LYRIC HOMAGE (A book of Naat)
TO THE LAST OFTO THE LAST OF PROPHETS HADRAT MUHAMMAD (PEACE BE UPON HIM) BY SAYED JAMIL NAQVI :
PROPHETS HADRAT MUHAMMAD (PEACE BE UPON HIM)
Book Review by Shumaila Munib Shumail:
Introduction:
Sayed Jameel Ahmad Naqvi: (1912-1999)
Sayed Jameel Ahmad Naqvi was another poet from the soil of Amroha, where he was born on 7 January 1912. He got his elementary education from there and passed his tenth from Muradabad in 1927. His did his education till his master’s degree. In 1929, he did a course in library administration from Aligarh Muslim University and worked in the library of the same university for nineteen years. After partition, he migrated to Pakistan and retired in 1971 as an assistant director in the Export Import Department. He had a keen interest in poetry since he was quite young. His teacher and guide in poetry was Habeeb Ahmad Ufaq. He died on 19 January 1999 in Karachi. Parcham Ka Hilaal Jagmagaya, Kaf-E-Khaakaster, Barf Ke Bajri, Armughan-E-Jameel, Intezam-E-Kutub Khaana, Shibli Ki Rangeen Zindagi, Tanqeed-O-Tafheem, and Urdu Nasr Ka Irteqa are the collections of his works. [1]
“Lyric Homage” is an in-depth exploration of the verse genre. This book highlights the spiritual and cultural importance of naat in the Islamic literary tradition. The foreword has been written in this book by James Naqvi and Justice,Dr.Javaid Iqbal. This book contains 124 pages and was published by Royal Book Company, P.O. Box 7737, Saddar, Karachi-3.
There are many things around us which pass unnoticed before us. We do not know how much love and peace of heart they can give us. Having whirled away in the patches of day and night, we have almost forgotten our origin. Whenever, I try to say something, to explain something, it becomes the explanation of the dream of a dumb. He has to say a lot which is in his mind, but he has no words to explain them. Even then, I have to do it in one way or the other.
LYRIC HOMAGE
When I came by this book, I read it, tried to understand it and the whole process filled me with love, fear, astonishment and what not. It seems as if the poet has submerged into the sea of the prophet’s love and has lost himself in it many a time. He seems to be having no name, no personality, no relation, no connection with the outer world and no other thing which appears to be connecting him with the material world. From beginning to end he has forgotten all other things except the one that he is a humble slave of the prophet and is standing at his threshold asking for his love, nothing else. He is at the level of self-negation. He nullifies his being which is the very first point of love for anyone and at the same time a very sensitive point and very knotty and difficult to be understood by anyone other than the one who has experienced it. He has admitted all this many a time. For example, he says in “Passion of Passions”
“I too am a slave of the King of both the worlds.
The love for Medina forms a part of my faith.”
The poet is well aware of both the enormity and the sensitivity of the task. He knows that what he is doing is the highest and noblest thing to do, but at the same time it is also the most difficult thing to perform out and to perform it the way it should be done. It is such a sensitive topic to which Allah and the lovers of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) are equally touchy. Neither of the parties accepts even a slight disgrace for the loveliest of the personality our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) and also hold the one dear who expresses his love for the Holy Prophet (SAW) in one way or the other.
The writer too, like every Muslim, has a tender heart with feelings for the Prophet (SAW). He appears to be wading through a stream of light where at every step he finds an enlightenment of how to accomplish his task in a far better way. He seems to be improving in his work with every step. It seems as if during versifying his ideas, he has forgot all other things except the one and that it is how to express his ideas, thoughts and understanding in a nicer and more sublime way. His ideas do not appear to be mundane, but heavenly and sacred. He knows that he is not doing an ordinary thing, but something that will help him survive in both the worlds, both in terms of respect and rank. Like other poets, Naqvi has also started his book with hymns of Allah, who is the Omnipotent and the Creator of everything and to Whom everything returns. He wants the same light as was bestowed upon those who have done the same work before him and earned name in the field of versification for the praise of the Holy Prophet (SAW). He also wants to be the one who is blessed by Allah and whose words are granted the rank of acceptance. Like a humble being he admits that he is unable to praise the limitless and innumerable attributes of Allah. He admits it in the very first line of the very first poem of his being discussed book as he writes in Hymn:
“O how can a being humble, thy servant, praise Thee as is meet?
