Kis matti ka kis matti se rishta hay maloom to ho
Kutbon pe ye baat bhhi likh do loag kahan se aaye thhay
Thus reads the epitaph of the late Professor Ta’aha Khan in the graveyard of Peshawar Cantonment Board. The verse is a representation of a straightforward Muslim and a Pathan descendant, who is survived by his amazing work, his signature on earth.
Mr Ta’aha Khan’s grandparents belonged to the Yousafzai tribe, which migrated from Swat to Qandahar along with the troops of Ahmed Shah Abdali. They then moved to Lucknow.
Ta’aha Khan was born on 1 January, 1932 at Lucknow. Ta’aha Khan started poetry as a child since 5 class. He contributed to the school magazine and also newspaper “Qaumi Awaz” at Lucknow. His mother Saeedatun Nisa would sing folk tales and lullaby’s in Purbi language in Raag Bherween. Thus he developed a poetic and musical mind which helped him later in translating Pashto folk into Urdu. His father M Yaseen Khan opted for Pakistan in 1947 along with wife and three sons. Like millions of others, he surrendered his property “Haveli Badal Khan (Khan-e Azam)” in Lucknow. Yaseen Khan and family started from a scratch in Peshawar. Different place, different language, different dress, different social codes, different people and different traditional culture were aptly adapted by this family. Ta’aha Khan used to recall his five uncles who embraced Shahadat in the anti-Muslim riots during the Pakistan movement.
Ta’aha Khan had a passion for education and despite meager resources completed his Masters in Urdu language from the Peshawar University in 1960. Ahmed Faraz and Maqbool Butt were his class fellows along with others at the Urdu Deptartment. He joined the Edwardes College Peshawar in 1962 and then the PAF Model School in 1967. Ta’aha Khan got married to Hashmat Jehan belonging to a family from Delhi on 25 May, 1956. He had four daughters and two sons. All of them are happily married.
Unfortunately, Ta’aha Khan lost his eyesight in December 1988 but Pakistan Air Force supported him in continuing the job as a teacher till 1998. H e remained thankful to Air Chiefs Hakeemullah and Abbas Khattak for this act of kindness. Professor Ta’aha Khan expired on 25 Aug, 2013, a date when his close friend Ahmed Faraz also embraced death. He got appreciation as a national humorous poet and was included in the team of humor eleven by Sarfaraz Shahid. He wrote nine books on different topics including his Biaz “Gulpash”. He was decorated with the Tamgaha-e-Imtiaz on 23 March, 2008 for translating Rehman Baba from Pashto to Urdu in poetry form. He also translated Khushhal Khan Khattak’s poetry to Urdu. The beauty of both these translations lies in the same theme, cultural, grammatical and linguistic translations, same rhyme, rhythm and same thoughts. Pathan literary circles and researchers have gauged his translations as actual of Rehman Baba and Khushhal Khattak, ever done by any poet in any language. Ajmal Khattak was a great admirer of Ta’aha Khan and would say openly “This Urdu speaking man has done what we Pashto speaking should have done”.
Ta’aha Khan would say “Pashto folk is really Rangeen and Sangeen”. About poetry and wife, Mr Ta’aha Khan said: “Poetry and wife are not to be left. They both coincide together. When you try to prioritize, wife leaves earlier”.
“Peshawar se meray khatir dandassa lana” was his first famous Urdu song on Pashto folk music. It was sung by the famous singer Mahjabeen Qazilbash in 1974. When it was aired from Radio Pakistan, Peshawar, it earned him great fame. He owed a lot to Radio Pakistan Peshawar from where his other writings were also aired in the form of poetry, articles, drama, prose, history, social work, literature and culture. His famous programs “Puchpun Minute” and “Sub Rang” were also famous across the border. It was translation of King of Sufi poets “Rehman baba” that earned him a big name in Pathan circles.
Hay Ta’aha Khan naam haqeer or faqeer ka
banda hoon main khudai samee o baseer ka
While visiting shrine of Rehman Baba at Hazar Khani, Peshawar you’ll find the three walls covered with an Ayat of Holy Quran followed by a verse of Rehman Baba and it’s Urdu poetic translation by Ta’aha Khan.
Ta’aha Khan was a simple soul without any fancy shades, political lobby and public relations. He however had some principles on which he never compromised. One of them was punctuality, steadfastness and integrity. Anyone having appointment with Mr Ta’aha Khan and getting late would listen to this statement “If there is an appointment, there shouldn’t be any disappointment”.
He didn’t write for praising some individuals or groups, but always on merit. He had a chance to get the house allotted for himself and friends while deployed at the rehabilitation cell of repatriates in early 50s but didn’t misuse his authority.
Spontaneous humor was God gifted to Ta’aha Khan. Joyous moment in his life was when he read false news of his death in daily Anjaam. Likewise at a Mushaira he was called earlier than turn and he started by saying “ O God don’t call me early as the management has called me today”.
His poetry is humor and not satire. He touches the topic delicately and leaves the audience to conclude. He was against the caricatures, body language, or use of indecent words in poetry. He would create comedy through words without making funny faces or poses. But nowhere he satirizes nor the reader gets offended.
His geniuses constructs dialogue between “Ghalib and Ghalibun” and “Allama Iqbal and Maoulvi Abdul Haq”. In the later poem he laments the literary degradation and condition of the nation.
When he writes a dialogue between Daagh and Ameer Minai, the poetic references are at their zenith.
Mr Ta’aha Khan was sensitive man who faced hardships in the early life. He was a public figure who would write against the inequalities of life and injustice. He wrote poems on train’s journey, a teacher, bus travel, residential scheme and graveyards, elections, nepotism, gratification, rocketing prices, doctors, medication, hot summer, loadshedding, etiquettes and manners, gas shedding, horse trading, friendship, pen friendship, dishonesty, water shortage, Ramadan ul Mubarik, govt departments, butchers, pollution, buffet dinners, husband and wife relations, neighborhood, fake religious scholars and political leaders. He also had an eye on international politics.
He wrote a complete poem on aerial attack over Halwarra attack by three sons of the soils. He paid rich tribute to Sarfaraz Rafiqui who embraced shahadat in this dogfight. Sarapa rashk hain mardan e ghazi/Rafiqui ko mili kia sarfarazi.
Like all legends he also departed and left the message for the coming generations. “A man must put his signature on Earth before he departs”