Extolling Mother through the Prism of Urdu Poetry

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam

14 May 2023

"Khud Se Jhoot Bolne Ki Jurrat Karta Hoon

Maa Se Aankh Milate Hi Sach Bol Deta Hoon "

Jaun Elia

(I can lie to myself but the moment I look into my mother's eyes, I speak the truth)

"Rah-e-Hayaat Mein Bhatak Gaya Tha

Ma Ki Duaon Ne Dikhai Raah "

Yaas Yagana Changezi

(I went astray in life/ Mother's prayers showed the path

)

"Go Duniya Ke Liye Zaeef Hoon Main

Ma Ki Nazar Mein Lekin Aaj Bhi Baccha Hoon Main"

Amjad Islam Amjad

(To the world, I'm an old man/ But to my mother, I'm still a child) 

"Ise Urdu Zabaan Ki Apni Chaashni Kahiye Ya Aur Kuchh, Lekin Ek Baat Toh Tay Hai Ke Duniya Ke Sab Se Sheereen Lafz Ma Ki Taareef Ke Liye Urdu Se Badh Kar Aur Koi Zabaan Ho Hi Nahin Sakti "............

Intizar Hussain

(Call it the honeyed quality of Urdu or whatever it may be, there's no gainsaying the fact that no language can extol a mother the way Urdu can)

Chaltī Phirtī Huī Ā.Ankhoñ Se Azaañ Dekhī Hai/Maiñ Ne Jannat To Nahīñ Dekhī Hai Maañ Dekhī Hai

Munawwar Rana

(I've seen a living and moving azaan/ I've not seen the Paradise, but I've seen the mother)

Taareef Chahe Zauq-E-Nazar Ki Ho Ya Ammijaan Ki

Donon Mein Zabaan-E-Urdu Hi Hai Kaam Ki

Akhtar Rampuri

(Whether you praise your beloved or your mother/ It's Urdu that works wonders on both the counts) 

Har Manzil Sar Kar Lee

Sar Pe Ma Ka Haath Lekar

Anon

(I achieved every goal/ As I had my mother's hand on my head) 

Ek Muddat Se Meri Maa Nahin Soyee ' Taabish'

Maine Ek Baar Kaha Tha Mujhe Dar Lagta Hai

Abbas Tabish

(My mother hasn't slept for a long time ' Tabish'/ I once said that I was scared)

Though this concept of various DAYS like Mother's Day, Father's Day, This day and that day gets my goat, I feel at times that some DAYS can be celebrated because they've a deeper message of gratitude that we cannot lose sight of. Mother's Day is one such DAY that has an eternal significance. It falls on the second Sunday of May. All religions have eulogised mother's love and her role of shaping up her child's future. I'm not going into the scriptural descriptions of mother's love in Qura'an and Hadith (compilation of Muhammad's teachings), though Qur’an categorically states that Allah has in His heart, the love of 70 mothers and in one of the teachings (compiled by Bukhari), Muhammad says that if Allah is the 'Light of the universe' (Noor-e-Kaaynaat), mother is the 'light of this world' (Noor-E-Jahaan). Rumi called a mother, the finest creation of the Almighty and Khaqani wrote that one line in praise of mother is equal to all prayers. Here, I'm quoting a few Urdu poets and their couplets written in praise of mother.

Do Hi Khushgawaar Goshe Hain Jahaan Mein

Maut Ki God Aur Ma Ka Aanchal

-Ravish Siddiqui

(There're only two pleasant corners in the world: The lap of death and the apron-strings of one's mother)

Ek Ma Hi Hai Jis Ke Ahsaan Se Subakdosh Nahin Hua Jaata

Kuchh Rishte Pare Hote Hain Duniavi Zarooraton Se

-Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi

(One can never repay/return mother's love/A few relations are beyond worldly concerns)

Duniya Ko Samjha Maine, Maa Ki Ungli Pakad Kar

Ab Kisi Mudarris Ki Nahin Darkaar Mujhe

-Riyaz Khairabadi

(I learnt the ways of life holding the finger of my mother/Now I need no teacher)

