Life Is Not Only Newton, It's Also Milton
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
16 January
2024
“Life is not only Newton, it is also Milton.”
― Wasif Ali Wasif
Urdu
literature also has a tradition of Maqoola or Masal (Qaul-e-Hakim
in Arabic, aphorisms in English and Subhashit in Sanskrit), though it's not
very common or popular. The man who popularised this genre in Urdu through his
prolific writings was Wasif Ali Wasif whose 95th Birth Anniversary falls on
January 15. By the way, he shares his birthday as well as birth year with
the redoubtable Dr
Martin Luther King Jr. whose quotes, speeches and aphorisms are read
and quoted across the world and whose non-violence and pacifism got him the
sobriquet of American Gandhi.
Coming back
to Wasif Ali Wasif's famous adage, "Life is not only Newton, it's also
Milton," is an example of quasi-word play using Newton and Milton as a
rhyme and contrast in approaches and outlooks.
The famous
mathematician and man of science Newton is pitted against the great John Milton
who wrote Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Mathematics and Calculus are
rather dry subjects, whereas poetry appeals to the heart and makes us humane.
While it's good, even great, to be interested in scientific pursuits, one must
also take interest in artistic and aesthetic subjects. That strikes a balance
and lends a meaning as well as purpose to life. Life is a combination of
contrasts and contradictions.
Even a
great scientific mind like Albert Einstein had profound interest in the western
classical music. He loved to listen to Sebastian Bach, Beethoven and Chopin's
compositions. He'd immerse himself into the bowels of Theory of Relativity
listening to the ethereal symphonies of Beethoven. "Science and symphonies
are the same," Einstein would always say.
The great
man also took genuine interest in women and called them 'crystallized poetry'!
He indulged in extra-marital affairs. The mathematician Ada Lovelace and the
physicist James Clerk Maxwell were both accomplished poets who wrote rhymes
about rainbows and verse about scientific societies.
By the way,
Ada Lovelace was the estranged daughter of the Romantic poet Lord Byron, who,
shortly after his daughter’s birth, was exiled to Greece amid rumours of
incest. Conversely, the poet John Keats was a licensed surgeon! The point is:
Life must be enjoyed in totality. Enjoy all its shades, hues and colours. Life
has myriad facets. Don't be a nerd and live like a monk. Only the muddle-headed
morons become monks.
----
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/life-newton-milton/d/131525