THE first quarter of the 20th century changed the world so drastically and rapidly that none of the whole centuries in the past had seen such revolutionising events. Aside from the scientific and technological front, the intellectual and cultural domain too witnessed sea changes. The post-World War-I era was marked by depression — both emotional and economic — and a deep sense of meaninglessness. It was the result of the breaking down of the moral values and beliefs admired for ages.

The feeling that life was unfair, meaningless and absurd had created a general sense of despair. It had shattered people’s very confidence in life and humanity.

“From the depth of this bottomless despair emerged two great events of the literary world,” writes Shamim Hanafi, “the first was the publication of Elliot’s poem The Waste Land (1922), and the other Joyce’s novel Ulysses (1922). These two creations were in fact more of revolutionising experiments unto themselves than creative miracles. Through these two works began in the world of literature a new sensibility.” Hanafi then goes on to describe how Allama Iqbal was influenced by the ‘waste land’ of his own world and times and what he suggested to redress it.

The book in one of the articles of which Hanafi discusses this at length is thoughtfully titled Iqbal aur asr-i-haazir ka kharaaba (Iqbal and the contemporary Waste Land). In the intro to the book he writes that 20th century made us to face the overwhelming feelings of two huge Waste Lands, the first is our existence itself and the second is the time, the 20th century, that was the most directionless and the most haunting in the entire human history.

Hanafi thinks that Kafka, Proust and Borges have truly depicted the colours of the century that, despite all its victories (and ridiculousness), was the most empty and decadent. Human beings living in the 20th century were the most dissatisfied and the most disillusioned. The reason, perhaps, was that an utter materialistic approach had replaced all moral values. And Iqbal, the greatest of 20th century Urdu poets, too, was surrounded by the questions that besieged the human soul elsewhere and these questions also concerned both Iqbal’s thought and his art.

Then Hanafi tries to find out how Iqbal reacted to the events and the changing philosophies of his time. Iqbal was one of the most erudite and well-read of Urdu poets. He had drunk deep from the fountains of both eastern and western knowledge. He had obtained a doctorate from a western university on the topic of the development of metaphysical philosophy in Persia.

Being a sensitive soul, Iqbal was much pained to see the plight of humanity. He was aware that the humanity was looking for salvation and that salvation was not to be achieved automatically as the metaphysical philosophy of some eastern thinkers and Sufis sometimes suggested. Iqbal believed in direction and movement and therefore had criticised the mysticism that favoured inaction.

According to Shamim Hanafi, Javed nama, Iqbal’s long poem (that he began writing in 1927 and finished in 1931), is Iqbal’s answer to the questions that stared humanity in the face in the aftermath of the World War-II and the feeling of despair that prompted great works like The Waste Land and Ulysses in the western world. Existentialism, along with Marxism, was another trend prevalent in Iqbal’s time. In Urdu, Iqbal is one of the voices of existentialist philosophy, but he believed in ‘humanistic existentialism’. Hanafi feels that Iqbal gave existentialist philosophy a new dimension by following in the footsteps of Rumi, his spiritual mentor who favoured quite a different kind of mysticism. Rumi’s mysticism stresses action, energy and self-respect. That is why Iqbal’s Javed nama is a not only a tribute and compliment to Rumi’s masnavi but also a supplement to it, Hanafi concludes. But despite all his respect for his mentor, Iqbal does not believe in strict adherence to the dictates of traditions and tries to reach for the solutions that are needed for his times rather than being content with the answers given by traditional thinkers.

Hanafi says that contrary to Elliot, Iqbal was hopeful for the future of the ‘Waste Land’ and, similarly, he was not resigned to the incoherent world around him that Joyce epitomised with seemingly incoherent and disjointed form of his masterpiece.

Shamim Hanafi’s book also includes some other very elucidating and thought-provoking articles on Iqbal, his thought and art. One of the most accomplished contemporary Urdu critics, Hanafi is also a poet, dramatist and, to the surprise of many, a painter and sculptor, too. Having served on the faculty of Aligarh Muslim University, he is now Professor Emeritus at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia. His hugely vast reading in various disciplines and a keen eye for the world literatures gives him a broader and balanced perspective that is becoming increasingly rare in Urdu. His detached approach, articulate analysis and lucid style have earned him respect in the literary circles at home and abroad.

Published by Karachi’s Academy Bazyaft, the book was first published in India in1996 but the present edition includes some newly written articles as well.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com