In the context of the recent furor in India, there is a need to give Faiz’s poem the right context for neither is it a declaration of Islamic supremacy as some are ignorantly making it be and nor is it something Islamists would like to quote if they knew what it really was about.
People who are upset by it are mainly from India but many Pakistanis are acting surprised accepting the allegations that the poem glorifies one religion ie Islam over other religions. And so Pakistani who thought of Faiz as anti-Muslim Marxist are confused and bewildered.
Frankly, this just shows how little people read those poets and writers who they make into idols or villains. How little they actually know about these people beyond the heresy created often by their enemies and those jealous of them.
Faiz never claimed to be an atheist. Yes, he was a left-leaning intellectual who was a founder of the Progressive Writers Movement and had affiliations with the Communist Party of India but that does not make him into an automatic atheist.
When questioned directly about his religion he could not have been much clearer when he replied that his Islam is what Jalaluddin Rumi used to practice. And anyone who knows about the life and words of Rumi can easily see that this Islam is light years away from the sword-bearing bloodthirsty cult being projected as Islam widely.
In fact, it was not Faiz who claimed to be an atheist but his enemies who projected him as an atheist knowing that the majority of Muslims believe in God and consider atheism as a sin.
Even among his antagonists those talking senses rather than just vitriol against him knew this, Ashfaque Ahmed used to call Faiz a Malamati Sufi (A non-confirming mystic). For those who are not aware of such mystics, I would recommend them to read about Mansoor Halaj who is considered to be the most respected of this group.
I will come back to Halaj again but let us first discuss the poem creating so many waves.
The poem was written in 1979. It was the time of Zia-ul-Haq’s martial law and Faiz was in exile. And here we need to understand that the poem almost certainly has been inspired by a poem written by Sahir Ludihanvi called Awaz-a Adam (the voice of man). Sahir most likely wrote his poem in the 1940s.
dabegī kab talak āvāz-e-ādam ham bhī dekheñge
rukeñge kab talak jazbāt-e-barham ham bhī dekheñge
chalo yūñhī sahī ye jaur-e-paiham ham bhī dekheñge
dar-e-zindāñ se dekheñ yā urūj-e-dār se dekheñ
tumheñ rusvā sar-e-bāzār-e-ālam ham bhī dekheñge
zarā dam lo ma.āl-e-shaukat-e-jam ham bhī dekheñge
ye zo.am-e-quvvat-e-faulād-o-āhan dekh lo tum bhī
ba-faiz-e-jazba-e-īmān-e-mohkam ham bhī dekheñge
jabīn-e-kaj-kulāhī ḳhaak par ḳham ham bhī dekheñge
mukāfāt-e-amal tārīḳh-e-insāñ kī rivāyat hai
karoge kab talak nāvak farāham ham bhī dekheñge
kahāñ tak hai tumhāre zulm meñ dam ham bhī dekheñge
ye hañgām-e-vidā-e-shab hai ai zulmat ke farzando
sahar ke dosh par gulnār parcham ham bhī dekheñge
tumheñ bhī dekhnā hogā ye aalam ham bhī dekheñge
How long will you suppress the voice of man we will see as well
How long will the angry people control their emotions we will see as well
If it is going to be this way then this period of time we will see as well
Weather we see from the jail or from where we are hanged
Your humiliation in the whole world we will see as well
Just wait the pride of kings rubbed in dirt we will see as well
Look at these strong arms of steel and iron
The power of complete faith we will see as well
The proud heads bowed in the dust we will see as well
To answer for your actions is a tradition of human history
How long will you make excuses to escape justice we will see as well
How much power is in your oppression we will see as well
These uproars celebrate passing of the night o children of darkness
In the morning breeze the red flag we will see as well
You will have to see as well and this time we will see as well
Now in many ways, this poem is talking about a day of reckoning. Of course Sahir avoids direct religious symbolism and at the end mentions the red flag. Well as it turned out Sahir first read this poem at a gathering in Lahore in 1948 shortly before he left for India.
A few years later Faiz was arrested and remained in jail for many years and although the charges were conspiracy everyone knew it was part of the crackdown on left-leaning intellectuals.
And so in 1979 when Faiz wanted to write against Zia’s oppression he remodeled the above poem. As Zia was introducing medieval Islamic ideas Faiz countered this by adding religious symbolism to his poem to show that:
He is not an atheist.
The religion he follows is the anti-thesis of what Zia calls Islam.
Now let us see what the poem says:
hum dekheñge
lāzim hai ki ham bhī dekheñge
vo din ki jis kā va.ada hai
jo lauh-e-azal meñ likhkhā hai
jab zulm-o-sitam ke koh-e-girāñ
ruuī kī tarah uḌ jā.eñge
ham mahkūmoñ ke pāñv-tale
jab dhartī dhaḌ-dhaḌ dhaḌkegī
aur ahl-e-hakam ke sar-ūpar
jab bijlī kar-kar karkegī
jab arz-e-ḳhudā ke ka.abe se
sab but uThvā.e jā.eñge
ham ahl-e-safā mardūd-e-haram
masnad pe biThā.e jā.eñge
sub taaj uchhāle jā.eñge
sub taḳht girā.e jā.eñge
bus naam rahegā allāh kā
jo ġhā.eb bhī hai hāzir bhī
jo manzar bhī hai nāzir bhī
uTThegā anal-haq kā na.ara
jo maiñ bhī huuñ aur tum bhī ho
aur raaj karegī ḳhalq-e-ḳhudā
jo maiñ bhī huuñ aur tum bhī ho
We will see
It is inevitable that we will see
That day which has been promised
Which is written since time started
When the heavy mountains of oppression
Will fly away like pieces of cotton
When under the feet of us victims
The earth will tremble
and over the heads of the oppressors
Bolts of thunder will reverberate.
When from the Kaba of humanity
All false idols will be removed
And us the faithful and long-suffering
Will be placed on the seat of power
All the crowns will be thrown in the air
All the thrones will be cast in dust
Only name of God will remain
Who cannot be seen but is there
Who watches and is watched
The slogan I am the truth will be raised
Which is you and which is I
And the creatures of God will rule the earth
Which is you and which is I
Now the thing to note is that the day of reckoning, when everyone will be held accountable for their actions is not only an Islamic concept, in fact, it is not purely a religious concept either as Sahir demonstrates in his poem.
If people take offense from the mention of removing idols I am sure the removal of false idols is symbolic in all religions and should not be taken as an anti-Hindu concept.
As for the mention of Allah, once again it is a term used for the common God of all religions that believe in a creator.
Quite clearly Faiz declares himself to follow the concept of Wahadat-al-Wajood as propagated by Ibn Arabi and Mansoor Halaj who believed that everything in the universe is only the reflection of the one single truth and will return to that eventually.
Even in Hinduism, this concept exists as Aham Brahmasami.
So how can this poem be considered to promote Islamic hegemony is beyond my understanding.
The writer is a Consultant Dermatologist, North Ferriby, UK