Maana Ke Kaaynaat Laamahdood Hai

Us-Se Kahin Badhkar Maa Ka Pyaar Hai

-Muhammad Aurangzeb 'Qateel' Shifai (he wrote this couplet at the age of 16)

(Granted, the universes is boundless/A mother's love is even greater than that)

 Ek Hi Lafz Hai Jo Vajood Mein Aab-E-Hayaat Ghol De

 Maine Taaumra Ammi Se Behtar Lafz Nahin Suna

-Ahsaan Danish

(There's just one word that fills my existence with ambrosia/Never have I heard a word better than mother)

Kitabon Se Nikalkar Titliyaan Ghazalein Sunaati Hain

Tiffin Rakhti Hai Meri Maa Toh Basta Muskurata Hai

Siraj Faisal Khan

(Butterflies come out of the text books and sing Ghazals/When my mother packs the tiffin, the bag smiles)

Because of this exalted greatness of mother in all cultures and the world literature, innumerable panegyrics have been penned to extoll her (mother). Urdu has spearheaded this poetic tradition and someone so poignantly wrote:

Maa Se Badh Kar Koi Naam Kya Hoga

Uss Naam Ka Ahtiraam Hum Se Kya Hoga

Jis Ke Pairon Ke Neeche Jannat Hai

Uss Ke Sar Ka Maqaam Kya Hoga

(No name will be greater than that of a mother/ How can I truly pay tribute to that name? /When the Paradise lies at her feet/ Imagine, the status of her head)

Firaq Gorakhpuri said the same thing, albeit more succinctly:

Taareef Ke Liye Alfaaz Dhoondhta Hoon

Ahtiraam-E-Ma Ke Liye Asha'ar Kahta Hoon

(I grope for words to praise my mother/ I write couplets to evince my respect to her).

Dr Muhammad Iqbal wrote a Nazm in Persian. It was an ode to ALL WOMEN & MOTHERS. Here's its rendition in Urdu:

Har Aurat Ke Andar Ek Maa Hoti Hai

Yaqeen Maano, Har Aurat Maa Se Kam Nahin Hoti Hai

(There's a mother in every woman/ Believe me, a woman is no less than a mother)

This common motherly instinct in every woman endows her with a natural motherhood. This is the beauty of a woman as motherhood comes to her, just the way fragrance comes to a flower. To encapsulate it in Rabindranath Tagore's words, “A woman at any age is a mother for all age/s.”

How a mother dedicates her life to her offspring can be seen in this heart-rending couplet, written by Nawaz Deobandi:

Bhooke Bachchon Ki Tasalli Ke Liye

Maa Ne Phir Paani Pakaya Der Tak

(For the sake of hungry children/ Mother boiled the water for a long time)

Altaaf Hussain Hali ' Panipati ' believed that his mother's protective hand guided him throughout his life through all thick and thin:

Maa Ke Paak Haathon Ne Rahbari Ki Meri....... (Mother's sacred hands were my guides)

A mother is always with you. That's the reason, we often say in Urdu, "Umra Koi Bhi Ho Lekin Chot Lagne Par Dil Se Pahla Lafz.....Maa Hi Nikalta Hai” (Regardless of age, when one gets hurt, the first word that comes out is mother).

These are just glimpses. Urdu poetry is chock-a-block with couplets, Nazms and Ghazals extolling the innumerable virtues of mother. Let's honour mother as Urdu poet and freedom fighter Hasrat Mohani once said, 'Ma Ka Ahtiraam Kar/Har Aurat Ke Liye Phir Hogi Izzat' (Respect your mother as it manifests itself in respecting all other women). Doesn't charity begin at home?

Lastly, here I don't want to sound pedantic by showcasing couplets from Persian, my mother tongue. But the fact is, Persian language pays best tributes to mother as the language itself is tailor-made for poetry. Modern Persian poet Jahangir Gulfaam and the classic Persian poets like Zameer Unwi, Tafiz Alam, Ghahin Asa'af among others wrote paeans to mother and motherhood. That's for some other day. 

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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/spiritual-meditations/extolling-mother-prism-urdu-poetry/d/129773

 

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