Shaikh Ayaz
Encyclopedia
Shaikh Ayaz was one of the great Sindhi
poets of Pakistan
. He was born in Shikarpur
Sindh. By profession he was a lawyer but he also served as the vice chancellor of Sindh University. His poetry brought new trends into Sindhi literature
.
Shaikh Ayaz's work brings together different and discordant elements. In one of his early poems he writes of two deities from classical India
: Saraswati
, the goddess of knowledge and music sitting together with Kali
, the goddess of blood and violence, the two of them sipping nectar in a moon-lit temple. "How have the two come together?" the poem contemplates and then comes up with the answer: perhaps a great poet has been born.
Shaikh Ayaz is one of the major voices in twentieth century poetry. His literary career spanned almost six decades and covered a wide range of poetry and prose forms, ranging from the traditional bait, wa'i,Nazam,"Azad Nazam" and ghazal to plays in verse, prose poems and musings, extending to short fiction, memoirs and journals, polemical and literary essays, news articles, editorials, and a projected novel.
He wrote short stories, novel, essays, poetry, travelogues, diaries, an autobiography and the translation of Shah Jo Risalo
in Urdu. He also composed poetry in Urdu and two of his anthologies, "Booye Gul, Nala-i-dil" and "Neel Kanth Aur Neem Ke Pate" were highly acclaimed. He portrayed the miseries of suffering humanity, the sorrows of the deprived and the wretched conditions of the exploited masses who had been suffering at the hands of an unjust system for centuries.
Through his poetry, Shaikh Ayaz battled against the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan. During the anti-One Unit campaign one of his poems "Sindhri taan sir ker na deendo, sanhando ker mayar (Is there anybody who will not sacrifice his head for Sindh, and be ashamed of it)", became very popular among the people of Sindh and subsequently its broadcast was banned from Radio Pakistan. He was banned for a number of times from cities and towns where he was to participate in Mushairas. Three of his anthologies—Bhounr Bhare Akas, Kulhe Patam Keenaro and Je Kak Kakoriya Kapri— drew sharp criticism from fundamentalists and the government denounced them.
He wrote against tyrannical rulers and the wars they waged. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
, he wrote a poem about progressive Sindhi
poet Suragwasi Narain Shayam, who had migrated to India after independence:
Original:
He sangram!
samhoon Aa
Narayan Shayam!
hina ja munhinja
Qola bi saGya
Boola bi saGya
hoo kavita jo kaaka-dharni, para
munhinja ranga-ratola bi saGya
DHatu bi saGyo
DHolu bi saGyo
hanou bi saGyo
hola bi saGya
huna tay keean bandooka KhaRNa maan!
hina Khay golee keean haRNa maan!
keean haRNa maan
keean haRNa maan!
keean haRNa maan!
Translation:
This sangram!
in front is
Narain Shayam!
His and my
tales are the same
promises are the same
He is the king of poetry, but
my colorful ways are also the same
land also the same
beloved also the same
heart also the same
horrors also the same
How can I point a gun at him!
How can I shoot him!
How can I shoot!
How can I shoot!
How can I shoot!
Shaikh Ayaz's poetry played a major role in the development of progressive
thinking in the country, particularly in Sindh
. He was the very imprint of Shah Latif
's mystic poetry and will always be remembered as a great humanist and artist
.
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
poets of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. He was born in Shikarpur
Shikarpur
Shikarpur or Shakkarpur may refer to:*Shikarpur, Pakistan, the capital of Shikarpur District in Sindh province, Pakistan*Shikarpur District, in Pakistan*Shikarpur, Muzaffarnagar, town in Uttar Pradesh, India...
Sindh. By profession he was a lawyer but he also served as the vice chancellor of Sindh University. His poetry brought new trends into Sindhi literature
Sindhi literature
Sindhi literature is very rich and is generally considered to be among the world's oldest. Its writers have contributed extensively in various forms of literature both in poetry and prose.- Sufi literature and poetry :...
.
Shaikh Ayaz's work brings together different and discordant elements. In one of his early poems he writes of two deities from classical India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
: Saraswati
Saraswati
In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
, the goddess of knowledge and music sitting together with Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
, the goddess of blood and violence, the two of them sipping nectar in a moon-lit temple. "How have the two come together?" the poem contemplates and then comes up with the answer: perhaps a great poet has been born.
