Do Not Ask ...
Do not ask me For that past love When I thought You alone illumined This entire world And because of you The sorrows of life Did not matter. I thought Your beauty game permanence To the colors of spring And your eyes were The only stars In the universe. I thought If I could only make you mine Destiny would, forever, be In my hands. Now I know There are afflictions Which have nothing to do with desire Raptures Which have nothing to do with love. On the dark loom of centuries Woven into Silk, damask, and goldcloth Is the oppressive enigma Of our lives. Everywhere-In the valleys and bazaars-Human flesh is being sold-Throbbing between layers of dust-Bathed in blood. The furnace of poverty and disease Disgorges body after body-Your beauty is still A river of gems But now I know There are afflictions Which have nothing to do with desire Raptures Which have nothing to do with love. My love, do not ask me ... ================================================================= The poem is from Faiz's first collection " Naqsh-e-Faryadi" published in 1941. F aiz had completed his studies in 1934, and had joined as lecturer in M.A.O colle ge Amritsar where he met Mahmuduz Zafar and Rashid Jehan who were the pioneers o f the Progressive Writers Movement in India and who were major inspirations for Faiz. (The PWA was formally founded in 1936 in Lucknow and the names associated with this movement are awe-inspiring... Faiz, Kaifi Azmi, Krishan Chander, Ismat Chugtai, Majrooh, Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Munshi Premchand, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Majaz , Sahir...) Inspired by the Communist revolution in Russia, the "common theme" amongst its p roponents was the move from (and I am simplifying heavily) classical themes to i ssues of social awareness. So Faiz's first volume itself is divided into romanti
c poetry and poetry that dwells on social issues. In the poem he dramatizes his own literary shift from romantic poetry to socially committed poetry when he add resses his mistress with the wonderful lines "Ab bhi dilkash hai tera husn magar kya kijye/aur bhi dukh hain zamane mein mohabbat ke siva" . Sahir echoes this s ame gesture in the "Tum mujhe bhool bhi jao to ye haq hai tumko" song where the man says to the woman "Bhook aur pyaas ki maari hui is duniya mein/ishq hi ek ha qeeqat nahin kuch aur bhi hai" and gives it a further twist by allowing the woma n to express her position vis a vis the man's. To come back to Faiz, the poem was written before his stints in the jail and bef ore his career in the Pakistani army where he saw the devastation of the Second World War at first hand, and furthermore, before the partition which was such a devastating experience to its witnesses. His later poetry is darker in vision. I n this poem we see the poet at the beginning of his career. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Don't Ask Me for That Love Again -Faiz Ahmad Faiz That which then was ours, my love, don't ask me for that love again. The world then was gold, burnished with light ? and only because of you. That's what I had believed. How could one weep for sorrows other than yours? How could one have any sorrow but the one you gave? So what were these protests, these rumors of injustice? A glimpse of your face was evidence of springtime. The sky, wherever I looked, was nothing but your eyes. If You'd fall into my arms, Fate would be helpless. All this I'd thought, all this I'd believed. But there were other sorrows, comforts other than love. The rich had cast their spell on history: dark centuries had been embroidered on brocades and silks. Bitter threads began to unravel before me as I went into alleys and in open markets saw bodies plastered with ash, bathed in blood. I saw them sold and bought, again and again. This too deserves attention. I can't help but look back when I return from those alleys. what should one do? And you still are so ravishing what should I do? There are other sorrows in this world, comforts other than love. Don't ask me, my love, for that love again.
