ERSONALITY AND POETRY OF DR.ZULFIQUAR SIYAL: Jam Jamali
If their characters be reduced to writing, there would be booklets, books, tomes, a series of volumes and umpteen encyclopedias, for us to serve as beacon lights, eye openers, trend setters, mind setters, change makers, trail blazers, revelations, reactionaries and revolutionaries according to their actions and performances on the stage.
Dr. Siyal is neither my fast friend nor a close companion. He is my acquaintance and we show reciprocal respect to one and other. He is a man, not an angle so surely, he is an imperfect, and the imperfection is an attribute of man, though he enjoys and enviable appellation of the vicegerent of God. I like Dr. Zulfiquar Siyal because he looks lunatic in love, in actions and in utterances. The lunatic is better than hypocrite, crafty, cunning and chameleon characters. His lunacy saves him from hatching conspiracy against any one and it immunes him from hypocrisy and craftiness.
Therefore, his actions and utterances stand open to all and no man is kept in dodge to be deceived by him. While a crafty man is like a villain who keeps a knife under his cloak and wears a smile on his face.
Let’s turn to his poetry. Poetry is said to be a portrait of poet’s personality through which he pours out his perceptions about his orientation, aptitude, observations, approvals and disapprovals, love and hatred, beauty and duty, happiness and grief etc.
So to say poetry is a mirror of poet’s mind that reflects in writings. I am not a metricist to measure up him poetry on metrical matrix, but I believe that matter is better than metrical margin. His poetry is simple in language but meaningful in content. He covers all aspects of life and human feeling in his poetry. Sometimes he mentions matters in a lighter vein and sometimes in a serious way. His poetry wears and autobiographical dress and is expressive of his personal faith what he is following.
Though it is not proper to pry into personal life and creed of anyone, because man is free to profess any belief, no matter he is an atheist, and theist, a polytheist, a monotheist and a mystic pantheist etc.
Dr. Siyal has consciously or spontaneously has betrayed his bent of mind and belief through his haiku. He not only believes in God but also asserts his omnipresence in these terms.
پنهنجو وجود
آهي گواهي
حق موجود
BELIEF
My existence
Gives a deposition
Of God’s presence
Dr. Siyal possesses an eagle’s eye and penetrates into the underworld of imperialism that has held humanity hostage and keeps on sucking blood of mankind like an octopus of earth. He denounces it drastically in this poem titled exploitation.
پيٽ بکين کان ماني ڇني
بم بارود ڇو ٺاهين ويٺو
ماڻهو بت تان کلون لاهي
تن تي پوش چڙهائين ويٺو
EXPLOITATION
Why do you
Snatch morsels from the mouths
Of hungry human beings
For manufacturing munitions
And remove hides from bear bodies
For countering costumes,
To don on your bloated bodies?
He discerns different shapes of times and relates strange story how time veers man like a whirlwind and makes him play different roles in life.
Here is a poem titled tailors of time, which is simple and self explanatory.
وقت آ تلوار سائين
وقت هڪڙي ڌار آ
وقت آهي جيت ڪنهنجي
وقت ڪنهن جي هار آ
TAILORS OF TIME
Time is a sword, o sir!
Time is a sharp edge,
Time is someone’s triumph,
and time is someone’s defeat.
Dr. Zulfiquar is quite cautious and wary of harmful nature of hypocrites, so he hurls pellets and pebbles at them who demonstrate their diabolical disdain and duplicity to keep people in confusion. The poet is acutely aware such person’s in inhuman attitude, jaundiced jealousy and clearly and clearly disapproves him in his poem hypocrisy.
مِهر ڪرين ٿو ساڙ سڙين ٿو
پاڻ ئي پنهنجو ماس ٿو کانئين
ڪين ڏنئين جي، ڇو ٿو ڏکائين
ڪهڙي مٽيءَ جو تون آهين؟
HYPOCRISY
Whether you exude affection or burn in bias,
You are really, eating your own flesh,
If you do not comfort, why do you hurt?
of what clay are your made?
Poetry is defined by scholars and poets in different ways according to their deliberations. Dr. Siyal calls poetry a joke which is cracked at life to make it a butt of laughter. Let’s read his blank verse titled poetry.
شاعري
هڪ ڀوڳ آ
جنهن وسيلي زندگي جو
پيو ٿو اڏائجي مذاق!
PEOTRY
Poetry is a cracked joke
Through which,
Life is held
An object of ridicule
It is aesthetics from which poetry originates. Dr. Siyal has blended his aesthetic feelings with cerebral sense in his poem poverty trap. In this poem he laments at pitiable plight of people caused by poverty they are facing, that has snatched romantic charms and charisma of softer sex.
In this poem he nostalgically narrates a panorama of past in which bevies of beauty were objects of attraction and inspiration for poets and writers to praise dazzling damsels wearing flowers in their plaits. In this poem he also imprecates the prevailing poverty that has snatched smiles from comely complexions, lets read the poem:
نه ڪنهن جي چڳن ۾ ڪوئي گل ڏٺو ٿم
نه گدري جيان ڪو ئي ڳل ئي ڏسان ٿو
وڪوڙي ويو سڀ کي افلاس آهي
نه ئي ٽهڪ ٽڙيا نه ئي مرڪون پسان ٿو
POVERTY TRAP
Neither I behold the braids bedecked with flowers,
Nor I see melon like charming cheeks,
Everyone is caught in web of poverty,
There is neither lovely loud laughter,
Nor I see scintillating smiles.
It is believed that poets are standard bearers of human harmony and universal brotherhood and their creed is cosmopolitan to think well being of whole humanity.
Dr. Siyal comes under this sage of poets who regard services of humanity as a way of worship so he holds human hearts as hallowed as holy house of God. For him breaking human heart is equal to dismantling house of God. He expresses his dismay over un mindful attitude of people who break hearts without felling pricks of conscience. Let’s read his reflections in his poem titled God’s House:
خدا جو گهر
تنهنجو ڌرتيءَ تي هڪ گهر
جنهن ۾ ماڻهو
توکي ڳولهن پيا،
ماڻهو ڪيڏا سادا آهن
هر ڪا دل
آهي تنهنجو گهر
جنهن کي ماڻهو
ٽوڙين ويٺا
GOD’S HOUSE
It is heard
there is your one house
on earth,
in which
People appear to be
Engage in quest for you.
How simpletons they are!
Every heart is
Hallowed house
of you
that is being broken
by mindless men.
Jam jamali