How can I say aught with this tongue to celebrate thee?
One, not born of any, Thine own like, past comparison.”
Perhaps this is the reason that by the end of the poem, he reached another very minute point that is very difficult to understand by an ordinary person. Allah himself declares, “I was a hidden treasure; when I decided to unveil myself, I created man.” The poet appears seems to have comprehended the point very well and because of the understanding of it he had to say by the end in the same poem:
“If one bethinks of beholding Thee in fact,
The prophet’s self holds the mirror to Thy Divinity.”
The use of language has been made in a way that the message is conceived by everyone. Not a mastery of language is required by the reader. The poet has kept the point in mind that the message is to be conveyed from the heart, and it should be received by another heart. This is why, he has kept in mind that the message should be delivered in the simplest way. There are many occasions in the where many ideas have been conveyed that they can be easily comprehended by the reader. The way of dealing with the matter is so beautiful that the reader cannot help praising the writing hand and the thinking mind. There is nothing in the world that is done without love especially poetry. There are countless themes in the world. But the people do not versify all of them. The reason is that the people only write on those things which they themselves consider important enough to be worthy of being discussed with other people. Same is the case with the praise of the Holy Prophet (SAW). The people, who have deep love, emotional attachment and they also give it worth or value, talk of it, give it time, think of it and try to express their emotions to others. It is not an ordinary thing. Mr. Naqvi seems to be well aware of the fact and he has tried his level best to contribute his share to the art of praising the one who is praised by the Creator on man an occasion. He is the one whose praise is the most difficult thing as slight mistake could destroy all the good deeds of a person without his being aware of it. On the other hand, the same may be the easiest thing of the worlds because the being praised one is the most beautiful person of the world. A beautiful thing is not difficult to be praised because there is no mixing of false praise and exaggeration. In this way, writing a praise of the Holy Prophet (SAW) can also be the easiest thing of the world. But the one who is the most reverend and the worthiest of all human beings. He is not God, but everything after God. His praise on some occasions become difficult.
To me, it is the success of Mr. Naqvi that he has tried his level best to remain within the limits of the Holy Quran and Hadith of the Holy Prophet (SAW) so that there may not be anything that could be objected on by anyone. He has been quite successful in his attempt to express what has already been expressed by Allah and the Holy Prophet himself. For example, he expresses in Choric Chant:
One on whom even God self-born, self-existing, everlasting dotes
And ceases not to send salutations upon salutations.
Whose name figures in the prayer call itself,
Whose mention and the mention of those truth-adoring progeny
Is a part of every canonical prayer.
All the Muslims are well-aware of the fact that Allah has Himself declared in the Holy Quran that Allah and his angels send salutations upon the Holy Prophet (SAW) and the same has been advised to all the Muslims. Allah declares it in the Holy Quran, “Verily, Allah and his angels send salutations upon the Holy Prophet (SAW). O believers, you also keep sending salutations and peace upon the Rasool (SAW).” There are many poets in the world who beautify their poetry and make it more and more attractive with exaggerations and addition of false ideas towards the personality. But here the poet has not done anything like that. He has expressed his ideas the most beautifully and has not added any false thing to it. He has done and delivered the best he could. He has not exaggerated anything. This has been his success, I daresay. The Holy Prophet himself has declared, “There are two things which perish a person: The one is that he loves a person to such an extent that he says such things about him as are not possessed by him. The other is that he hates a person to such an extent that he says such things about him as are not possessed by him.”
