Firaq Gorakhpuri: A Hindu Who Proudly Called Himself An Ahle-Zabaan (Native Speaker) - On Firaq Gorakhpur's Birthday, August 28
By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
28 August 2022
Nature Hardly Makes Such A Great
Individual Like 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri. In These Times And Climes, ' Firaq' Is All
The More Significant When Urdu Is Being Called The Language Of Muslims And
Fanatic Hindus Are Purging Hindi Of All Persian, Arabic And Turkish Words To
Make It The Tongue Of Sanatanis
----
Mad Mein
Doobi Hui Ye Raat
Nargis-E-Neembaaz
Ka Aalam
Mere Naghme
Ki Narm Lay Mein Dekh
Jumbish-E-Paainaaz
Ka Aalam
-Firaq
Gorakhpuri
(The night is steeped in wine/ Like a
half-open Nargis/ Look at the soft cadence of my song/ It's as if a beloved
comes tip-toeing). The astounding juxtaposition of Hindi and Persianized Urdu
immortalized Raghupati Sahay ' Firaq ' Gorakhpuri's exquisite Urdu poetry.
" Raghupati Sahay ' Firaq ' Ne Na Sirf Hindi Aur Urdu Mein Tavazun Rakha, Balke Urdu Sukhanvari
Ko Parvaan Chadhate Hue Hindustani Ke Pahaluon Mein Bhi Izafa Kiya."
- Late Dr Gopichand Narang, noted Urdu
critic and writer
(Raghupati Sahay 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri not
only struck a perfect balance between Hindi and Urdu, but by lifting Urdu
poetry, he also enriched the facets of Hindustani)
" The perfect amalgamation of musicality, beauty and sensuality in
Firaq's Urdu poetry is unsurpassable."
-Qurratulain Hyder
" Aa Jaata Hai Husn Mein Salonapan Aur
Chanchalpan, Baalpan, Anailapan Aur
Kat-Te Hi Suhaagraat Dekhein Jo Use
Badh Jaata Hai Roop Ka Kunwarapan Aur
"
- ' Firaq ' Gorakhpuri
(The
beauty gets all the more lovely/Its naughtiness and impish charm increase
further/When you see her after the 'rendezvous'/The virginity of her comeliness
gets enhanced manifold)
' A
poet belongs to no creed, culture or country, ' magnanimously opined the great
English poet-critic Dr Matthew Arnold (1822-1888). This observation aptly
applies to Raghupati Sahay 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri whose 126th birth anniversary
falls on August 28. One of the greatest poets to have graced the last century
was 'Firaq' alongside Ali Sardar Jafri, Josh Malihabadi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and
Pakistan's legendary Ahmad Faraz.
What pains me sorely when some numskulls
ask me, 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri Hindu Thay Ya Musalman '? (Was 'Firaq'
Gorakhpuri a Hindu or a Muslim?). This very question is audaciously silly
because it's asked about a man, who at the age of twenty four, penned, 'Main
Na Hindu Na Musalmaan Hoon/Shayari Karta Hoon, Ahle-Zabaan Hoon' (I'm
neither a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim/I write Urdu poetry, I belong to Urdu).
'Firaq' always called himself an 'Ahle-Zabaan'
(native speaker) and never a 'zabaandaan' (who learns the linguistic
nuances as a second language). Born in a Hindu-kayasth family in Gorakhpur in
Eastern UP on August 28, 1896, 'Firaq' like Munshi Premchand, yet another
Hindu-Kayasth from Lamhi in UP, picked up Urdu-Persian as his mother tongue. ' Kakhara
Alif-Bay-Pay Se Hua Hai Mera/Ragon Mein Meri Karti Hai Raqs Urdu ' (My
alphabetic learning began with Urdu/ It (Urdu) dances in my veins).
'Firaq' spontaneously blurted out this
couplet when an editor of a Pakistani Urdu daily dared question 'Firaq's'
claims and credentials as one of the finest poets Urdu language has ever had
after Ghalib, Daagh, Mir and Momin. That editor later apologised and
specifically came to meet this great poet in Allahabad in 1961. 'Meri Urdu Ko
Nigah-E-Shak Se Dekhta Hai/Ye Tifl Abhi-Abhi Jawaan Hua Hai' (He casts
doubts on my Urdu/Methinks, this boy has just grown into a young man), he said
this about the hugely apologetic Munir Raza who came all the way from Karachi
to say sorry to 'Firaq'. Such was the aura and impact of 'Firaq'.
I really feel sad when people, even young
Muslims, don't know anything about Raghupati Sahay 'Firaq'. In this age of
WhatsApp poetry of the lowest level and an abysmal language, people have no
knowledge of this great poet. I feel all the more sad when some
good-for-nothing critics call him just a 'homosexual' poet. Agreed, he was an
avowed homosexual. But what does this preference have to do with his poetic
genius? 'Ilzaamaat Lagate Hain 'Firaq' Pe Humjinsiyat Ke/ 'Firaq' Ne Kab Iss
Shauq Se Inkaar Kiya Hai?' (There're allegations on my homosexuality/ But
have I denied my predilection?). Firaq's
article in defence of homosexual love (1936) and its depiction in the Ghazal
remains a classic, where he defiantly describes the depiction of homosexuality
and lesbianism in poetry across time and cultures in the works of Sappho and
Socrates, Saadi and Hafiz, Shakespeare and Whitman, Rumi and Shams and Oscar
Wilde.
'Firaq' was as candid as his poetry. He
wasn't a poet who only delineated feminine beauty in his prolific oeuvre. Late
critic Shamsur Rahman Faruqi called him a 'Shayar-E-Husn ' (a mere poet of beauty). It's a mistaken observation. Faruqi may
not have read Firaq's wonderfully philosophical Ghazals and couplets like, ''Raaz-E-Wajood
Kuchh Na Poochh, Subha-E-Azal Se Aaj Tak Kitne Yaqeen Guzar Gaye, Kitne Guzar
Gaye Gumaan' (Don't ask the mystery of the existence/ Right from the dawn
of human civilization till date/ So many soi disant beliefs and doubts have
come and gone) or 'Taqdeer Toh Quamon Ki Hua Karti Hai/ Ek Shakhs Ki Qismat
Mein Taqdeer Kahaan' (Only a race or community has a destiny or fate/
There's no fate in a mere mortal's luck). He defined luck, fate and destiny
through his multifarious poetry.
He was the head of the department of
English at Allahabad University and was equally proud of his mastery over
English. But it must be stated that his poetic life was busier than his
academic life. Firaq once 'justifiably' claimed, 'Only two and a half people in
India know English: 'Firaq' and Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan know the language
completely and Nehru knows it half!' What he said about himself will always be
relevant, 'Aane Waali Naslein Tum Pe Rashk Karengi Humasro/Jab Ye Khyaal
Aayega Un Ko, Tumne 'Firaq' Ko Dekha Hai ' (The generations to come will be
envious of you that you saw 'Firaq' in flesh and blood).
Nature hardly makes such a great individual
like 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri. In these times and climes, ' Firaq' is all the more
significant when Urdu is being called the language of Muslims and fanatic
Hindus are purging Hindi of all Persian, Arabic and Turkish words to make it
the tongue of Sanatanis. Instead of reading pedestrian poets, writing on
plebeian issues and concerns in faulty Urdu and Hindi, readers must read
Firaq's poetry and his book 'Gul-e-Naghma.'
Alas, who has time to read in these philistine times? The morbid
obsession with WhatsApp, Instagram and all social platforms has robbed us of
our love for books.
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/firaq-gorakhpuri-hindu-ahle-zabaan-/d/127818
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