Prof Muhammad Matiur Rahman :
Farrukh Ahmad (10th June 1918- 19th October 1974) is one of the greatest poets of Bangla literature. He is commonly mown as the poet of Muslim renaissance, as many of his poems embody the spirit of resurrection particularly in the hearts of the down-trodden Muslims of the then Bengal. The Muslim nation had a glorious past and a colourful history. Once they were the mightiest power and ruled all over the world. They had a strong ideological base and moral standard. During the time of the last and the greatest messenger of Allah, the Muslims, inspired by the teachings of Al-Quran and guided by the great Prophet (Sm) himself, turned as models of humanism, fairplay, and justice. They were unrivaled among the nations of the world in terms of mowledge, moral standard, character and high thinking. Though the Arab Muslims were mown as the best warriors of that time, the Muslims conquered almost the whole world, not by their physical might alone, but by their wisdom, knowledge, scientific inventions, high morale and strong will and convictions.
But during the past decades or centuries the Muslims lost all their might, supremacy in all fields of knowledge and human potentials. Instead, they were defeated by the imperialists and lost all their power, material achievements, and glories. They were down-trodden, subjugated to inhuman tortures and miseries. They forgot the teachings of the holy Quran as well as the guidance of the holy Prophet.
Farrukh Ahmad was born at a time when the country was under British rule. The Bengali Muslims at that time were mostly illiterate, socially backward and economically poor. Farrukh Ahmad appeared in the literary arena, when the Second World War was going on (1939-45) and the great famine of 1943 broke in. Millions of hungry people died as a result of famine. The wealthy, heartless greedy people amassed immense wealth creating artificial crises in the market. Farrukh Ahmad with his mighty pen, depicted the true picture of the society. He inspired the fellow Muslims to wakeup reminding them their glorious past and checkered history. He used symbols, similes and metaphors to describe the nation’s past and to awaken them to rise and take the highest position once again to show true humanism and glories of human pursuits to the world, which are at present confronted with so many odds, miseries, wars, hunger, injustice and inhuman sufferings. He referred Islam as the true panacea to all odds and sufferings and advocated strongly that Islam alone can solve the problems, confronted with the present day world and the mankind as a whole. He symbolised Islam as ‘Herar Rajtoron’ and asked the people to accept it as true and perfect guideline to the entire mankind. In his famous poem ‘Sat Sagorer Majhi’ (The Sailor of the Seven Seas’) the poet said :
“I do not know how long has been the dark night before the breaking of this dawn.
The green leaves in the orange grove are quivering;
The seven seas’ tide is in, foaming on your doorsteps.
Yet you are still in deep slumber? Still you do not wake up?
O Sailor of the seven seas! Have a look, the ship calls at the door,
Motionless, she is standing at the door, like a painted picture.
The helm is high and dry, the sails are drooping.
O Sailor! Respond to my clarion call.
Do arise, arise and join the seamen.
You will find your ship at blue sea again
Like a full moon she will sail along
Braving clouds of waves and breaking down all barriers
Then do wake up, the morning is wearing on,
it is long since hasnahena petals withered and fell.
Yet you are still asleep? Still you do not wake up?”
(Translated by Dr Sadruddin Ahmed)
O Seeker, you will find this time at the end of the long voyage
The gate of Hera in front of you.
Then weigh anchor,
Then you set sail,
Then you set sail. (Do: Do)
Farrukh wrote many poems, based on Islamic thoughts and ideals, particularly the books entitled ‘Sat Sagorer Majhi’ and ‘Sirajam Munira’, to inspire the down-trodden Muslims to awaken and struggle for independence. During the 40s of the last century, he played a pivotal role to free the nation from the subjugation of the British rule. That’s why, he is called as a poet of independence and Islamic renaissance. During the time of independence struggle, Farrukh cherished a dream of establishing a true Islamic state. Particularly, after taking ‘Lahore Resolution’ (which is popularly known as Pakistan Resolution) at All Pakistan Muslim League Summit in Lahore in 1940, the Muslims of the subcontinent fought for establishing a homeland of their own. With this idea in mind, Muslim writers, journalists and thinkers established a cultural organisation in Calcutta in 1943, known as the ‘East Pakistan Renaissance Society’ to inspire Muslims of the then undivided Bengal to cherish the idea of establishing an independent state for themselves. Farrukh was greatly inspired by the idea and wrote many songs and poems encouraging the Muslims to fulfill the idea. His famous book ‘Sat Sagorer Majhi’, as mentioned earlier (written in 1942-44 and published in 1944), was written under this historical context. It shows that Farrukh was a realistic poet and he intensely dealt with man and matter as well as the situation around him. He never ignored his society and his time, rather he truly represented the feelings of the people around him and the society he lived in. He also truly represented the hopes and aspersions of his nation and guided them to fulfill their cherished goal.
