SOME books do not become old and just keep on getting younger, shining more brightly as they age. Baang-i-Dara, the first collection of Iqbal’s poetic works in Urdu, is one such book. It first appeared in 1924.
Dr Rafi’uddin Hashmi says Iqbal had written “Muhammad Iqbal, September 3, 1924”, on the first copies of Baang-i-Dara that he presented to Mian Nizamuddin and Prof Arnold. Presuming that the book might have arrived from the press on the same day or a day before, we can safely assume that in September this year the book will turn 100.
Books usually vanish within a few years and even popular works die out a few decades after their publication. Only classics and extra-ordinarily exquisite works survive beyond a century since their new editions, too, sell well. Baang-i-Dara is poised to enter the second century of its life as it is still being reprinted and read: till 1979, at least 36 editions of Baang-i-Dara had been published in Pakistan legally, excluding Baang-i-Dara that is invariably a part of dozens of editions of Kulliayat-i-Iqbal (Iqbal’s collected poetic works in Urdu). As the copyright ends 50 years after author’s death, from 1988 every publisher was entitled to reprint Iqbal’s works and it unleashed a deluge of reprints. As a result, Baang-i-Dara, and Iqbal’s other works, have been reprinted for heaven knows how many times. In a country where reading habits have always been described in unflattering terms, these reprints are simply phenomenal, giving the book an eternal seal of approval.
Why has Baang-i-Dara become so popular? Iqbal’s poetry was already hugely popular and during the annual sessions of Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam, held at Lahore, Iqbal not only recited his poems but these were published in pamphlet form — with the intension of collecting funds for the Anjuman — and were sold at premium price. His poems recited at Anjuman’s gatherings would sometimes move the audience to tears. Many of them, such as Tulu-i-Islam and Khizr-i-Raah, are included in Baang-i-Dara. So when Iqbal’s Urdu poetry’s first collection appeared in book form it was naturally a smashing success.
Secondly, many of the poems included in Baang-i-Dara were composed against the backdrop of a peculiar political and cultural milieu, highlighting the plight of the Muslims on the chessboard of international politics. They stressed a need for Islam’s Renaissance. ‘Baang’ means voice or sound and ‘dara’, also pronounced dira, means bell, thus Baang-i-Dara means, literally, the sound of a bell, an allusion to the bell sounded when a caravan prepares for travel. As he has mentioned in his poem Tarana-i-Milli, the call of the bell is Iqbal’s ‘tarana’, or song, signalling the departure of the caravan.
Thirdly, Iqbal’s voice sounded quite unique as it deviated from the traditional love poetry of Urdu yet it was not devoid of the poetic and artistic characteristics. His poetry, embellished and thoughtful, appealed the readers. The components of Iqbal’s art and thought that made him one of the great poets of Urdu, for instance, depiction of nature, nationalistic ideas, poetic expressions and philosophic notions, are very much part of Baang-i-Dara’s contents.
Intriguingly, Iqbal’s Urdu poetry had been collected and published by two scholars even before Iqbal could get Baang-i-Dara published. Both were published without Iqbal’s permission, though without mala fide intentions. The first one, named Iqbal, penned by Ahmed Deen and published from Lahore in 1923 with a copious selection from Iqbal’s verses, was a critical evaluation and appreciation of Iqbal’s works. On Iqbal’s displeasure, Ahmed Deen, a friend, burnt down all the copies, save for few, one of which was later on compiled by Mushfiq Khwaja.
The other unauthorised version of Iqbal’s Urdu poetry was compiled by Abdur Razzaq Rashid and published from Deccan in 1924 under the title Kulliyaat-i-Iqbal, without Iqbal’s permission though. As it was published from Deccan, a princely state where British India government laws were not fully applicable, the legal action against the book was not possible. But with the help of Sir Akber Hyderi, its distribution was restricted to Deccan.
The reason for Iqbal’s annoyance at these books was that he wanted to compile his Urdu poetry collection based on a careful selection and did not deem many of his verses published in magazines and newspapers fit to be included in book form. As a result, he had discarded many of his own verses and they are not part of Baang-i-Dara. Some of these couplets and poems that Iqbal had done away with were later on included in some works by scholars who collected Iqbal’s each and every word from different sources.
So Iqbal lives on and Baang-i-Dara lives on. One hopes relevant faculties at our universities will make arrangement to celebrate 100 years of Baang-i-Dara, making sure that bells are sounded yet again and our youth prepares for travel.
Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2024
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