Baba Farid (1188-1280 AD) is the first major poet of contemporary Punjabi language who is undisputedly accepted as a trailblazer.

He composed ‘Shlokas’/couplets) which have proved to be inexhaustible source of inspiration for all poets to come. ‘Shloka’ is an ancient poetic genre first introduced by sage Valmiki, the immortal author of Ramayana. It’s reported that when Valmiki had heard and learnt the oral story of the Lord Rama, he went to a river for a dip. He saw a pair of mating cranes in an ecstasy singing and dancing. A Nishada hunter killed the male crane with his deadly arrow. The female finding her partner bloodied writhing on the ground incessantly cried. Valmiki overwhelmed by compassion thought that killing a singing bird in the act of mating was not dharma. Moved by the cries of female crane, he spontaneously cursed the hunter: “Nishada, you would never be able to find peace because you shot down the male of the pair who had a surge of desire.” Suddenly Valmiki felt that he had spoken in verse and in a meter that he called Shloka. It was called Shloka because he uttered it in sorrow (shoka). The happening inspired him to compose his Ramayana. The word ‘Shoka/ shok’ in in the meaning of sorrow and grief is found in Zend / Avista and Persian languages as ‘Sog’.

In Punjabi, we also use ‘Sog’ for mourning, sorrow and grief. It implies that genre of Shloka is meant for serious and thoughtful and thought-provoking poetry. Baba Farid’s Shlokas are austere but carry multiple layers of rich meanings which provoke and challenge the readers. Simplicity is simply deceptive. Had another great sage not collected his verses, they perhaps would have been lost.

It was Baba Guru Nanak who collected and collated the poetry of great poets and saints including that of Baba Farid which later became an integral part of holy Sikh scripture ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ and got preserved for all times to come.

Spiritual vision coupled with concrete and mundane experiences permeate his poetic world as expressed in his verses. He emphatically stresses the virtues of simple life i.e. demanding and accepting as much as is genuinely needed for human life. Less is as detrimental to human growth as is more. Less leads to human impoverishment and more to waste of human and natural resources. While living a very austere life, he never forgets to emphasise the role of economic needs in human society and the importance of sharing. So much so that he declares that Islamic faith has six tenets, not five. The sixth one is roti which means food, provisions signifying the fulfillment of economic needs of an individual. And it is declared by a man who survives on the bare minimum out of his choice. His unequivocal stance on class oppression is loud and clear. See how his symbolism juxtaposes the deprivation of the masses with the life of indulgence of the elite: “Farida, roti maeri kaath di, laavan maeri bhukh / Jinhaan khaadi chopri, ghaney sahin gay dukh (O Farid, wood is my bread, hunger for curry I’ve got / Those who ‘ve eaten it rich, dense pains their lot (Trans: Muzzaffar Ghaffaar).”

He unambiguously stands against exploitation and firmly sides with the oppressed. He debunks and denounces the oppressors who make life miserable for the people. It’s people who work hard, produce and create. He exposes the parasitic landlords and plunderers. “O Farid, these stalks being cooked though sugar-coated are poison / Some dropped dead toiling, some laid waste the crops” he says.

Farmer traditionally has been the target of landlords, plunderers and invaders in our part of the world as he was the major producer of the surplus in pre-industrial age. The bulk of economy comprised agricultural products and livestock. The dichotomy was that who produced most was the most deprived as each powerful segment of society wanted its pound of flesh from the peasant.

Another couplet says: “O Farid, some have measureless flour, some not even salt / Going ahead they’ll sense, who will bear the assault (Trans: Muzzaffar Ghaffaar).”

He was as bold as a priest in medieval Europe who addressing a gathering of aristocrats said: “Gentlemen, you are not thieves but what you eat is fruit of theft.” One of Baba Farid’s disciples who had gone to eastern part of India after his studies, wrote him a letter with the request that he be guided as to how to conduct his affairs. The master replied that his (disciple’s) studies would provide the guidance. However, he wrote, he knew one thing: “A scholar’s knowledge drops dead when he knocks at a rich man’s door.” Now his descendants and custodians of his shrines stand for the values and practice a way of life which contradict what the sage upheld and practiced. One wonders how with the passage of time the legacy of a poet and sage who aligned himself with the people’s position has turned into its opposite? This sadly has happened with all others who had similar kind of worldview. The shrine is now a sanctuary that breeds superstition like other innumerable shrines that dot the country’s landscape. People, rich and poor, in search of a magical solution of their problems, visit the shrine of a man who exhorted: “You shriek O Farid, shriek like the keeper of the maize /Until the harvest ripens, shriek till then raise.” He points to the critical role consciousness and self-awareness play in the human growth. But now non-existent mysterious forces are touted as an arbiter of human destiny. The reasons for the decay are not unfathomable. Sage’s grave became a sacred shrine revered by common people he identified with all his life. For the custodians and descendants, it became an undying source of unearned income; people would make offerings in shape of money. The elite in order to be seen pious offered - still offers - lands and expensive gifts making the caretakers and their families rich and a part of the ruling segment. So the class concern of rich and powerful has blunted the revolutionary edge of Baba Farid’s vision; it’s subversion of the sublime and the mundane found in his creative expression. Consequently, the stress is on the rituals performed at the shrine, not on his poetry which is undoubtedly a beacon of hope for the wretched of the earth. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2022