A real poet, he depicts his ideas through symbols, similes and allegories. His most famous symbols are Sindabad and Hatem Taiee. While the former represents true heroism, bravery, adventurism and strong determination, the latter represents true humanism, dedication and service to all creatures of Allah. In his famous poem namely Sindabad, he writes :
Time of colourful velvet days are over, starts a new voyage,
I hear the call of the sea saline
The tribulent waves crowned with silver crests
The high top waves carry the call of the sea saline o sindbad,
these are new waters, unknown!
has beckoned us to touch the blue sky
This call is betwixt life and death
This journey would carry us to which
Streams who knows
In the forest of sandal wood and camphor, senseless our minds have strayed.
Ivory had covered the stone strong teak
The musk smell of the pipul trees
have made me sleep heavy
Only the fearless sea eagle descends in the sea bath.
(Sindbad-the sailor, translated by Suraiya Khanam)
In another poem: ‘Panjeree’ (symbolising the leader), Farrukh Ahmad asked the leader of his down-trodden nation to rise on the occasion to give appropriate and inspiring leadership to the nation.
He writes:
Is that the roaring of the sea?
Is that the agony of the poor? Is that the dying note of the hungry belly?
Navigator, O Navigator!
Wake up, I see angry scowls at the port.
Wake up with the silent frowning of countless hungry mouths.
During the 2nd World War during 1939-45, a great famine broke out in the then Bengal in 1943. Nearly half of the population died during that famine out of starvation. A realistic and humanist poet, Farrukh wrote many poems about famine. He depicted the untold miseries of hungry people. Side by side, he narrates the inhuman behaviour of the wealthy greedy people who amassed huge amount of wealth at the cost of unfortunate poor people. He damned in unequivocal terms the inequality, injustice and unfair behaviour of the society which shamelessly favours the wealthy and opportunists and looks down upon the unfortunate honots. The poet stands boldly for the poor and down-trodden people and asks for justice, equality and fair deals for all. He says in his famous poem entitled ‘Lash’ (The Dead-body), as follows:
On one side at the comer of the broad street
Where dust had no place on black shining pitch lies a dead body flat oil earth;
The evening crowd never took notice of that.
I know, it’s human carcass now flat on earth,
Emaciated with heat and hunger dead and still;
Well-dressed men and women like fiends pass by –
Stone houses like deadly prisons,
The painted harlots have opened their brothels
With welcome smile and speech;
This five and half feet skeleton gives evidence
Against the plunderers of this earth for domination,
And digging ultimate grave for man.
Dead humanity lies on the road along with the dead.
(The dead-body : translated by Abdur Rashid Khan)
Farrukh Ahmad was a great exponent of humanism in his literary works. The source and inspiration of his idealistic approach are undoubtedly Islam, His strong conviction was that Islam is not a mere religion, but true and perfect code of life, chosen by the Creator Himself for not only for the Muslims, but for the entire’ human race. So, he tried his best to follow Islam in his personal life and expounded Islam in his literary works. But his approach was not of a missionary, but of a poet, who aspires the salvation of mankind. He also strongly believed that the salvation is possible only when the people take Muhanunad (sm), the last and the greatest Messenger of Allah, as their guide. In his famous poetical work, entitled ‘Sirajam Munira’, he wrote :
Who comes there!
Who comes there!
A great uproar spreads everywhere!
The sleeping lifeless country wakes up, hamlets shake off century-old slumber
You bring the desired elixir of life to revire the unconscious,
O you brilliant light, you bring countless day-breaks along with you.
Millions of days are hidden within your luminous sparks
Siddiq Osman Jin Nurain and young Ali woke up with the touch of your light,
Al-Faruq’s deep slumber ends with that brilliant morning,
Countless flames spark of with your free and liberal light.