It is the first and foremost quality of a Sufi that he sees nothing other than his beloved. He thinks that the world population comprises of only one person and that is his beloved. The rest is all conceived in connection with him. In this way, sometimes he brings forth such ideas and concepts about the person as are strange, unimaginable and cannot be thought of. This is the point where problems start from. The poet is aware of the fact that he is a great lover of the Holy Poet (SAW) and at the same time he is aware of the fact that he has to bear witness to his greatness in connection with that which is real, because the Holy Prophet (SAW) has himself declared, “The one, who associates a false thing to me, arranges refuge for himself in hell.”
The book appears to be a journey into light and into the realization of the self. With every coming piece of poetry and new idea he has come to know that he is elevating in the spiritual and the next time he comes up with a novel and marvelous idea. He says in “Choric Chant”,
Flashed before the eye of the world,
That one being, a miracle of miracles, Muhammad of Arabia
Next, he says in “Lamp of Heaven” that
With your coming the True Faith reached completion,
The Last of Prophets, addressed in the Divine Book,
With every coming idea, he is getting loftier and loftier. He is getting higher in rank. He is coming to another new world of new ideas. His every effort is better, purer, clearer, nicer and loftier than the previous one. He is consciousness regarding the sensitivity of his task is ever-increasing. He is getting more and more aware of the greatness and height of his task. The Holy Prophet himself has declared, being the Last of the Prophets, “The example of the series of Prophets (AS) is like a building that was constructed really very beautifully, but the place of one brick or stone was left. I am the brick whose space was left.” It means he is the cause of beauty and perfection to the building of Prophets. He really is the last of all prophets and there is none after him.
The poetry in the praise of the Holy Prophet (SAW) is always a humble acknowledgement of what has been done by the Holy prophet (SAW) to keep us on the path of Allah and to bless us with the light of faith so that we may not be led astray. It is a declaration that we are quite faithful to him and will bend to no new or derived idea in the faith. It is the strangest and queerest relationship between a lover and a beloved that a person has never seen a person, he has never spent time in his company, he has never his house, his city, his world in his time and even then, the person in deep love with the person. He accepts him the most influential leader, the most impressive personality. It is further a wonder that the person is expressed in the same way by the ones who are not his followers, rather they belong to other religions of the world, but they do have a thinking mind. They know the reality and accept it. They have made research on the same personality and declared that he is the most truthful personality of the world and at the same time the one that influences the lives of a large number of people in the world. He is the perfection of creation in every sense and in the truest sense. It is the same that has been expressed by the poet in The Unlettered Apostle,
O you whose name is sublime like Heaven,
You are the supreme head of the world’s masters,
With your love our heart became alive,
O you my soul and that of the whole cosmos.
The Rasool (SAW) is the soul of the universe, and it is because him that the world is alive. He is because of him that man has been declared the crown of creation. It is because of him that man is proud, because he is also created among human beings. It is because of him that the world is place to live in. It is because of him that the uneasy and restless hearts and minds have got the answers to the questions that did not let them live at peace. It is because of him that the people had the light to see the path to the glory of Allah. It is also the greatest miracle by Allah that a person who did not receive any formal education in the world, guided the world in the best and befitting manner. His leadership is also the best to date. He did not let anyone go astray. The poet has rightly declared that he is the cause of the creation of the world, because had he not been there, the world would not have been created and there would not have been any population, hustle and bustle, routine, life, death, vegetation etc. The poet has brought the same topic under discussion in the same poem The Unlettered Apostle,
Unlettered and yet the knower of the world’s secrets,
Shadowless and still the world’s canopy.
“We would not have created the heavens if not created you”,
Is the superscript of the story of the universe.
