A Writer/Poet Should Have a Falcon's Eye-view
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
10 March
2023
Truth Is Often Orphan And Childless But Deceit
Has Many Siblings And Innumerable Illegal Offspring. They Pounce On Truth And
Try To Kill It By Any Means. There's An Old Scottish Adage, ' If You Cannot
Slay Someone With A Knife, Slay Him With Slanders And Knavery.
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“Mr
Naipaul, I've noticed that you always choose to see what you want to see and
ignore conveniently what you don't want to see....."
A
London-based Pakistani journalist to Sir V S Naipaul at Oxford in 2011
“You choose
to see what you want to see is often an allegation made by those who themselves
suffer from this proclivity. Thank your stars that I chose to reply to your
question. I generally don't entertain fools."
Sir Naipaul
to that Pakistani reporter, reported in The Spectator, London
I cannot
and shouldn't be so rude like the legendary Nobel laureate but I must say that
people should refrain from being judgemental and they must think twice before
commenting on someone.
There's a
rare word in my mother tongue Pahalvi. It's ' Qalfat ' and means ' an ingrained
habit of imposing one's shortcomings on others.' You'll come across the
frequent occurrence (precisely 43 times) of this word in Rumi's earlier works
in Pahalvi and Dari (Afghan variant of Persian) as the great mystic was born in
Balkh, Afghanistan.
Rumi
further wrote that a poet ought to have a falcon's eyeview. Just the way a
high-flying falcon can see everything and nothing escapes the range of its
sight, a writer should be able to encompass all and sundry. Yet, people with an
agenda will accuse you of being conveniently selective and dishonest.
At the end of the 10th century, Suhrawardi
(executed for heresy as he made it his life's work to trace Islam back to what
he called the 'original oriental religion') and Al-Hallaj (excoriated by a mob
possessed by religious zeal) were accused of (religious) dishonesty just like
Abu Nasr al-Farabi was called an enemy of Islam for saying that philosophy was
higher than revealed religion. But all these honest individuals were called
dishonest by the most dishonest Muslims centuries ago. Such dishonest people
are still in Islam and all man-made religions whose sole objective in life is
to cast aspersions on those who tread on the path of truth and uprightness. I'm
having to say, such elements abound in Islam.
An average
Muslim is unable to see beyond his Islam, Muhammad and Quran and will labour
under the misconception that Islam is the alpha and omega. It's the universal
panacea to mankind's all ills. Since it's predominantly an Islamic site and
with the exceptions of Messrs Arshad Alam and Ghulam, all are devout and hard-core
Muslims, an apatheist’s universal voice and views are always vehemently
resented. It's but natural. As I've stated a number of times, when I write on
Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, among others, the followers of these religions
challenge my views and even PROVE ME WRONG at times, but don't resort to
personal attacks by calling me shallow, superficial or dishonest. This is the
difference between a Muslim and followers of other faiths.
Truth is
often orphan and childless but deceit has many siblings and innumerable illegal
offspring. They pounce on truth and try to kill it by any means. There's an old
Scottish adage, ' If you cannot slay someone with a knife, slay him with
slanders and knavery. ‘This is what Mr Unknown is upto.
Mind you,
world's top-notch publications, portals, journals and their erudite editors
don't seek Mr Unknown's opinion while accepting my articles on various subjects
and in several languages. If I'm so shallow and superficial a writer, then why
on earth editors across the world have been running my pieces for many years
and also remunerating me? A number of times, they don't agree with me but carry
my pieces for the sake of truth just like a remarkably upright editor of TOI
shelved the rule for me and allowed me to write god in lower case. The same can
be said about the latitudinarian editor of this site. Perhaps they're not as
tajurbekaar as my dear friend Mr Unknown is.
Lastly, a
dishonest person doesn't admit on a public forum or site that he has erred.
That needs integrity and honesty of the highest degree which I'm afraid, rabid
detractors lack seriously. So, please seek truth and avoid personal jibes.
Instead of just commenting, try to write something worthwhile if you can.
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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/writer-poet-falcon-eye-view/d/129285
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