is a very painful turbulent period, in which the whole of society is plunged into disorder and chaos.
When Europe passed through this period ( I.e. from 16th to 18th centuries ) there was turmoil, wars, revolutions, religious massacres, chaos etc. It was only after going through this fire that modern society emerged in Europe.
India is presently going through this fire, and the next 15-20 years are going to be chaotic and terrible. One wishes the transition could be achieved without violence and turmoil, but that is not how history operates.
India is presently passing through a transitional period in our history. Feudal remnants like casteism, communalism, superstitions, and atrocities and discrimination against minorities, dalits and women are persisting, and are still commonplace, as is evident from the phenomena of ‘ honour killing ‘, dowry deaths, communal riots, lynching of Muslims and other atrocities on them, etc
The present transitional era in India is a ‘ gunahon ki ghadi ‘ ( time of sins ) from the point of view of both the feudal minded people, as well as the modern minded people. The feudal minded people regard inter caste and inter religious love marriages as a gunah ( sin ), sometimes deserving ‘ honour killing ‘. They regard ‘dating’ with a person of the opposite sex before marriage as a gunah. They regard scheduled castes as inferior.
On the other hand, the modern minded people regard ‘ honour killing ‘ as a gunah, they see nothing wrong in love marriages, and demand genuine equality for women, scheduled castes, etc
Thus we see a clash and combat of values between the old and the new, as happens in a transitional age. It is a ‘ gunahon ki ghadi ‘, whichever way you look at it. Feudal and modern ideas co-exist in the transitional period, battling with each other.
One is reminded of Shakespeare’s line in ‘Macbeth’ ” Fair is foul and foul is fair “. This is precisely the situation in India today in this transitional age. What one group of people regard as fair is regarded as foul by another, and vice versa. Values of the old era, e.g. belief in the caste system, start crumbling, and are sought to be reversed by champions of the new society, which has not yet been created. A storm is blowing over the country, which is likely to last about 20 years or so, a storm which will be terrible for many, but which will sweep away the filth of feudalism and backwardness in our country.
” Kaifiyat -e- neemshabi ‘ means literally ‘ condition of half night ‘. This means firstly that we are living in an age which is neither night nor day, neither the one nor the other, neither medieval nor modern, but somewhere in between. The whole of society has been thrown into convulsions, chaos and strife. A tremendous amount of social churning is taking place. What was regarded as right earlier ( e.g. the caste system ), is regarded as wrong today by the enlightened section of society, and what was regarded as wrong, e.g. love marriage, particularly outside one’s caste or religion, is quite acceptable to the enlightened section.
Secondly, the word ‘ neemshabi ‘ indicates a mental condition of being dazed, as we often are when we awake in the middle of the night due to some reason. ‘Neemshabi’ implies that the night is only half complete. The words ‘ har zarre ‘ indicate that everyone is in a dazed or stupefied mental condition.
In the second line, saaqi is the girl who fills the wine cup, but in Urdu poetry she is also the person to whom one can confide the innermost thoughts in one’s mind. The poet is imagining a girl, to whom he is describing the features of the transitional era. When the poet says ‘ Ai saaqi-e-dauran ‘ he is really addressing people of this transitional age.
Yeh gunahon ki ghadi hai’ means it is a time of sin.
Daur means era, and gunah means sin.
In this transitional age it is a ‘gunahon ki ghadi’ ( i.e. time of sin ) from both points of view. From the point of view of people of the old, feudal order it is a sin to marry according to your choice, and particularly outside one’s caste or religion, it is a sin to give education to women, it is a sin to treat everyone as equal.
At the same time, from the point of view of the enlihtened modern minded people the caste system is a sin, denying education to girls is a sin, and love marriage is quite acceptable. Thus old and new ideas are battling with each other in the transitional age.
In the transitional era, as Shakespeare said in Macbeth ” Fair is foul and foul is fair ”. In other words, what was regarded fair earlier is regarded foul today, and what was regarded foul earlier is regarded fair today. So values have gone topsy turvy in the transitional era.
This state of affairs is likely to continue in India for another 15-20 years, after which a modern just political and social order will be created, in which everyone will get a decent life, i.e. employment, proper education and healthcare, nutritious food, healthcare etc