He has also expressed more or less the same thoughts in the Illustrious Sun
The messenger of messengers, chief of the celestial folk,
Guide of the djinns and men, most auspicious of the auspicious;
The cause of creation, the secret of earth and heaven
The art with which all has done by the poet is marvelous, great, matchless and splendid. It is the use and arrangement of words that their effect has raised to a great extent. The ordinary words have become so powerful that they begin to cast a magical spell on the readers, and they cannot help praising the poet. Many of the themes and topics and the same as have been expressed by other poets of the different parts of the world many times before this. The poet has also expressed them in a way that no sort of repetition is felt. We feel the novelty of the way the topics have been dealt with. This is the skill very little people have been blessed with, or at least made use of by very little people.
It is a reality that no one in the world has never been able to understand the Holy Prophet (SAW) fully. The world is still in a state of awe even after hundreds of years whether there can be a single person having so many qualities in his self, whether there can be a person in the world who can have so much greatness in himself, whether there can be a person having blessed with such ranks, whether there can be a person who can tell human beings how to spend their life from dawn to dusk and how to live it from birth to death, whether someone can do it in a way as has been one by the most beloved personality of both Allah and humans. At this point, a humble human being comes to a point where he has declared his inability to perform the task of the praise of the Prophet (SAW), where a person declares that he has not full understanding of the person who has so many qualities in his own self that they cannot be expressed. The poet has expressed the same thought
Who can dare to know your lofty rank,
The Prophet unique?
In another poem in the praise of the Holy Prophet (SAW), “Being Seraphic” the poet has expressed more or less the same thought that
Mirror of the Divine Light, salutations upon salutations to you.
Chandelier of the empyrean, knower of the primal secrets,
Witness of the glorious Lord, O he unique and peerless.
One besought and loved of God, guide of the noblest line,
O preceptor and desired of all, light of the Harem;
The sublimity of thought is there throughout the book. There is nothing in the book that is small in magnitude. He has taken up a high theme and he has associated high thought to it. He has taken up a majestic topic and has dealt with it equally majestically. He knows that the one he is talking about is the most charismatic personality of the world, before whom every person of the world bows his head out of reverence. All the Muslims and many non-Muslims as well do declare that they admit the charisma in the personality of the Prophet (SAW). In the same way, the personality that is full of countless blessings and qualities bestowed on him by the sole Creator of the world, the person who is chosen among the human beings and who is closest to God. He is the single person about whom God himself declare in the holy Quran that he doesn’t say anything at his own will, but whatever he says it is from Allah Almighty. It means whatever has been spoken by the Holy Prophet (SAW), is not spoken by himself, but it has been spoken by Allah’s will. The has versified the same theme in “Voice Eternal”
The voice eternal which rings throughout heaven and earth is yours,
The tongue of God’s will, the eloquence of the Qur’an you.
At another point in the same Na’t the poet speaks his heart thus
One who was hosted by God Himself, that you are.
With your coming spring came forth in the world,
O my master, you are the holder of the secret of the world’s creation
It is also no less wonder that Allah has not blessed any other person or Nabi the rank where someone can give glasses full of the holy water of Paradise. It is the rank of our beloved Holy Prophet (SAW) that at the Day of Judgment, the Holy Prophet will do the same. He is the one who will request God to forgive the sinners of his Ummah. The writer has expressed the same very beautifully in The Pinnacle
For the forgiveness of the sinners of your Ummah,
Your compassion for one and all is sufficient.
