Engrossing and richly resonant volume of poetry

By Ibne Ahmad
October 21, 2017

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Yeh sher seena kharashi se kam naheen hai mujay

Yeh kaam thora sa asaan hona chaheeyay tha

Ziaul Mustafa Turk’s poetry collection ‘Chiragh Pasay Shehr’ turns the commonplace experience into the sensory and passionate kaleidoscope of the poet’s personality.

He tries to take the writing of poetry into a new territory, and in doing so, accomplishes something extraordinary. This collection is both substantial and multifaceted, enhancing our knowledge of what poetics can encase and the power of language to express it:

Ajab hai gard guzashta dinoun ki chahtee naheen

Yeh kia keh subho tu hoti hai raat kat-ti naheen

Shabay doshanba hai aur apna khaan khali hai

Hamaray ghar koi mehmaan hona chayheeyay tha

All of the poems in the collection are innovative rejoinders to certain situations. There is a sparkle of ecstasy that runs through his poetry. Emotions fly fast and free in the collection:

Tumhara lams abhi mehfooz hai kaheen mug mein

Mehak rahee hai koi shakhay sandleen muj mein

Turk’s romantic portrayals are introverted footages of personal pleasures and fascination with private voyaging through his rich inner world. Sensorial and intellectual curiosity abounds in his poetic wanderings. It is a measure of Turk’s skill that the acute visual impact of his poetry is achieved by way of linguistic exactitude:

Naheen keh sirf Saba-o-Yemen se hota hua

Main tuj tak aaya hoon bhaghay aden se hota hua

Chamn mein hoon tu meri pouroun tak pohachnay lagay

Kisi ka lams golo yasman se hota hua

Meri hathaili meri unglioun tak aa gaya hai

Tumahra rangay badan payrahan se hota hua

His poetry is poignant, in a very visceral way. The following straightforward lines exhibit an aching silence and unspeakable pain of love as it occurs:

Hamari jalti hui aankhain bhi mulahaza houn

Hamara yaaray tarahdar dekhnay waalay

Der tak khud ko dekhna tha zaroor

Aayenay ko alag nadhaal kia

It is with touching everydayness that Turk expresses his emotional state. Flights of fancy, memory, nostalgia, dreams and desire are familiar secrets for him:

Main tu ab tak tujay leeyay huyay hoon

Janay tu ne kahan kia hai mujay

Phir usi dhun mein usi dhayan mein aa jaata hoon

Tujay milta houn tu osaan mein aa jaata hoon

Tu kisi subho cee aangan mein utar aati hai

Main kisi dhoop sa daalan mein aa jaata hoon

Turk’s linguistic dexterity endures throughout his whole poetry collection and his adroit touch also seems to evolve in correspondence with content, and doesn’t appear to be imposed on it:

Woh aik kous keh jo daira hui muj se

Kisi se ho na saka tha jo kaam muj se hua

Shaayad kisi ne dhoop ki chaadar lapate lee

Aaj aik bhi darakhat ka saaya naheen khula

Magar yeh khawb agar khawb hain tu kaisay hain

Keh jin ko deedayay baykhawb se alakqa naheen

The poet's diction is finely crafted and feels precise, so that while tonality varies greatly across the collection, there is, altogether, a sense that a singular voice underpins the work:

Sakoot se bhi sukhan ko nikaal laata hua

Yeh main hoon lohay shakasta se lafz uthata hua

Pehlay bayrabt lakeeroun ko kia lafz aur phir

Baysada lafz ko awaaz kia hai main ne

Roz ek nai awaaz nayay lehn mein dhalna

Aata hai hamain lafz ki poshaak badalna

There is something pleasant about this collection that opens itself up to the reader on a first reading and induces them to come back to it again and again.

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