The English Sufi
Kazy Javed
The best-known European Muslim scholar and Sufi saint, Martin Lings, blessed the city of Lahore with a brief visit in the middle of the current month. He was the guest of the Iqbal Academy which arranged his public lecture at Aiwan-e-Iqbal just eleven days ahead of his 96th birthday anniversary. He is only a little hard at hearing, all the rest of his mental and physical faculties seemed to be well tuned. He stood straight for more than an hour of lecturing with his classical English accent. About 250 men and women, young and old, had assembled there to hear the man who has spent the major part of his life writing and disseminating Islamic teachings to modern readers. There were no chairs for many but they stood up to applaud the scholar who with his jubba and amama and gleaming forehead and eyes gave the look of some grand saint of the Middle Ages.
Martin Lings was introduced in our corner of the world by Maulana Jaffar Qasmi. Qasmi had gone to England as a young man to become a barrister. Instead, he returned as a Sufi of Shazlia order which was hardly known here. He was appointed the first Muqaddam, that is some sort of a country chief, of Shazlia order in Pakistan.
Dr Martin Lings belongs to the same order. He embraced Islam in 1928 under the influence of Sheikh Ahmad al-Alawi, the Algerian Sufi saint and scholar who is credited with regenerating Shazlia order of Muslim Sufism. He died in the early 1930s. Dr Lings has written a full-scale book on him under the title of A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century which met with great acclaim in mystical circles.
Abu Bakr Siraj-ud-Din is the Muslim name given to Martin Lings by his Sheikh on conversion. But the Sheikh advised him to retain his Christian name on his books. Hence he is better known by the name that was given to him by his parents.
Muhammad, His Life According to the Earliest Sources is Dr Martin Lings' most celebrated book. Published in 1983, it is generally regarded as most read of books written on the life of the Holy Prophet in any European language. It won 'Best Book of the Year on Seerat Award' during General Zia ul Haq's regime. Some of our religious scholars were not happy with the book. They alleged that it contained objectionable material. So the book was banned by Benazir government when many people raised hue and cry against it. It is, however, interesting to note that the book was brought out by the Army's Book Club soon after its publication was forbidden by the government.
Dr Martin Lings is widely admired for his writings on Sufism. The latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica carries his article on this subject. Similarly, Cambridge University publication Religion in the Middle East and the New Cambridge History of Arabic Literature also contain his pieces on Sufism. His best-known writing on the topic, however, was published under the title What is Sufism?
The topic that he selected for his public lecture in Lahore was also related to this subject; he spoke on the Quranic sources of Sufism.
Having entered the realm of Islam through a Sheikh's khanqah, he firmly believes Sufism to be the true form of Islam. Sufism, he says, means the preparation in this world for life in the hereafter. It is neither un-Islamic nor a latter day innovation which appeared under the influence of Hindu or Christian mysticism. "Nowadays, indeed, there may be some Sufism without a reality. In the Quranic times, it was a reality without name," he declares. He does not forget to add that the be-all and end-all of Sufism is the realisation of the Quranic adage Inna lillahe wa inna ilaihe raaji'oon which can be translated as "We are from Him, and shall be retraced back unto Him".
Many of Dr Lings' books have been published in Pakistan by his passionate admirer Suhail Umer and are available with Maktaba-e-Riwayat of Lahore. Collection of his poetry and a book he wrote on Shakespeare, however, are not easily available here, though a friend of mine has promised to provide me with some of his poems.
Poles apart
Another guest of literary importance came from Poland. Dr Danuta Stasik stayed in Lahore for two nights and then left for India where she is to remain for almost a month. It was her first visit to Pakistan but she had been to India for many a time. Talking about her impressions regarding Indian society and civilization, she told us that she was greatly shocked when Babri Mosque was vandalised in 1992. "I was under the impression that modern education and democracy had enlightened the people. They wouldn't go to the extent of desecrating a historical place of worship. I had been reading reports about the extremists who were encircling the mosque but I though that it was just a political stunt. Their leaders would finally make them go back to their homes But when the sad news came, I was shocked and disillusioned," she remarked.
