Feelings of dread and worry, I’ve found in my own experience, are related to the inability to imagine or visualise a coherent, neat future. Caught in the centrifugal clutches of the surreal present, we are rotating more and more towards a self that is thrown into focus in a moment that it is not prepared to inhabit. We crave love, and the assurance of people; the soothing caress of a finger running through hair, a miffed but caring - “Drink your tea, it’s getting cold”, being folded into the ocean of an embrace as you fall asleep, or knowing that a smile awaits you on the other side of a door.
At this complex juncture, filled with uncertainty; on this Eid that should have otherwise been a herald of warmth, laughter, and the heady aromas of togetherness, I’d like to share with you the words of Faiz Saab, who, even in the direst times, rose above it all, and showed resolve. A true prophet, I see his poetry as destination - a comforting light that will lead us through these dark times. In a world that is disorienting and beyond our control, I have often found strength in this nazm.
I met this poem when a dear, dear friend shared Laal’s rendition of “Umīd-e-sahar kī baat suno” (video below). I have returned to this tribute time and again, and have always managed to reconjure the vision of a new dawn filled with hope.
Eid Mubarak, friends.