I wish I could drink by the grace of Almighty
The wine of Paradise from your Sacred Cup
Art is judged by an artist in a befitting way. Some Urdu writer has commented very beautifully that a good writer has the wrist of the reader in his hand. He leads him throughout the story. He casts a magical spell on the reader and he cannot leave him at his own will. The writer can make him laugh wherever he wants and he can also make him weep wherever he wants. It is the success of Mr. Naqvi that he has also enchanted the reader through whatever he has written. The reader is deeply affected by it. He feels attraction and is restless to know what next is going to appear before him. It is because of the same spiritual bond that the reader is ready to read everything that comes to his hand. The reader feels a sort of betterment in his spirituality and is ready to move higher and higher by reading all the praise of the Holy Prophet (SAW). Alim Ul Haq Haqi says that if you want to improve your love for someone you just go on thinking about the good, he has done to you. You love for that person will automatically increase. In the same way, when we think of the good deeds done by our Holy Prophet (SAW), we also feel proud and our love for him increasing with everything that appears before us. The book is a source of the same. The reader feels a sort of attraction, respectfulness and thankfulness towards the Holy Prophet (SAW). It increases with every breath and the reader gets more and more inclined towards the one who is the having the softest heart among all the human beings. The journey into self and the realization of one’s self becomes also very fast. It is the greatest reality of the life of a Muslim, or rather a human being. These are a few questions who keep a person uneasy and many people are led astray because of them. “Who we are? What we are here for? What is our relation to other things in the world?” All these questions have been answered well and quite satisfactorily by our Holy Prophet (SAW). This is why, a Muslim leads the most peaceful life in the world because he has got nothing which makes him uneasy in the world. In acknowledgement of all these things a Muslim has to develop a sort of thankfulness to the Holy Prophet (SAW). Perhaps being impressed by all this the poet said in his Sublime Gate
I and beseeching at the sublime gate of the monarch of Bat-ha,
Before the luminous lamp of the assembly of the Night of Asra!
Whether it be a golden crown or a bejeweled throne,
Everything is matchless before your matchless threshold
It is only love of the Holy Prophet (SAW) that should be possessed by all the Muslims. It should be superior to all other things in the world. He himself has declared that no one can be a perfect believer till I (The Holy Prophet (SAW)) become dearer to all other things and relations in the world.” It means the love of the prophet stronger in a Muslim’s heart than all other things of the world. His love is the soul of all other loves and lovely things in the world. In a nutshell, the Holy Prophet (SAW) should be the loveliest thing in the eyes of a Muslim for becoming a true Muslim. It has been advised to all the Muslims that they should teach their children the love of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and of those who are from his family. It means the whole bloodline of the Holy Prophet (SAW) must be dear to us and to be loved by more than anything else in the world. So, the thing, which is the dearest to you, you always feel uneasy and restless to see him. You always have tendency towards him. Same is the case with the poet when he says
My life burns with love and the heart is pierced with sorrow,
He would call me whenever he pleases, my master
I am present at your court, all because of your graciousness
For him leaving the prophet’s doorstep is the most anguishing thing. He doesn’t want to leave it at any cost. It is the most painful experience for him in the world to go away from him. It is the heartiest desire of every Muslim to spend as much time at his door as could be done. It is because of his love that the heart is at peace and his nearness is the loveliest thing that can be a remedy to all the problems of the world. It is the quality of every lover that to him the best remedy to any malady is the nearness or a look at the face of their beloved. Same is the case with the Muslims who have love for their prophet. The poet has described it very beautifully
My heart is upset by the pain of separation,
A special pain this, let me have its remedy.
It is also the greatness of only our Holy Prophet (SAW) that he himself has done what other people do not even think of doing. He has faced countless difficulties and problems to preach the message of Allah and to bring the people close to Him. He himself has declared, “I have faced as much pain and sufferings as were done by all other prophets.” All this has been done for the ones who were going to express their faith for him without seeing him, who were his witness but not eyewitness. These were the people who had a deep love for him and had deep faith in him. These were the people who were considered less fortunate than those who enjoyed his company. But they had more fruit from the garden of his graciousness as they were closer and dearer to him. The poet has diverted our attention towards it as well in his Master Builder saying
Bearing all the sorrows and afflictions of men on his self,
He sought the weal of all, throwing wide the gates of felicity.
He taught the men how to carve out their destiny
And present an image of the man willed by God.
He has also presented very resembling theme in his Lines Consecrate
It makes one forget the profane world,
Such is the intoxicating effect of the Prophet’s love.
It is through being his bondsman
That man acquired estimation in the world.