"Do you think it was the first event of its kind in our region?" Mustansar Hussain Tarar asked.
She answered in the negative and added, "perhaps it couldn't have happened elsewhere."
Niaz Ahmad of the Sang-e-Meel Publications had invited some writers to meet Danuta Stasik. Intizar Hussain and Mustansar Hussain Tarrar were there. Siddiqa Begum who edits the oldest Urdu literary magazine Adab-e-Latif, Dr Tahseen Firaqi who is the head of the University Oriental College's Urdu department and Muhammad Ikram Chughtai who is a noted research scholar were also there.
Dr Danuta Stasik is the chairperson of the department of South Asian studies of the Warsaw University. Her department is part of the university's Institute of Oriental Studies which was established in 1932 by a renowned Indologist. The tradition of Indian studies, therefore, has been quite strong there from the beginning.
Dr Stasik is also an Indologist with Hindi language and literature as her forte. Her list of publications included Out of India: The Image of West in Hindi Literature. It was published from New Delhi in 1994.
She told her audience that the Polish literature had a history of almost a thousand years. The Poles are particularly fond of poetry. "I would rather say that Poland is a country of poets." Three polish writers have so far been honoured with Nobel Prize. The tradition of translation is also quite strong and hundreds of foreign books are rendered into Polish every year.
"Are Urdu books also translated?"
"Very few. Even the poetic works of Iqbal and Faiz have not yet been made available to Polish readers in their language. Some short stories of Manto, however, have been translated. But the list of Hindi books rendered into Polish is quite impressive. This is mostly because Indian government and universities take much interest in this work. Now I have come here to seek funds for translation of Pakistani books and to explore the prospects of establishing contacts with your academic institutions."
Dr Danuta Stasik speaks simple but fluent Urdu. She has a doctorate degree in Hindi. Her English is fine. But she is not confined to these languages. She is also at home in Persian, Sanskrit, Magdhi and some other Indian languages.
She is all praise for the Pakistani ambassador to her country, Ms Fauzia Nasreen. "She is very active and helpful," Dr Stasik said and added, "I hope my visit will be fruitful and I will be able to establish mutually beneficial contacts with your literary and academic circles."
Manto and Faiz
Manto may not be 'the best and greatest among the Urdu fictionists' but his being the most popular goes without saying. Half a century has gone by since his death in Lahore in the third week of January 1955, yet his short stories, character sketches and other writings are widely read and admired.
His 50th death anniversary is being observed these days. Pakistan post office has issued a commemorative stamp to mark the occasion. Two recent publications on Manto are being much talked about. One of them, Manto: Noori Na Naari, is a posthumous collection of articles written by Mumtaz Shireen, a noted literary critic who passed away in 1974. The other book is titled An Interpretation of Saadat Hasan Manto. It is also a collection of articles on Manto penned by Fateh Muhammad Malik who has taken pains to prove that Manto was a true Pakistani who firmly believed in two-nation theory.
Sang-e-Meel Publishers of Lahore have brought out Manto's writings in six finely produced volumes. They are titled Manto Nama, Manto Rama, Manto Dramay, Manto Numa, Manto Kahaniyan and Manto Baqiyat.
A number of literary functions including seminars, discussions and meetings are being held in connection with Manto's anniversary. The Lahore chapter of the Pakistan Academy of Letters was the first to organise a seminar. It was chaired by Abid Hasan Minto while Mustanser Hussain Tarar, Dr Mirza Hamid Baig, Dr Yunas Javed and Amjad Tufail were the speakers.
Mustansar Hussain Tarar recalled his early childhood days when he lived in Manto's neighborhood. He had many anecdotes about the celebrated writer to share with the audience. Dr Mirza Hamid Baig disputed a statement attributed to Faiz Ahmed Faiz that Manto was his pupil at Amritsar's MAO College and it was he who asked young Manto to stop making poetry and start writing prose.
Baig contended that Manto had already established his credentials as a writer in 1935 when Faiz Sahib joined the college.
Source: http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2005-weekly/nos-30-01-2005/lit.htm#3