From: anajam@athena.mit.edu (ADIL NAJAM)
Subject: Re: Re Feminist Sufism :) and much more
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 21:07:16 GMT


I had written:
|> >While I intend to continue the thought chain that Naveed has initiated in some
|> >detail but for the time being just a few thoughts......Naveed has very rightly
|> >pointed out how the woman is real searcher of truth in most sufi poetry and all
|> >great folk tales. May it be Heer-Ranjha, Sassi-Punoh, Sohni-Mahivall or Noori-Jam
|> >Tamachi,it is the woman who emerges as the cutting edge in the search of truth.
|> >........Naveed, do you think Laila-Mujno also fits the trend, I am not really
|> >sure if it does, though it seems to me that Romeo Juliet does fit the bill.....

 
Naveed Siraj Memon writes: 
|> I am trying to think how the story of laila majnoN ends. Did'nt MajnoN  
|> become part of the desert waiting for laila's caravan to return? And by the
|> time she returned he did not have too long to live. So they Unite but only 
|> for forever by ending their lives in the desert at the spot where laila finds
|> Him. So if I let my crazy mind thinking then MajnoN is the Truth and laila 
|> It's seeker. Same holds for Romeo Juliet.


	Except that I would content [and again, I may be wrong] that niether
	Laila nor MajnooN is represents the Truth....they both **seek** the 
	truth......the difference is that here it is MajnooN who is at the
	"cutting" edge of the search....same goes for Romeo Juliet......for
	that matter Shereen Farhad is the extreme.........in all these cases
	I feel that the Truth is not what they phically find (e.g., Laila finds
	MajnooN or Farhad finds the doodh ki naddi] but the real Truth is
	embodied in the spiritual ordeals of the search for the Truth....in
	the process and in the pain......and most of all in resolutely
	maintaining ones belief through the process and in enduring that
	main with the same faith and belief.  To me the notion of one (MajnooN)
	being the Truth and the other (Laila) being the seeker sounds
	simplistic.........I for one would insist that it is in fact the 
	process.......the **Attainment** of Truth (iishq) is not necessarily
	synchornous with the **Arrival** at Truth........In Biblical contexts,
	when did Moses (Musa) attain TrutH?.......Did he attain it when God
	granted him the tablets with the commandments?.....or did he attain
	it in the process of appeasing God that led to that event?.........
	my interpretation of iishq...or seeking Truth would vote for the latter	
	.............again this is just my interpretation....my Truth :-)

	Comments, anyone......