Mr. Jamil Naqvi is also having the same superiority. He has chosen the greatest theme of the world. He has adorned every piece of poetry with the most suitable words. He has added the themes which are dearest to every Muslim. All the pieces poetry appears to be beautiful pieces of jewelry. They have further beautified with the gems of love and sincerity. All the themes have been brought forward with full responsibility and truthfulness. They have been drawn with such a splendor that at many a time the reader feels as if he is visiting the lanes of the sacred cities. He has described everything with full emotions that the reader also feels highly emotional. The reader is sure of deriving enjoyment and emotionality. It is really very appreciable thing that in a time when the people are dispersed, the poets are making effort to unite them and keep them together and divert their attention towards the Holy Prophet (SAW) and his love. Every piece of poetry deals with the matter of love for the Holy Prophet (SAW) and enlightenment of many things associated with him. It is because of all this that the people are alive and aware of the importance of their being in the world. It is the lesson of selflessness as was done by our Holy Prophet (SAW). It is the message of fortitude as was done by our Holy Prophet (SAW). It is the matter of love for humanity. Every Na’t is a piece of great art that will be reckoned among the nicest pieces of art in literature. It tells us that there would be nothing without the Holy Prophet (SAW). He is the truest spirit of the world or rather the universe. He is the person whom every one believer and nonbeliever praises. Every Na’t appears to be a source of blessing for the reader. It is a source of peace for all the readers. It is a source of self-realization and a way of God-realization as well.
Here I would like to quote his Naat Desert Charmer
O what charmer!
How bewitching!
The charmer of the desert,
Winner of hearts
O what a spell!
The sands all scattered,
Blown by winds,
He with a gesture,
Just a slight move,
Brought the grains together,
And raised what a golden palace,
Glory of all times
All the people have their own views which may surely differ from others’, as people themselves are not alike. They differ from each other in more than one way. The behavior of the people with others is also not alike. There are some people for whom we have a lot of love, for some of them we have hatred, we have respect for a few persons, we fear from many and so on. In the same way, Allah doesn’t have the feelings towards all. No doubt, he wants to save all the people from evils and wants all of them to go to Heaven, but he has freed them all to choose the way they like and has not imposed his will on people. He has love for some of them, hatred and surely sorrow and anger for many of them. We know that there is only one personality in the world for whom He has the endless love. He is the person for whom he has derived and devised many ways of good deeds. It is because of reciting his name and to be his followers that he has declared reward only for thinking of doing good deeds and as far as bad deeds are concerned, they are not considered until or unless they have been completed. He is our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SAW), whom we undoubtedly consider the reason of the creation of the world. He is the person upon whose request Allah lessened the number of obligatory prayers and fast. Allah has declared in the Holy Quran in an authoritative way in Aayatul Kursi: “Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?” It means there is no one who can request or say something for or ask for favor for someone else except the ones he himself has granted permission. It is our beloved Holy Prophet (SAW) who is sure to as for favor at the Doomsday before Allah for the sinners among his Ummah and a lot of favor will be granted to the sinners and Allah will alleviate all their tensions and will send many of the sinners to Heaven. All this will be done for the personality who is liked the most by Allah. He is the one on whom He showers his blessings and even on those who have love for him. He is His love, and he doesn’t extend so much and intense love for anyone else. He has not addressed any other person in the Holy Quran, except his beloved Prophet (SAW) and his followers. Isn’t it His mercy that he has blessed his followers with the Holy Quran that seems to be a way to be addressed by Allah and have his commands and directions. All this is due to the Holy Prophet (SAW). The poet has very nicely brought some of these things before us in The Peerless:
The ardent lover of God, Muhammad;
The intercessor, the saqi of Kauthar, Muhammad.
The pleader of all people, of all apostles,
In the presence of the Almighty, Muhammad.
Attributes of God beyond expression,
A manifestation of these all, Muhammad
The whole world beholden to him,
The world a circle, the center, Muhammad.