(The Brilliant Lamp : Muhammad Mustafa (Sm.) : Sirajam Munira, translated by Abdur Rashid Khan)
Farrukh Ahmad (10th June 1918- 19th October 1974) is one of the greatest poets of Bangla literature. He is commonly mown as the poet of Muslim renaissance, as many of his poems embody the spirit of resurrection particularly in the hearts of the down-trodden Muslims of the then Bengal. The Muslim nation had a glorious past and a colourful history. Once they were the mightiest power and ruled all over the world. They had a strong ideological base and moral standard. During the time of the last and the greatest messenger of Allah, the Muslims, inspired by the teachings of Al-Quran and guided by the great Prophet (Sm) himself, turned as models of humanism, fairplay, and justice. They were unrivaled among the nations of the world in terms of mowledge, moral standard, character and high thinking. Though the Arab Muslims were mown as the best warriors of that time, the Muslims conquered almost the whole world, not by their physical might alone, but by their wisdom, knowledge, scientific inventions, high morale and strong will and convictions.
But during the past decades or centuries the Muslims lost all their might, supremacy in all fields of knowledge and human potentials. Instead, they were defeated by the imperialists and lost all their power, material achievements, and glories. They were down-trodden, subjugated to inhuman tortures and miseries. They forgot the teachings of the holy Quran as well as the guidance of the holy Prophet.
Farrukh Ahmad was born at a time when the country was under British rule. The Bengali Muslims at that time were mostly illiterate, socially backward and economically poor. Farrukh Ahmad appeared in the literary arena, when the Second World War was going on (1939-45) and the great famine of 1943 broke in. Millions of hungry people died as a result of famine. The wealthy, heartless greedy people amassed immense wealth creating artificial crises in the market. Farrukh Ahmad with his mighty pen, depicted the true picture of the society. He inspired the fellow Muslims to wakeup reminding them their glorious past and checkered history. He used symbols, similes and metaphors to describe the nation’s past and to awaken them to rise and take the highest position once again to show true humanism and glories of human pursuits to the world, which are at present confronted with so many odds, miseries, wars, hunger, injustice and inhuman sufferings. He referred Islam as the true panacea to all odds and sufferings and advocated strongly that Islam alone can solve the problems, confronted with the present day world and the mankind as a whole. He symbolised Islam as ‘Herar Rajtoron’ and asked the people to accept it as true and perfect guideline to the entire mankind. In his famous poem ‘Sat Sagorer Majhi’ (The Sailor of the Seven Seas’) the poet said :
“I do not know how long has been the dark night before the breaking of this dawn.
The green leaves in the orange grove are quivering;
The seven seas’ tide is in, foaming on your doorsteps.
Yet you are still in deep slumber? Still you do not wake up?
O Sailor of the seven seas! Have a look, the ship calls at the door,
Motionless, she is standing at the door, like a painted picture.
The helm is high and dry, the sails are drooping.
O Sailor! Respond to my clarion call.
Do arise, arise and join the seamen.
You will find your ship at blue sea again
Like a full moon she will sail along
Braving clouds of waves and breaking down all barriers
Then do wake up, the morning is wearing on,
it is long since hasnahena petals withered and fell.
Yet you are still asleep? Still you do not wake up?”
(Translated by Dr Sadruddin Ahmed)
O Seeker, you will find this time at the end of the long voyage
The gate of Hera in front of you.
Then weigh anchor,
Then you set sail,
Then you set sail. (Do: Do)
Farrukh wrote many poems, based on Islamic thoughts and ideals, particularly the books entitled ‘Sat Sagorer Majhi’ and ‘Sirajam Munira’, to inspire the down-trodden Muslims to awaken and struggle for independence. During the 40s of the last century, he played a pivotal role to free the nation from the subjugation of the British rule. That’s why, he is called as a poet of independence and Islamic renaissance. During the time of independence struggle, Farrukh cherished a dream of establishing a true Islamic state. Particularly, after taking ‘Lahore Resolution’ (which is popularly known as Pakistan Resolution) at All Pakistan Muslim League Summit in Lahore in 1940, the Muslims of the subcontinent fought for establishing a homeland of their own. With this idea in mind, Muslim writers, journalists and thinkers established a cultural organisation in Calcutta in 1943, known as the ‘East Pakistan Renaissance Society’ to inspire Muslims of the then undivided Bengal to cherish the idea of establishing an independent state for themselves. Farrukh was greatly inspired by the idea and wrote many songs and poems encouraging the Muslims to fulfill the idea. His famous book ‘Sat Sagorer Majhi’, as mentioned earlier (written in 1942-44 and published in 1944), was written under this historical context. It shows that Farrukh was a realistic poet and he intensely dealt with man and matter as well as the situation around him. He never ignored his society and his time, rather he truly represented the feelings of the people around him and the society he lived in. He also truly represented the hopes and aspersions of his nation and guided them to fulfill their cherished goal.
