Shaikh Saadi and Maroof Karkhi

Iran is very fertile. It has been home to a large number of intellectuals, Sufis, poets and philosophers like Saadi, Maroof Karkhi, Hafiz, Firdausi, Urfi, Omar Khayyam, Nizamul Mulk Tusi, Maulana Rumi, Shaikh Fariduddin, Attar, etc.
In his famous book, ‘Bostan’, Shaikh Saadi mentioned Maroof Karkhi. In my previous column I discussed what Shaikh Fareeduddin Attar wrote in ‘Tazkaratul Aoulia’ about Karkhi. Now let’s see what Saadi has to say about him – but first something about Saadi himself. His real name was Maslehuddin and his father’s was Abdullah. He was born in Shiraz between 1204 and 1209 and died between 1292 and 1295. His early education came from his learned father and other ulema in Shiraz. After Ghiasuddin Khwarizm Shah occupied Shiraz, the family moved to Baghdad.
After completing his education, Saadi travelled to Egypt, Morocco, Central Asia, Palestine, Makkah, Madina, Damascus and India, including Gujrat and Kashmir. According to Maulana Shibhi, Saadi was a poet par excellence, a Sufi preacher, a religious scholar and a jolly, humorous person, fond of drinking and an admirer of beauty. During his travels he sometimes worked as a water carrier and often meditated at the graves of Sufis and saints.
He returned to Shiraz after many years during the peaceful and prosperous days of Atabuk Abu Bakar Saad bin Zangi. He adopted the name ‘Saadi’ in honour of the king’s son, ‘Saad’. He had become quite well known by then and in 1257 he wrote his famous book of poetry ‘Bostan’ followed by the prose ‘Gulistan’. These two books immortalised him, are as famous as Rumi’s ‘Masnavi’, and have been translated into many languages. They were beautifully translated into Urdu by Dr Khwaja Hameed Yazdani and printed by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore. My information is based on these Urdu translations.
Saadi wrote: “Maroof Karkhi belonged

to the city of ‘Karkh’ in Iran. A person could follow Karkhi if he had first given up all desire for personal fame. It is reported that someone, on the verge of death, once came to his house. Maroof took good care of him. The guest then started moaning and groaning. He could not sleep himself and wouldn’t let the others sleep either. He was rude and short-tempered. He was not dying but forcing a death-wish on others.
“All the others in the room left and only Maroof was left with him. Maroof looked after him day and night and fulfilled his every wish. One night Maroof fell asleep and the guest started abusing him and calling him names. He said people like him (Maroof) were hypocrites. Maroof showed great patience and tolerance and did not respond. However, people in the next room heard all this and his wife told Maroof: ‘throw out that ungrateful and unthankful rascal. I don’t say don’t help the poor and the needy, but don’t waste your time on such lousy, ungrateful non-entities. Don’t be kind and polite to an ungrateful person. If you want to hear the truth, then you must know that a thankful and loyal dog is a thousand times better than an ungrateful rascal. I have never seen such an ungrateful and rude person; don’t show any kindness to him.’
“On hearing this, Maroof smiled and said: ‘O my beloved wife and companion. You need not worry about his behaviour and anger. If he had abused me because of his indisposition, I did not mind it. We should not mind any diatribe by such people who can’t help it because of their disease.
“When you are in good health and high spirits, do bear the nonsense of those who are in pain and thank God for His blessings on you. If you behave in the same way, you will be an unknown entity after your death. Don’t you know that there are many graves in Karkh, but none command as much respect as that of Karkhi. The rulers and people respect and remember those who were not arrogant, were kind and soft spoken. People with money and wealth live as arrogants and don’t know that this respect and admiration is only due to humbleness.’”
Tailpiece: A few days ago a grand function was held with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and scores of his followers. The occasion was the inauguration of a signal-free Islamabad Expressway from Faizabad Chowk to Karal (Airport) Chowk. As usual, all present were nodding in admiration at every word spoken by the prime minister. Just by chance (for once) I listened to the whole speech and saw the whole programme. I was rather shocked (and disappointed) to hear the prime minister giving a sermon to the suffering and suppressed masses.
On the one hand, the country is suffering from 8 to 18 hours of loadshedding (depending on where you live) while on the other hand billions of rupees are being spent on fancy projects like roads, motorways, etc. The need of the hour is to spend every single paisa available on power generation. More than two years have passed since the present government came to power and nothing visible has been done for the relief of the common man.
As a Pakistani, an engineer and the former head of a large organisation, I know very well that civil works stink of corruption – as much as 50 percent of the project in hand. We saw what Mustafa Kamal (in collaboration with some powerful authorities) did in Karachi; flyovers, roads and expressways, but no drainage or water supply systems to speak of.
Due to loadshedding, more than 1200 people died of heat stroke and dehydration in Karachi. The cruelty of the rulers showed clearly in their sarcastic claims that loadshedding had nothing to do with the deaths. They forget that Caliph Omar (RA) had once said that even if a dog died of thirst on the banks of the Euphrates, he, Omar, would be held responsible and answerable to Allah.
The present situation reminds me of a verse my late older brother, Abdul Hafeez Khan, wrote in which he wondered whether the people were under the illusion that there was no God and that committing misdeeds would remain unpunished. According to the prime minister, people should not complain about loadshedding; they should show patience. Fine, Mr Prime Minister! Why don’t you lead the way by calling your family, friends and the press to PM House and then switching off the electricity for just four hours (not even the 16-18 hours that some people have to put up with). If you manage to do that for a week, I am sure people will appreciate the gesture and no longer complain with as much as a whisper.
Email: dr.a.quadeer.khangmail.com