In the contingent world in all times,
Surpassing all, peerless, Muhammad
The poet considers the Holy Prophet (SAW) the center of the world it the world is considered to be a circle. Such a nice example has been brought forward by him. If you are drawing a circle, it depends on only one thing. How are you drawing it in connection with the center of the circle? The point where the relationship of the circle with its center is disturbed, the whole circle is not only deformed, but it also loses its shape and its beauty as well. In the same way, the people of the universe, wherever they may be, whatever they do, how much ever they become successful, if they do not have the association with their well-wisher, they feel and face a lot of disturbance. They do not have peace heart, they may have a successful life in this world, but they will have to suffer a lot in the world hereafter. They will not have the true taste of life. How can a Muslim not love the person who kept us in mind and never left us even for a moment? How can someone be so selfish to forget a person who has not forgotten him in front of Allah? There are many points in his love when by just declaring slight anger he could have destroyed a whole city or a country, but at a point he showed peace, love, fortitude and what not. I don’t whether it is because of this that he was declared Rehmat for all the worlds, or for being Rehmat for all the worlds he did so, but no ordinary person can understand this level of patience and fortitude for others. An ordinary person may think of it as a piece of foolishness, but it is the greatness of the Holy Prophet (SAW), as well as the highest level of the perfection of his creature and the love for his creations because of which all this took place. It is because of all this that the poet had to say in Paradigm:
My heart rises up
To thank evermore
That great benefactor
Of that humanity,
That glorious one
Who conceived the paradigm,
An example for all times.
His desert alchemy
Makes everything gold.
It is because of his love and education that the people of Arabia, who were ordinary people, became the people of a high level in the world. They led the world. They became a great nation in the world. They followed the noble examples set by the Holy Prophet (SAW) and became the greatest leaders and conquerors of the world. It is because of his education that they had an intense and strong faith, and they kept themselves away from all sorts of corruption and dishonesty even in their private and even in the slightest matters. The world remained in a fix when they saw them who, in spite of being the khalifa or a ruler of the state, spent a simple life. They did not have any luxury in their life. They drew a small amount of money from the treasure and never paid attention to any lavish thing. This is why, many people got subdued even without a fight. It is all because of the miraculous personality of the prophet that all this took place. The poet has very clearly mentioned in Top-notch:
O witness of the Lord Divine!
In greatness, dignity, high station,
There is no one like you.
After God’s praise, your name
Leaps to my lips spontaneously
Love is something about which people go on sharing their views one after the other. It is believed that love is the most powerful thing in the world. It can transform everything. It is because of love that the world is worth-living. It is because of love that the world is moving. It is because of love that the people have relations with one another. But it is the love for our Allah and the Holy Prophet (SAW). The Holy Prophet (SAW) has declared, “None of you can become a true Muslim, until he loves me more than any other thing in the world.” So, our faith is incomplete till we become a true lover of the Holy Prophet (SAW). It is because of this love that we can please our Allah and have his blessings and mercy. It is because of love that we become successful in both the worlds. Our beloved Prophet is the point where every other love should come to an end, if it does not take us to him. We have to discontinue everything except the love for our Holy Prophet (SAW). Without this, neither our religion is complete, nor our worldly affairs. It is just because of this love that the people in the world have trust in each other. It is because only this name that great conflicts come to an end. It is because of this name that the people forgive big mistakes of one another. It is because of this name that the people come close to one another even if they do not know each other. It is because of this name and the people and things associated with it that we have our identity and relations and the life goes on with this name. It is the only thing because of which we have peace and satisfaction in our everyday things and even in our lives. The poet has very beautifully versified this topic as well in his Love of Loves:
My love of loves,
The first and the last,
O how charming,
How heart-warming,
Soul-storming,
Inspiring,
I yearn and yearn,
To behold it
And enfold it in my arms,
Sweet, honey sweet land of Arabia.
