Intensity of Experience

First I cried and then I laughed.

Clouds roared..
Lights flashed..
You came to mind.

In the second line, the division of syllables into three acoustically equal, and semantically complete, segments, creates a rhythm that rhymes with the pulsating pain along with the raging skies that the psychovisual atmosphere this verse depicts.

The first line, again, illustrates how common proverbial expressions can be successfully used to paint profound states of mind.

The reading flow of this verse is such that it runs a pictorial sequence in the peruser's mind that takes us directly into the mind of the poet himself. We see the intensity of the emotion (or the recall of which) that must have propelled Nasir to write this way.

Hidden Meanings in the Universe

Everything speaks behind these cloaks of silence.

Alas, there is no audience. Ears here are struck.

When free, listen to the sound of the roses' glee.

This is not speech that has been uttered.

The perception of the poet is keener than that of an ordinary person. This perception infuses every object with more beauty and meaning than the man on the road can see.

Every object, animate or otherwise, is a being in its own right. It has a place in the universe; fits in the system of things and phenomenon, is a step in the cycle of one or another process in this world.

At the highest level of meaning, every object as a creation of God, signifies some property of that Creator: beauty, completeness, power, and profoundness. Also, being a part of the machinery of this universe, every object is evidence of the theory of this world that we learn from God's Word in his Book.

Nasir has a particular eye for the symbolic significance of the sights and sounds around him. Here, Nasir not only realizes, but also laments of, his difference in this respect with 'others' in society.

The second line of the first verse mentioned here also points out that such perceptions are a part of that dear mental world which he nourishes with his soul and finds none empathic enough to share with. The focus here is not on an audience (though I have chosen the word to yield a somewhat poetical translation) but on a compatible companion who can mentally appreciate the observations and reflections upon world that Nasir holds dear to his heart.

The next verse in sequence is similar in theme but presents the example of hidden meanings in beautiful objects in a more striking and pleasing manner. The more so as it comes with a direct invitation to the reader to 'open' his (eyes and) ears to his surroundings.

The most striking of all among these four lines, however, is certainly the last.

Speech is the familiar-most form of communication for humans. The word used in the original (sukhan) is more akin to 'literature' thus referring to the most auspicious level of this ubiquitous mode. Although, the idea of hidden meaning seems rather abstract, all forms of communication rely on deciphering implied meanings in symbols. It's our familiarity with the alphabet, vocabulary and syntax of our language that makes us start taking speech (and music, and math, and html for those repsectively inclined) for granted.

By creating this fourth line (read the Urdu original slowly to appreciate) the way he did, Nasir all of a sudden makes us realize four profound realities:

One, I have already stated: All communication is a decoding of symbols. The 'meanings' he's referring to are not imagined constructions of an abstract philsophizer. Rather, they are the 'messages' contained in the layers of inscription this world is made up of. The world has not been made meaninglessly. Indeed, no creator of things ever makes anything (be it a work of art or a feat of technology) without putting some meaning or purpose in it.

وَما خَلَقنَا السَّماءَ وَالأَرضَ وَما بَينَهُما لٰعِبينَ

AND [know that] We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in mere idle play. [Al-Anbya, 16]

Second: These meanings are as real as your speech but they seem far beyond your bubble of existence since you have never really looked beyond that bubble OR since you have never really put your leisure as a time for such sublime reflection.

وَإِن مِن شَيءٍ إِلّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمدِهِ وَلٰكِن لا تَفقَهونَ تَسبيحَهُم ۗ

and there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; And yet you understand not how they declare His glory [Al-Asra (also Sura Bani Israil), 44]

Third: Not only are these messages as real as your speech, they correspond with the finest possible form this mode of communication can take.

Indeed, the whole of Al-Quran proves that the form in which the timeless realities of the Universe are revealed must have been the epitome of all human communication.

Fourth: Nasir's comparison of these hidden communications to even the finest human literature is meant for the purpose of explication. It is no comparison in fact, since even though many magnificent examples of human literature exist, no person has ever said anything like the profound melody of messages that these God's creations impart.

Note that there is an incomplete loop in the flow from human perception to metaphysical inferences. I mean, even though we may begin to glimpse and apprehend to a very meagre extent the mysteries contained in these symbols, they will certainly remain beyond our full encompassment. None of us can ever claim that we have comprehended the universal significance of all objects truly and completely because of their latent quality.

Interestingly, The above conclusion is a highly logical deduction from Nasir's own words: as soon as the meaning of the universe becomes totally comprehensible by humans, it will be translated into the human form of communication. It will mean that someone has spoken those meanings in words. But that is not possible. That has never happened in this world, and by implication will never happen in the future either.

