Tuesday, November 28, 2006
WALI DAKNI — Tasawwuf, Insaniyat aur Mohabbat ka Shair (Urdu): Papers presented at the Seminar on the above topic. Gopi Chand Narang — Editor; Sahitya Akademi, 35 Rabindra Bhavan, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi-110001. - -Rs. 200.
Wali's place in Urdu poetry is similar to that of Chaucer in English. Born in Aurangabad and educated in Ahmedabad, Wali primarily composed poems in Dakni but in course of time he switched over to Rekhta.
This is how his pioneering effort retains its connection with earlier Dakni poets like Quli Qutub Shah, Shahi and Nusrati and at the same time builds a bridge with the lyrical compositions of Daagh, Mir and Ghalib down to the practitioners of contemporary Urdu ghazal. According to Narang, Wali's arrival on the literary scene of North India may be said to be a turning point in the history of Urdu poetry.
Wali is known for his craftsman-like use of words. While in his similes, metaphors and implications, he made use of Hindi, by the assimilation of Indo-Iranian literary traditions and the intermingling of the expressions of the north and the south, he provided a strong and durable foundation to the Urdu ghazal.
He coined new structures and skillfully fitted Persian idioms into Urdu patterns. Even so, his poetry remains the poetry of the Indian ethos, a happy blend of Bhakti and Sufism marked by love of humanity and respect for all religions, a credible voice of India's composite culture.
In his poetry we find several allusions to Indian mythology from which he seemingly derives aesthetic pleasure. He surveys all beautiful objects with the eye of a painter, and possibly discovers images of the Gopis, even in plain village women taking bath on the bathing ghats of the river Tapti. Similarly, perhaps the poet's perception of the Divine in the beautiful urges him to call Surat the Mecca of India.
Wali died in Ahmedabad in 1707/1708, and on March 2, 2002, about three hundred years after his death, his mausoleum, a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of Muslim and non-Muslim devotees in the Shahi Bagh area of Ahmedabad, was demolished during the post-Godhra riots.
This compilation of papers presented at an all-India seminar held in New Delhi is a testimony to the uniqueness of Wali's versatile creative genius as also an acknowledgement of his love for our country and for humanity at large.
The book also includes some very enlightened articles on the poetry of Wali Dakni, which have served as source material for scholars for a long time. This book deserves to be read by all lovers of Urdu poetry.
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