We know that Allah has no other example in the world. He is the one, the unique, the sole ruler of the world. He is the one Who can do everything. There is none who can claim to have the rank that Allah has. He is the one who has not been created by anyone, but He Himself is the Creator of everything in the world. He has also created his beloved prophet matchless in the world. There is none in the world, among the creatures who is better than him. He has a high rank and we can undoubtedly say that he is not God, but is everything after God. He can never be prayed, but he can be praised in every possible way. He can be declared that lover of the Ummah. He can be declared the sole soul of the world. He can be declared the one whose tension and problem makes Allah involve in the matter and solve it and alleviate his tension. His trials and tribulations were solved by Allah now and then and because of all this the world also has a deep association with him. What else can we say for him that when he thought, Allah changed the direction of prayer (Qibla), and ordered the Muslims to do the same. When he was in problem, He sent his angel and asked him to kill the ones who tormented him. But he forgave them just because of the soft and kind heart of the prophet. Because of him many people were blessed with high rank and their names will remain alive till Doomsday. The poet has spoken at it as well in Gate of Safety:
This is a miracle of your eloquence,
That even the tongueless have learnt to speak.
As you came up in the form of the Qur’an
A perfect order of existence sprang up.
I and the court of the Elect of Men!
His own beneficence has brought this about.
The poet has come at a point more than one times where he has either forgotten his being, or has declared that it is because of the Holy Prophet (SAW) that he is alive. He is so busy and so enthusiastic in reciting the name of the Holy Prophet (SAW) that he is oblivious of all other things around him. He is unable to even think of other things in the world. He, like a true lover, either thinks that there isn’t anything in the world, and if there is it stands in connection with his beloved Holy Prophet (SAW). He thinks that there is only one thing created that surpasses all other things in the world. He feels a close or rather the closest association with the Holy Prophet (SAW) and he thinks that he himself always remain in the same connection with the Holy Prophet (SAW). He feels that his love and a bond of deep friendship is always there and it is the thing because of which he never feels uneasy or restless at any stage of his life. Whatever he does, wherever he goes, he only has the idea and thought of only one thing in the world that appears to be always with him and makes him believes that he will never feel hopeless or uneasy. Such things become a permanent sort of and source of felicity and happiness for the person and can neither be thought of, nor felt by, nor understood by anyone who has not experienced it. It is because of all this that the poet is happy or rather the happiest person in the world as he is having what he has been yearning for a long time. This is why he has shared his experience in Protecting Arm:
Yours is the protecting arm
Enfolding me, enveloping me,
Wherever I go, wherever I be,
Mysterious and yet corporeal,
What comfort, what felicity, what relief.
No fears and no worries perplex me,
I feel as if God’s all-embracing arms were enfolding me.
The prophet is the completion of our faith. He is the base of the religion Islam. He is the one who braced the vibrating building of Islam. He is the one that without faith on him no one can be declared a true Muslim. He is the one who is the center of the love. He is the one who is the best guide in the world. He surely is the guiding star of the world. He surely is the one whom everyone trusted whether he was a Muslim or a non-Muslim. He is the one who can be declared the just and justice-lover. He is the one who was a source of happiness for everyone. He is the one who set the system of justice and peace in the world. He is the one for whom all the positive praising adjectives are there in all the languages of the world. He is the one who has been made to be praised by everyone and every by his Creator. He is the one who set the world and kept it on the right path till the end of the world. He is the one who has answer to all the perplexed questions and all the complications in the world. The poet has also explained the same in the most beautiful way in Lamp of Life;
Had you, the true preceptor not opened your lips,
The meaning and purpose of Unity would never have been disclosed.
The world would have been wandering about in the darkness of paganism,
Had you not come forth in this benighted world.
Conclusion:
In short, the whole world has been praising the one who is praised by God. It is no wonder that a humble slave of his doorstep is also trying to praise him and it is also no wonder that he is unable to do it in a befitting way.
NOTE:(SAW) mean peace be upon him (PBUH)
References:
1-Jameel Naqvi.
2-Jamil Naqvi, Lyric Homage, 124 pages and was published by Royal Book Company, P.O. Box 7737, Saddar, Karachi-3.
