What We All Can Learn From The First Modern Persian Poet Rudaki
By Sumit
Paul, New Age Islam
23 May 2023
"An individual's attempt to relate to the
whole world does sound good but is not practical. Instead, concern yourself
with your surroundings and try to relate to that."
Rudaki, 880 CE- 941 CE
(First major poet to write in new Persian)
"One Cannot Weep For The Entire World: It's
Beyond Human Strength. One Must Choose."
Jean Anouilh (1910-1987)
"Jo Kahte Hain Ke Gham-E-Duniya Ko Liye
Phirte Hain
Sach Poochhiye Toh Ye Log Sirf Riyakaari Karte
Hain "
Naubatrai ' Nazar '
(Those who claim to carry the pains and
sufferings of the whole world/ To be truthful, they just resort to tall talks)
Rudaki
-----
Rudaki's
famous and most practical quote was on my syllabus of Ethics in Persian Poetry
while studying in Iran. Just imagine, Rudaki said this more than a millennium
ago. Isn't it still relevant? In fact, its relevance has increased all the more
in this age of extreme hypocrisy and knavery. The underlying sarcasm in Rudaki,
Jean Anouilh and Nazar's statements and couplet is obvious. Ulema and Muslim
politicians will shed crocodile tears for the Muslim Ummah but will not do
anything worthwhile for the beleaguered Muslims of India.
Their
rhetoric will encompass the Muslims of the world but they're indifferent to the
Muslims around them. The affluent new-age Babas and gurus will exhort you to
shed tears for mankind, but will do nothing to wipe out the tears of their own
people they can relate to. Certain lofty, fixed and often vague slogans like the
world is my home/ Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam are empty rhetoric. Only those who
don't do anything constructive will resort to shallow and hollow slogans like
this.
Once the
Japanese Nobel laureate in Literature Kenzaburo Oe was asked by a BBC
correspondent as to how Japan rebuilt itself after the Second World War, Oe
replied, " We think universally but act nationally and locally. We attend
to what's immediate and leave what's unnecessary." Got to say, a very wise
approach to nation-building.
The father
of modern Turkey, Kamal Ataturk Pasha said the same while rebuilding modern
Turkey," Turkey is a part of Muslim Ummah. We've respect for the Islamic
values, norms and ethics. But at the same time, we need to create our own
independent image, existence and value system." True to his words, he
dispensed with the Arabification of Turkey and did away with Arabic as the
script of Turkish language. Now modern Turkish is written in Roman script with
specific diacritical marks and symbols. Don't they say, charity begins at home?
Muslims of
the subcontinent should also learn a lesson from this. They mustn't look
towards Arab and its brand of hardcore Wahhabi Islam and Arab lifestyle even
while speaking (e.g. nowadays, the words Ramzan and Hazrat are exasperatingly
enunciated Ramadan and Hadrat as both have hard-tongued ZUAD letter of Arabic,
pronounced properly as a quasi-D by the native speakers of Arabic but often
erroneously by the ill-educated and fanatic Muslims, esp. the Sunnis, of the
sub-continent).
All
politicians, regardless of their political outfits, must imbibe the spirit of
Rudaki's statement and concentrate more on their constituencies rather than
talk of the country. Be true to yourself and your own folks and then talk of
the nation and the whole world. Choice is yours.
-----
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 the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/modern-persian-poet-rudaki/d/129833