وَلا يُحيطونَ بِشَيءٍ مِن عِلمِهِ إِلّا بِما شاءَ

and they cannot comprehend anything of His knowledge except what He pleases [Ayat-ul-Kursi, Al-Baqarah, 255]

Certainly, that is why Nasir refrains from hinting at any particular meaning he might be discerning through his mysterious teachers. Since the bounds between the human and the divine sounds are essentially unsurpassable, any subjectively derived meaning could be just that: subjective. The humility and the unbiasness of the highly real Nasir must prevent him from sharing his intuitions.

Poetically, his reticence helps retain the mysterious and obscure quality of the world of meaning and of the corresponding 'air' of this verse.

I am amazed how Nasir captures such a complex state of affairs in one line made up of ten words of everyday use.

I would like to finish this commentary with the observation that God's own Word can be the only link enclosing the gap between the limitations of human perception and the real meaning and significance of all the elements of the universe out there. This was my only purpose of inserting the Quranic references in places where a common meaning is echoed.

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A more refined version of this draft will be published soon, InshaAllah, on the blog http://structureofentropy.wordpress.com/

The monotony of existence

O stupefying dream of day and night; break your spell.

Invigor me with a new face in the crowd..

The routine of daily life dulls the machinery of the mind. 

By its nature, brain is a creative and a constructive software. However, monotony dulls the constructive edge of our mind and it starts running on established mental sets. 

Something new, something different serves to break this spellbinding monotony.The new thing could be any thing: an idea, a face, a scenery, an object, a pattern, an occurrence. 

Here face fits nicely with the crowd - the latter word pointing to the usual overload of repetitive and familiar stimuli on the human mind. The metaphor of face coming from a romantic poet might also hint to the creative power of love. Indeed, a recent psychological study once lead to the verification of this exact idea: falling in love (a powerful change from the status quo) can recharge the batteries of our human mind and make us more creative! [Reference here]

The urge for a companion II

                        Lips will break their silence; Let the notes of pain accord.

                                                                   Our tale must wait expression until then. Endure!

The unique reference here is to synchronization.

We search for the reflection of our internal feelings and beliefs in others. People with whom we can engage in leisurely and smooth conversations are those in whom we see some reflection of a portion of our personality / inclinations. 

Nasir, on the other hand, had alienated from his society by remaining intensely attached to the system of values that was left behind with migration from India. He felt that the quality of social interactions in his new society was based on individualism and self-promotion. Selflessness had vanished as had vanished his childhood and his old life in his birthland. 

Yet the urge for a compatible companion is a human one and remained in him sometimes compensated with through imaginary companions (as the last note is evident). 

The way in which this need is expressed in this shair speaks of the hopefulness of a child who waits to meet his best mate in order to pour out all the feelings and thoughts locked inside his heart. 

The grammar addresses a 'second person'. He might be speaking to that imaginary friend who Nasir knows is an idea yet to actualize. 

The perception of the sameness of the internal world of this awaited friend is intuitive and reflects the deep-rooted quality of the social needs of humans. Neuroscience today has revealed a synchronization of brain activity in persons carrying out activities together, and a mirroring and coordination of activities where the two persons have to interact with each other (i.e. where the response of the second depends upon the stimulus from the first). These brain phenomenon explain how non-verbal communication takes place. When the internal thought (or need) of two persons is the same they can perceive it on each other's faces in an intuitive fashion. They just feel it. We are all familiar with this feeling. 

Nasir beautifully portrays this aspect of human communication in the context of his personal situation. 

As soon as the realization of sameness is achieved, lips move and all those precious thoughts carefully kept in the heart naturally pour out.  

Nasir waits hopefully for that moment...

The urge for a compatible companion

For a long past hour, someone keeps me company;

Is there anyone who can see the dialogue occur?

 

Who is this person sitting with Nasir at length?

 

Why does the second line hints that on one can see ‘him’?

 

Many people, in particular the highly imaginative ones, think out their thoughts; develop their ideas and supporting arguments in an interactive discourse format. The discourse may either take place, in real or in imagination, with people they know listen to them, or with ‘made-up’ companions.

 

Just think how, when a baby is born, it is in constant interaction with the outer world. The caretakers, of course, loom the largest in this world. Their moment-to-moment, day-to-day learning is nested in the back and forth transactions with this animate society. 

People of unique ideas and individualized outlooks often do not find reciprocity in the ordinary society around them. They fulfill their longing through imagined conversations.

 

The verse is made more interesting by the delightful use of the proverbial (and essentially untranslatable) question through which Nasir so delicately and skillfully points out the imaginary nature of his ‘companion’.

Reference: Deewan-G1-S10-p12