A real poet, he depicts his ideas through symbols, similes and allegories. His most famous symbols are Sindabad and Hatem Taiee. While the former represents true heroism, bravery, adventurism and strong determination, the latter represents true humanism, dedication and service to all creatures of Allah. In his famous poem namely Sindabad, he writes :
Time of colourful velvet days are over, starts a new voyage,
I hear the call of the sea saline
The tribulent waves crowned with silver crests
The high top waves carry the call of the sea saline o sindbad,
these are new waters, unknown!
has beckoned us to touch the blue sky
This call is betwixt life and death
This journey would carry us to which
Streams who knows
In the forest of sandal wood and camphor, senseless our minds have strayed.
Ivory had covered the stone strong teak
The musk smell of the pipul trees
have made me sleep heavy
Only the fearless sea eagle descends in the sea bath.
(Sindbad-the sailor, translated by Suraiya Khanam)
In another poem: ‘Panjeree’ (symbolising the leader), Farrukh Ahmad asked the leader of his down-trodden nation to rise on the occasion to give appropriate and inspiring leadership to the nation.
He writes:
Is that the roaring of the sea?
Is that the agony of the poor? Is that the dying note of the hungry belly?
Navigator, O Navigator!
Wake up, I see angry scowls at the port.
Wake up with the silent frowning of countless hungry mouths.
During the 2nd World War during 1939-45, a great famine broke out in the then Bengal in 1943. Nearly half of the population died during that famine out of starvation. A realistic and humanist poet, Farrukh wrote many poems about famine. He depicted the untold miseries of hungry people. Side by side, he narrates the inhuman behaviour of the wealthy greedy people who amassed huge amount of wealth at the cost of unfortunate poor people. He damned in unequivocal terms the inequality, injustice and unfair behaviour of the society which shamelessly favours the wealthy and opportunists and looks down upon the unfortunate honots. The poet stands boldly for the poor and down-trodden people and asks for justice, equality and fair deals for all. He says in his famous poem entitled ‘Lash’ (The Dead-body), as follows:
On one side at the comer of the broad street
Where dust had no place on black shining pitch lies a dead body flat oil earth;
The evening crowd never took notice of that.
I know, it’s human carcass now flat on earth,
Emaciated with heat and hunger dead and still;
Well-dressed men and women like fiends pass by –
Stone houses like deadly prisons,
The painted harlots have opened their brothels
With welcome smile and speech;
This five and half feet skeleton gives evidence
Against the plunderers of this earth for domination,
And digging ultimate grave for man.
Dead humanity lies on the road along with the dead.
(The dead-body : translated by Abdur Rashid Khan)
Farrukh Ahmad was a great exponent of humanism in his literary works. The source and inspiration of his idealistic approach are undoubtedly Islam, His strong conviction was that Islam is not a mere religion, but true and perfect code of life, chosen by the Creator Himself for not only for the Muslims, but for the entire’ human race. So, he tried his best to follow Islam in his personal life and expounded Islam in his literary works. But his approach was not of a missionary, but of a poet, who aspires the salvation of mankind. He also strongly believed that the salvation is possible only when the people take Muhanunad (sm), the last and the greatest Messenger of Allah, as their guide. In his famous poetical work, entitled ‘Sirajam Munira’, he wrote :
Who comes there!
Who comes there!
A great uproar spreads everywhere!
The sleeping lifeless country wakes up, hamlets shake off century-old slumber
You bring the desired elixir of life to revire the unconscious,
O you brilliant light, you bring countless day-breaks along with you.
Millions of days are hidden within your luminous sparks
Siddiq Osman Jin Nurain and young Ali woke up with the touch of your light,
Al-Faruq’s deep slumber ends with that brilliant morning,
Countless flames spark of with your free and liberal light.
(The Brilliant Lamp : Muhammad Mustafa (Sm.) : Sirajam Munira, translated by Abdur Rashid Khan)
