Marks on the Heart

-

I remember Dr I.S. once saying that the words we read are not mere words. They are rather the marks on the heart...

I was reminded of this thought just a while ago when I had finished reading a short story by a very famous Pakistani writer who was an eminent figure in the "Progressive Writers" alliance. I won't name the writer of the title of the story here for various reasons that I prefer keeping to myself. What I wish to share in this post is my response to that particular work. There are some works of literature after reading which you feel like throwing up. It was one of that kind. I know it is a very layman-kind-of a response coming from a student of literature! At times such simplistic remarks help us figure out our own condition of the heart after reading something. Literature, as it was pointed out, is 'marks on heart'. Despite all their art and craft, some works simply make one palpably feel their hearts being plunged into darkness... A sense of great uneasiness follows. The heart gets disturbed for the diet you provided to it rather made it far more malnourished. And this leads one to recognise the non-Traditional literature!
****


A 'relevant' digression: qalb is something that needs to be 'handled with care.'

Comments

Biya said…
"The heart gets disturbed for the diet you provided to it rather made it far more malnourished..."
definately words leave their imprints on our hearts and minds..
2:13 PM
Hassan Habib said…
In this contemporary world i seek no hope from literature to solve the grave problems and ideologies which are destroying the peace on this earth. Do you think literature has the power to change the world as we know it or make any difference....?
8:15 PM
Naeema Akram-Jehanzeb said…
@ Bea:
Thanks for dropping by!

@ Hassan Habib
I do not think that literature alone can CHANGE the world as such. Plus, we also need to identify what kind of literature we are talking about. Unfortunately we are not living in the times of Mawlana Rum who did become a source of a great change in the troubled times brought onto this world by the Tartars. I have cited Mawlana only as one example. The literature which is being written in the present day and age hardly has any possibility for bringing about a significant social change. And precisely this is why I am an ardent supporter of the teaching of classical literature to our new generation.
5:22 PM
Darul Ulooms said…
Jazakallah for this insightful post...truly the heart does need to be handled with care.

Please link to Haq Islam from your blog if you find it to be of benefit for your readers.
Wasalam
5:53 PM
Naeema Akram-Jehanzeb said…
Darul Ulooms

wa iyyaakum. I have added you to my blogroll
2:13 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Company - Ba-gul Nashistan

-
Image
Company or more specifically suhbah is a phenomenon whose effects are difficult to describe. There is this teacher of mine who always says that 'environment is silent speech' and I always used to think how right he was... The effects and impacts are so subtle that one does not even notice how one gets transformed without noticing it ever. There are few verses by Shaykh Sa'adi (rahimahullah) that I came across in a book called, Bayt ki haqeeqat . I am compelled to write them on my blog. The poetry is extremely beautiful and rhythmic. Someone who has ever experienced such company would testify to the truth contained in the verses of this hikaayat . Gili khushbooi dar hamaam roozi Raseed az dast-e-mahboobi ba-dastam Be-oo guftam keh mushki ya 'abeeri Keh az boo-e dil-aaweez e tu mastam Be-oo gufta, man gil-e naacheez boodam Wa-leekin muddati ba-gul nashistam Jamaal-e hum-nasheen dar man asar kard Wa gar na man hamaan khaakam keh hastam [One day in a hamaam* , I g...
Read more

Hajj and Eid, 1429 H

-
Yesterday, I saw a wonderful picture on a website showing too many pligrims thronging the land of Hijaz. And beneath the picture it was written: Bana kar faqeeron ka hum bhays Ghaalib Tamasha-e-ehl-e-Karam dekhtay hain ... And the verse went so well with the view in the picture. No explanations needed to explain this kind of love. "It is all the labour of Love." What is there which is beyond Love? Darmiyaan-e-parda-e-khoon ishq ra gulzaarha Aashiqaan ra ba-Jamaal-e-ishq-e-bay-chun kaarha Aql guyad "shish jehat huddst, beeroon raah neest" Ishq guyad "raah hast wa raftay am mann baarha..." (Transation of Professor Lateefullah's Urdu Translation in Rumi (RA) ka payaam-e-ishq : Between the curtains of blood, there are countless gardens of Love. Lovers have a lot to do with the beauty of Love of the Unmatched! Intellect says, there's no way beyond the limits of six directions Love ( Ishq ) says, there is the way, for I have traversed it several times!) ...
Read more