Nusrat Siddiqui and Qamar Raza Shahzad belong to the late 20th century generation of Urdu poets who still hold their ground because of the richness and versatility of their poetic genius. There are many points of commonality between the two alongside an equal measure of diversity. Their popularity in literary and non-literary circles owes a great deal to their originality in expression and content backed by a strong commitment to their vocation as a poet. In the line of Eliot, perhaps they too deem ‘the proper fusion of meaning in language’ as the prime function of poetry, far from being self-revelatory. Their poetic works also seem to reiterate their belief in the medium of art as ‘exploration of experience’.
MATA-E-DARD:
It is Nusrat Siddiqui’s fifth verse collection (2020) in a series after Lamha-e-Maujud (1986, 1992), Tray Tulu Ka Lamha (2004), Roop Ghazal Kay (2008), and Taqazay (2015). He is a popular poet deeply concerned with the worries and woes of the common man. His imagery expatiates on the age-old dialectics of class struggle. But he does not feign to be an ideologue. In a soft but studied accent, he vents his grief, resentment, and protest against social injustice, oppression, exploitation, and evils of sorts with utmost conviction and commitment. His ghazal is immersed in a melodic strain reminiscent of the classical aura of Meer and Momin. (Roo’ey ghazal say rang-e-taghazzul mita’ey ja/Is ahd-e nau mein kuch to naya hona chahiyey).
Nusrat Siddiqui’s style is aphoristic. His diction seems to thrive on a concise terseness rather than an ambiguous prolixity. He firmly believes in art’s subservience to life but without any semblance of propaganda or didacticism. In his view, poetry seeks truth which is couched in the aesthetics of rhythm, sensation, and imagery. The socio-political undertones of his poetics tend to place him above the common lot of many of his contemporaries. Nostalgia, an egalitarian concern for the common man, an adroit usage of paradox, a ratiocinative expatiation of the vibes of love, a seething note of discontent about the socio-moral incongruities rampant in his surroundings, and a (Habib) Jalibian proneness to protest (but in a mild tone) are the distinctive features of Nusrat’s poetics whence the raison d’etre of his art as a versifier. Reproduction of a few verses from his present collection —- which comprises his divine poetry, ghazal, and nazm —- might enable the reader to have a fairer idea of the form and content of his verse.
Yeh zindagi hai sulagti rahey to achcha hai
Kisi ka dard sahi apni aankh tar rakhna
Maey nay chalna jinhain sikhaya tha
Ab who mujh say bhi tayz chaltay hain
Shaoor-e-fun bhi day logon ko aey mray Khaliq
Jo yeh nahin to mujhay taysha-e hunar bhi na day
Kaundti hain bijliyan charon taraf
Ho Khuda haifz mray gulzar ka
Laga kay jan ki bazi sar-e saleeb-e sitam
Sikha raha hun jahan ko jasaratein karna
Waqt kay badalnay mein
Hath say nikalnay mein
Talnay ya na talnay mein
Kafi dayr lagti hai
Ya phir aisa hota hai
Dayr hi nahin lagti
(‘Dayr Savayr’ – nazm)
ITMAM-E-HUJJAT:
Qamar Raza Shahzad is a veteran poet now. His emergence as a young, innovative poet dates back to 1980s when he frequently participated in ‘mushairas’ in Multan and its adjoining areas besides appearing in various literary journals and magazines across the country. Within the span of a decade or so he was able to establish his credentials as a young Urdu poet with a fresh diction and accent, voicing his poetic perceptions and concerns in the context of the Zeitgeist.
Itmam-e-Hujjat, a compilation of Qamar’s nazm (70), is his seventh verse collection in a row after Piyas Bhara Mushkeeza (68), Haara Hua Ishq (72), Yad Dihani (76), Kamhushi (72), Bargah (75), and Shash Jihaat (75) —- all six collections of ghazal. Unlike the introversive subjectivity of ghazal, nazm is basically rooted in objectivity —- its subjects are men, matters and materials. Qamar Raza Shahzad as a humanist voices the pain and penury of the deprived and down-trodden. His voice is a voice of protest against repression, social injustice and corruption. A few titles of his nazm like Zindagi Ka Geet, Women Day, Yeh Ahed Maira Ahed Hai, Hijrat, Aurat, Mahal Kay Roz-o Shab Wohi Rahay, Laash Number 113, Tajiran-e-Sukhan Ka Nauha, Yeh Keeray Makoray, Torture Cell, Yeh Ajab Jang Hai, Mairay Bus May Kya Hai, Dahshatgardi, Kaun Tujh Say Bara Chore Hai, Khud Shanasi, Koi Rasta Hai, and Aur Agar Maey Gira, would amply illustrate his chief concerns as a poet. Some poems have been attributed to celebrated personages like Sadequain, Asif Farrukhi, Roohi Bano, Asima Jehangir, and Gul Bahar Bano.
KHAKZAR (KULLIYAT):
The unconventional prologue or quasi-prologue to the instant anthology of the author’s six earlier collections of ghazal reads thus: Mray elawa koi aur goonjta bhi nahin/YehaN kalam bhi maey, sahib-e kalam bhi maey, which betrays the poet’s confidence in regards to his art and oeuvre. The ghazal in these collections is characterized by the forceful dynamics of diction, accent, imagery, conceits, rhythm and melody.
Qamar Raza specialises in the composition of ghazal. As an egotist, he would not compromise on any expediency but truth, justice and humaneness. Love being the nexus of creativity in ghazal, the poet has intensely suffused it with his dreams, yearnings, and imaginings. The vast imagistic-cum-metrical variety of Qamar’s ghazal inter alia gives him an edge over his peers. His choice of a certain metre in a ghazal more often than not suits its intent and ambience. Here are a few pertinent illustrations:
Azab-e maslehat ki qaid may hain log aur tu
Samajhta hai yehan sab ka guzara ho raha hai
Ek khwab may rakhain koi guzra hua lamha
Ek khwab say aainda ki ta’beer bana’in
Chupa hua hun kisi khazanay ki tarah Shahzad
Abhi mray aashkaar honay kay din nahin hain
Naya charagh, naya aaina, naya manzar
Bana raha hun kisi shaey ko torta hua maey
Maira muqabla to mray apnay sath hai
Mairay siwa kisi ko bhi mujh say hasad nahin
Na janay kaunsa dukh tha jisay sunatay huay
Maey khud bhi rota tha auron ko bhi rulata tha
Abhi to aaey gi mushkil ghari piyadon par
Kisi ko Shah kisi ko Wazeer chor chuka