Shaikh Ayaz is one of the major voices in twentieth century poetry. His literary career spanned almost six decades and covered a wide range of poetry and prose forms, ranging from the traditional bait, wa'i,Nazam,"Azad Nazam" and ghazal to plays in verse, prose poems and musings, extending to short fiction, memoirs and journals, polemical and literary essays, news articles, editorials, and a projected novel.
Activity and poetry
Shaikh Ayaz's work is spontaneous, objective and forceful. He defiantly wrote verses on topics hated by the establishment. He was incarcerated many times for his "seditious" writings.He wrote short stories, novel, essays, poetry, travelogues, diaries, an autobiography and the translation of Shah Jo Risalo
Shah Jo Risalo
Shah Jo Risalo is the name of the compiled verses of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Many scholars and linguists have published Shah Jo Risalo with their own compilations, hence many editions are available...
in Urdu. He also composed poetry in Urdu and two of his anthologies, "Booye Gul, Nala-i-dil" and "Neel Kanth Aur Neem Ke Pate" were highly acclaimed. He portrayed the miseries of suffering humanity, the sorrows of the deprived and the wretched conditions of the exploited masses who had been suffering at the hands of an unjust system for centuries.
Through his poetry, Shaikh Ayaz battled against the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan. During the anti-One Unit campaign one of his poems "Sindhri taan sir ker na deendo, sanhando ker mayar (Is there anybody who will not sacrifice his head for Sindh, and be ashamed of it)", became very popular among the people of Sindh and subsequently its broadcast was banned from Radio Pakistan. He was banned for a number of times from cities and towns where he was to participate in Mushairas. Three of his anthologies—Bhounr Bhare Akas, Kulhe Patam Keenaro and Je Kak Kakoriya Kapri— drew sharp criticism from fundamentalists and the government denounced them.
He wrote against tyrannical rulers and the wars they waged. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. This conflict became known as the Second Kashmir War fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, the first having been fought in 1947...
, he wrote a poem about progressive Sindhi
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
poet Suragwasi Narain Shayam, who had migrated to India after independence:
Original:
He sangram!
samhoon Aa
Narayan Shayam!
hina ja munhinja
Qola bi saGya
Boola bi saGya
hoo kavita jo kaaka-dharni, para
munhinja ranga-ratola bi saGya
DHatu bi saGyo
DHolu bi saGyo
hanou bi saGyo
hola bi saGya
huna tay keean bandooka KhaRNa maan!
hina Khay golee keean haRNa maan!
keean haRNa maan
keean haRNa maan!
keean haRNa maan!
Translation:
This sangram!
in front is
Narain Shayam!
His and my
tales are the same
promises are the same
He is the king of poetry, but
my colorful ways are also the same
land also the same
beloved also the same
heart also the same
horrors also the same
How can I point a gun at him!
How can I shoot him!
How can I shoot!
How can I shoot!
How can I shoot!
Shaikh Ayaz's poetry played a major role in the development of progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
thinking in the country, particularly in Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
. He was the very imprint of Shah Latif
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was a Sindhi Sufi scholar, mystic, saint, poet, and musician. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language...
's mystic poetry and will always be remembered as a great humanist and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
.
See also
- Sindhi peopleSindhi peopleSindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
- Sindhi poetrySindhi poetrySindhi language poetry continues an oral tradition of a thousand years. The verbal verses were based on folk stories. Sindhi is one of the oldest languages of the Indus Valley having own literary colour both in poetry and prose. Sindhi poetry is very rich in thoughts as well as contain variety of...
- Sindhi literatureSindhi literatureSindhi literature is very rich and is generally considered to be among the world's oldest. Its writers have contributed extensively in various forms of literature both in poetry and prose.- Sufi literature and poetry :...
- List of Sindhi language poets
- Shah Abdul Latif BhittaiShah Abdul Latif BhittaiShah Abdul Latif Bhittai was a Sindhi Sufi scholar, mystic, saint, poet, and musician. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language...
- Shikarpur, Pakistan
- Sindhi ShaikhSindhi ShaikhSheikh , is an Arabic word meaning elder of a tribe, lord, revered old man, or Islamic scholar. The Shaikh of Sindh are one of the larger communities of the Sindhi Muslims ethnic group. They speak the various dialects of Sindhi, depending on their place of residence...