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ADIL [aye barq-e-tajalli kond zara, kiya mujh ko bhi Musa sumjha hai
        meiN Toor nahiN jo jall jaaouN, jo chahay muqabil aaa ja-aye] NAJAM
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|> 
|> cannot find the exact verse but from Sur Sohni, Shah sings aloud,
|> 
|>      Sahar, Sohni and the Sea inseparably One
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> /* Sahar is Mahival/Mayhaar */
|> 
|> >Given this view (as explained in detail by Naveed, and as is clear to most
|> >followers of the intrinsic philosophy of these great messages), my long held
|> >feeling that fact Bulleh Shah, Ghulam Farid, Waris Shah and Abdul Latif Bhitai
|> 
|> If you want to use a word for them then maybe 'feminists' is one. But using 
|> this word may drag us into the debate of justifying positive contribution to
|> improving the life of of women in general. These poets assumed a woman's  
|> identity to facilitate the description of the Human condition, the Search
|> the pain staking journeys through Thar 
|> Thal and Cholistan, only the cry of a woman can echo the thirst for
|> Truth, Self Recognition.   This is indeed the impression one gets. That these
|> poets found themselves at ease getting into their shoes, and the rest was left
|> upto their poetic genius. 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> >lies in a renewed understanding of the true concept of "iishq"
|> >and to again quote a great verse from Mohammad Bakhsh (of Saif-ul-Malook fame)
|> >which I have quoted earlier:
|> 
|> 
|> > point out in my last many posts, that the salvation of the world, and atleast 
|> >of our society, lies in a renewed understanding of the true concept of "iishq"
|> >and to again quote a great verse from Mohammad Bakhsh (of Saif-ul-Malook fame)
|> >which I have quoted earlier:
|> 
|> 
|> 	>jinnaN iishq khareed na kitta, kanouN aan bhagottay
|> 	>iishq-oooN banjh Mohammad Bakhsha, ki Adam, ki kottay
|> 
|> 	>{they who have not bought the fruits of "iishq"
|> 	 	>O, why have they come on this earth
|> 	 >Without "iishq", O Mohammad Bakhsh,
|> 		>there is no difference between Man and beast (dogs)}
|> 
|> 
|> You better watch out buddy! Some of my best friends in the past have been
|> dogs :) :) :) We used to call each other Mogs half (m)an half d(og) But that
|> was back in the undergrad days when madness was not the exception but the 
|> norm :) :)  Sorry if I drifted away from the topic for a while. Just a 
|> flashback from the past :)
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> Getting back to the discussion and my perpetual madness, I was up till 9 am
|> Saturday morning. Checking out Volume II of Pathana Khan. I told you I have
|> had it for a long time so I said what the heck! Anyway this is the Kafi you
|> asked for. There are some words that I could not write because they were
|> either sung that way that the words were not easy for me to follow or they
|> were simply out of my knowledge of Seraiki/Punjabi vocab.If anyone has listened 
|> to pathana khan they can imagine how I mustve felt writing the verses down. I 
|> never felt tired of the stop/rewind sequence because I never hit the rewind but-
|> ton. I listened to the whole thing every single time. It was that much fun. Am I 
|> crazy or what :). If I have some comments while writing the lines I'll
|> let you know within /* comments */ Words that I could not get are within curly
|> { brackets }  The words where I have doubts and have made use of my judgement
|> are within these ( what ever hell they are called brackets ) Without any 
|> further bs on my part here goes the kafi. I may have to have a couple of 
|> cigarettes in the middle and definitely the one obligatory smoke the savour
|> the moment. Wink Wink. Shut your mouth Naveed and carry on
|>  
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> tussi vee ochay tohaDi zaat vee ochee
|> tussi vich och day rahn-day,
|> aassi qasoori saDi zaat qasoori 
|> aasssi vich qasoor day rahn-day.
|> 
|> 
|> aao paRh! paRh! bas mullaN! hik alif qafi! atay an ban! in bin! hoRn boRn kya!
|> jitay ( saaz ) firaaq day vaj gayay neeN mullaN! atay dhan dhan! dhun dhun! kya
|> jitay ( bayee )   {  }    vas gayay neeN mullan! atay kiRn kiRn! koRn koRn! kya
|> oo bullay-a jehN tay rab rahvay, aotay jumma khamees tay ( chanchar )! kya
|> 
|>                                                               /* smoke # 1 */
|>                                     /* I believe chanchar means Saturday */
|>                        /* meaning: the passing of days is meaningless when all
|>                           you  seek is the  Union  with the Beloved */
|> 
|> 
|> mayDa ranjaRn hoRn koee hoar
|> arsh monawar bangaN suRNyaaN takht lahoe
|> iishq day maaray avaiN phirday jeevayN jangal vich Dhhoor
|> 
|> 
|>                                     /* adil: it seems that one either becomes 
|>                                        a Dhhoor(cattle) or the kuta(Dog)
|>                                                     eventually  */
|> 
|> ranjhal takht e hazaar da saeeN
|> 
|> aao mahee! taDay avan day maiN tay lakhain ahsaaN manaysaN
|> gaDan rahaysaaN!
|> aaja Daykh kay dilbar kooN,
|> maiN tay sir sijday maiN DaysaaN,
|> adab karysaN!
|> vaylay hin ( koee ) gal laGan day otay savaRN sabzeeyaN saveeyaaN sayaN chaySaN
|> taa-m karaysaaN Thar Thar vaysaN
|> maiN-taaN apRna husn vakhaysaN 
|> Dhol manaysaaN
|> ranjhal takh hazaar e da saeeN ithay baRNhya choar.
|> 
|>                                               /* I can just die :) 
|>                                    /* the reference to saveeyaaN which most of
|>                                       u mustve had on Eid is so beautiful. The 
|>                                       poet is requesting the Beloved to offer
|>                                       him the pleasre of 
|>                                       the Union by making these offers of 
|>  				      serving these saveeyaN if the request is
|>                                       granted :)  */
|> 
|>  
|> 
|> 
|> Bulleh e Shah asaan maRna naheeN, goar pyak-oe hoar
|> jehN dil vich pyar dee ramz naheeN, bus oaN dil kooN veeran sumajh
|> jaykooN pyar dee JaaN suNyaRN naheeN, oaN banday kooN nadaan sumajh
|> ayo pyar aye dars waliaaN da, aye maslak paak nabeeyaN da,
|> anmool pyar dee doolat aye ( hik oqba ) da saaman sumajh
|> aye pyar dee khatir arshe baRnay
|> aye pyar dee khatir farshe barRnay
|> khud pyar khuda vich vasda aye
|> maiN sach aahda quran sumajh
|> na chahvan pyar da soakha aye
|> hik tol nibha-vaRn oakha aye
|> meeraj thyan aynday soolyeeaN day
|> kaee chaRhday (nok sanan) sumajh
|> iho pyar tay raab milwa-daynday 
|> sutay laykh (nazeer) jaga dayn-day
|> jehN dil vich pyar day dayray hin
|> bus ooN dil kooN irfaan sumajh
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|>                                             
|> Well I think that is all for now. More when people have some input about
|> feminism and folk poetry. 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> Naveed Memon