Dr Khalid Hameed Shaida's rendering of Hafiz Shirazii (1320-1389 AD) in English and Urdu is really a pleasant exercise. I am confining myself here to the English translation of Hafiz as I have already commented on the Urdu translation earlier.
Before I comment on the Dr Shaida's translation-Hafiz in English- I deem it necessary to summaries Hafiz Shirazi's life and literary career so that the readers could visualise some of the details, which have some bearings with his poetry. I feel I cannot do better than dwell upon Browne's account of Hafiz and he has, in turn, made maximum use of, Allama Shibli's masterpiece 'Shair-ul-Ajam'.
Hafiz has been entitled by some of his admirers Lisan ul Ghayab (The Tongue of the Unseen). Hafiz has been so popular a poet that many a war and other important event have been initiated at the suggestions contained in his randomly picked couplets.
The West has shown great importance to Hafiz's poetry. Sir Gore Ousely's Biographical Notices of Persian Poets, Miss Gertrude Lowthian Bell's Poems from the Diwan of Hafiz, W.H.Lowe's Twelve Odes of Hafiz, Willbefore Clark's English prose translation, F.H Whinfield's translation of Mahmud Shabistari's Gulahan-i-Raz (Rose-garden of Mystery), E.H Palmer's Oriental Mysticism, Thomas Hyde & Sir William Jones and many other works in German (Wahl and Bodenstedt) Latin (Menienski) and French have eulogised the ghazal poetry, translated as Ode poetry, and acknowledged his eminence as a poet.
Hafiz's father had migrated from Isfahan to Shiraz in the time of Atabeks of Fars. He learnt Quran by heart and as a young boy started composing ghazals. He lived in Shiraz at a time when the city was overrun by many invaders within a short span of life. Shah Abn Ishaq Inju, Mubarazuddin Muhammad bin Muzaffar Shah Shuja, Shah Mauseh and Zainul Abidin who had accepted the suzerainty of Timur what an eventful period it was and we come across in the poetry of Hafiz a notice we disgust against the rulers of his age.
HIS FAME AS A POET HAD SPREAD FAR AND WIDE AND KNOWING THIS AS THE MIRACLE OF HIS POETRY HE WROTE:
In another passage he says: The rulers of neighbouring principalities tried to persuade him to visit their countries. Two Kings of India also invited him to visit their courts.
One of them was Mahmud Shah Bahmani of the Dessan, the other King was Sultan Ghiassuddin Bin Sultan Sikandar of Bengal. The poetry of Hafiz is replete with metaphors of the spring, the Rose, Wine, Youth and Beauty and other desirable things but he was living in dangerous, unpredictable time.
SIR GORE OUSELEY HAS BEAUTIFULLY SUMMED UP HIS POETRY IN THE FOLLOWING WORDS:
"His style is clear, unaffected and harmonious, displaying at the same time great learning, matured science and intimate knowledge of the hidden as well as the apparent nature of things; but above all a certain expression unequalled by any other poet".
GERTRUDE LOTHIAN BELL WRITES ABOUT HAFIZ:
"To Hafiz, on the contrary, modern instances have no value; contemporary history is too small an episode to occupy his thought, during his life-time the city which he loved, perhaps, as dearly as Dante loved Florence, was besieged and taken five in six times; it changed hands even more often.
It was drenched with blood by one conqueror, filled with revelry by a second, and subjected to the hard ruler asterism by a third.........."
It was against this background that he turned to mysticism, as Sajjad Zabeer has beautifully summed up in his book, Zikr-e-Hafiz, which is a rebuttal of Zoe Ansari's diatribe of Hafiz. His poetry sings of love and hope in an otherwise dismal milieu where loot, plunder and death danced.
Sajjad Zaheer wants us to study the poetry of Hafiz in the backup of the devastations caused by Halaku Khan and his descendants.
The poetry of Hafiz has been called as the poetry of despair and self resignation. Iqbal, who wanted the Muslim community of India, to shed off despair and revitalise it with a resolve to gain self-esteem and move forward, regarded the poetry of the school of self-negation having Hafiz as the Model figure, * for Muslim decay. He had criticised Hafiz and Plato for this malaise in his first collection of Persian poetry.
A lot of hue and cry was raised against this accusation and he had to expunge the whole patron regarding Hafiz and replace it.
One can realise that the even the custodian of Nizamuddin Aulia's shrine, Hasan Nizami, had criticised Iqbal for his remarks against Hafiz and scores of other mystics and Hafiz fans like, Akbar Allahabadi, censured Iqbal's attitude towards Hafiz.
With the above background in view the readers of Dr Khalid Hameed Shaida's translation of Hafiz can realise that Hafiz Shirazi is still a great influence even for those who can't enjoy the fragrance and ecstasy of the poetry of Hafiz. He brings to bear on us the centuries-old tradition of reverence towards his poetry. He is one of those poets who could be termed as the pride of Iran and lovers of Persian poetry.
Very few people may know that the honour of the first publication of Diwan-i-Hafiz belongs to Calcutta, the capital of Bengal in the United India.
Hafiz Shirazi couldn't visit Bengal on the invitation of two of its Kings in mediaeval India but maybe the Nature had to invest Bengal with the pride of boasting the publication of the first Diwan which denied Iran of this honour. Now I come to Dr Khalid Hameed Shaida's translation with this translation of a pick of ghazal (ie Odes) he joins the list of a distinguished galaxy of translators. Some of them have been excellent translators.
Dr Shaida's translation will be appreciated by those readers who wouldn't be 'alien' to Indo-Persian culture. I have not deliberately used 'Persian' language because it will be by all means a tall claim considering that the Persian language has almost been snuffed out of even those homes which used a fair enough acquaintanceship with Persian.
I believe that Dr Shaida has been quite successful. His translation of the following Haifz couplets shows that his effort has not gone in vain. The English translation of following Persian couplets follows exactly in the order of the Persian couplets given.
The following are some translations of Dr Shaida of Hafiz's couplets. The 'gender' of Hafiz's sweetheart is somewhat ambivalent, sometimes Hafiz calls his sweetheart as 'Pisar' (Son) and sometimes as 'Nigar' which may be ascribed to a damsel. Infact the majority of Persian poets are a bit uncertain about the 'gender' this could be due to the predominantly 'male' society of his time.
-- Even if you came, it is no use now
-- From body, my life is taking its flight.
-- Although no water is left in my eyes
-- There is plenty of blood, both red and bright.
-- So cry not, O Hafizi, resign to fate
-- It's all written there in black and white.
-- My love, I am dying to see your face
-- So whether I live depends on your grace.
-- A face with radiance, charm, and glow
-- It makes life happy and fortunes grow.
-- In you my love, is my only refuge
-- Only you can save me from deluge.
-- The above couplets are merely a random selection. The poetry of Hafiz is a rose-garden exuding sweet fragrance.
-- Dr Shaida has done an excellent job.