Modern mind has caught the disease of interpreting sainthood and mystique phenomena in terms of sub-rational or trans-rational metaphors. The finite human mind has been unnecessarily trying to comprehend the infinite. The failure to understand mystic thought in common day parlance and to translate it in mundane terms has brought with it infinitude of academic and practical challenges. As against this mystic thought and attitude both in letter and spirit, in theory and practice, in transcendence and immanence formed a warp and woof of Kashmiri culture. Our cultural and mystic identities are inseparable and almost synonymous to each other. So dominant has been this mystic factor in our evolution that we have reshism as one of our vernacular mystic bonds. Despite the fact that mystic thoughts have universal similitude and congruent core but reshism is a respond rather a native response to our local cultural sensitivities.
One of the towering names in this chain of reshism is that of Sheikh-Ul-Alam Sheikh Noor Din Wali popularly known as Alam Dar-i-Kashmir and Nund Resh and as Sahajanand and among the Hindus. As opposed to our self-created notions Sheikh besides being a sufi is also a scholar of erudite scholarship. His translation, presentation, interpretation and localization of religious teachings surely places him in the ranks of great scholars. He was not only a preacher and reformer of religious ideologies but also a social thinker and cultural analyst of first order. Realizing and analyzing the prevalent socio-cultural trends of his time, he enlighted his era with his scholarly and pragmatic anecdotes. He is a poet of his own genre, the genre now being called that of Shrook whereby a theme is completed in four to six lines and sometimes extending beyond. His poetry touches upon spectrum of issues. These issues encompass both individual as well as society in their fold and as such he is a poet of individual as well as collective aspirations.
His poetry is more horizontal and less vertical. He rarely makes meta-physical themes a subject of his poetic idiom and is more concerned about human to human existential issues. He talks of compassion, brotherhood and mutual respect which are pivotal elements of any stable society. To find similitudes of his poetry, one needs to turn to Kabir whose poetry also speaks of same universal values as that of Sheikh importing slight vertical shift.
Sheikh has paraphrased universal values in his poetry . The example of this being ample. For example his saying :
Kraye Khota bod chu insaaf or Ann poshe teli yeli wan poshe
And examples like these place him above the strata of writers who are otherwise oblivious of such sensitivities.
He translated and actuated the essence of Islamic teachings via his poetry into Kashmiri language with scholarly attitude. While carrying out this task he paid deep attention to the fact not to distort or misrepresent any of Islamic maxims but simultaneously making them understandable and accessible to average intellect. The way he disseminated the Islamic tenets among populace and simultaneously maintained an ample space for religious co-existence and communal harmony is an example of its own. While praising and championing his religious beliefs he never disregarded parallel narratives. This being the reason that his poetic metaphors lie beyond religious contours. Infact his treatment to metaphors can be a rewarding activity for students of literature. He was deeply committed to his faith but never turned this commitment into religious chauvinism and salvation monopoly, as it often happens with religious preachers.
Islam and its propagation being his primary inspiration, he made religious themes like being and attributes of God, Prophethood, the life and teachings of prophet, Quran and Quranic Sciences, the pillars of Islam like Prayers, Fasting etc., the attributes of being a true Muslim, the eternal reality of death and ephermal nature of this world, the stages of post death existence and many such issues as subject of his poetry and in his poetry we discover poetic lyricism embracing his exemplary scholarship resulting in a poetic tradition like that of Saadi Shirazi and Maulana Rumi whose poetry too is laced with pearls of Quranic and prophetic wisdom. Sheikh has severely emphasized the control of man over his nafs i.e carnal lowerself which keeps man glued to earth while his spirit is longing for upward transposition. There are dozens over dozens couplets of Sheikh speaking of the ills of bad company and the deleterious effects of falling prey to the demands of devilish character. Besides all these scholarly and literary aspects Sheikh was a wali of first order and was initiated into Silsila-e-Kubravi at the hands of Mir Mohammad Hamdani but the fact remains that his poetry does not endure that typical hallmark which is characteristic of sufi poetry for he was more concerned about socio-cultural betterment rather estranging into issues of meta-physical nature. Again his poetry despite being replete with the praises and attributes of Prophet (SAW) does not fall into the category of what we call “naatiya literature” ( a special poetic genre specific for the praises of prophet (SAW)).
Despite receiving ample attention and being evaluated differently at different levels of scholarship much of the work remains yet to be done with respect to his poetry. Sheikh travelled across the breadth and width of the valley and wrote those couplets which incorporate the depth of wisdom and the twist of travelogue. The way he weaved contemporary socio-cultural and religious issues in his poetry demand an indepth and scholarly revaluation so that their utility with respect to contemporary issues may be rediscovered. His introduction in schools at primarily level should be priority of concerned department because while connecting to his poetry we shall be reconnecting to our own essence and cultural roots and in these roots lies the secret of our survival and the prospect of bright future.
Amir Suhail Wani is a freelance columnist with bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a student of comparative studies with special interests in Iqbaliyat & mystic thought. Besides being widely published in and outside state, the author is a guest columnist at Kashmir Pen.
