ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: Some poems one would like to read again and again, said eminent poet Ahmad Faraz at the launch of Ehsan akbar’s collection of poems here on Friday.

“Aesthetics, poetic possibilities and tapestry of words are so closely knit in the couplets of Prof Eshan Akbar that one becomes addicted to some of them”, said Faraz while presiding over the launching of Hawa say Baat (Dialogue with the Wind) at a select gathering of poets and writers arranged by Mohsin Sheikh of Bazm-e-Nadeem in Islamabad on Friday evening.

Faraz said that one would feel like to hear some of these again and again, and felt a new delight each time that one read these. He continued that the “wonderful” collection should have been published long ago, saying that it was not one of those evenings that are often wasted.

Faraz said that a big poet creates a language, a diction that distinguishes himself from others. Some of the poems like Koi Dabi Poor Kamad ke and Sham ka naam sawera by Prof Eshan Akbar seem to have precisely done that. He compared it to a poem like Hasan Kooza gar of Nun Meem Rashid.

Poet Aftab Iqbal Shamim, in his paper on the poet, said the poem Dabi Pooer Kamad ki by slightly crossing the boundaries of time, grammar and breaking the normal rules of logic has created a beautiful nazm; and the selection of words that were part of the lexicon of roz marra (spoken language) some time in the past reverberate with their “echoing romance” in the ear. He thought the bahar (the metre) reminds one, with slight modification, of the familiar lok (folk) bahar of Mirza Sahiban (a Punjabi folk tale), which has been part of our sub-conscious for centuries.

He praised the poems for blending the concrete with the abstract, the general with particular. Prof Shamim said that the intuitive corroboration and the spontaneity, present in the poetic expression delves deep into your heart. “Fresh images, metaphors, and the poetical beauty are the elements,” he said, “that lend the lines an elegance which reminds one of the famous line of Keats: A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.”

Prof Jalil Aali called the publication of the collection as an important literary event. He said Ehsan Akbar was a versatile poet. “This is the kind of poetry,” he said, “that carries one to an aura created out of part-communication and part non-communication where the inner self of the reader lives in a world disturbed by a surprisingly new setting.”

He thought that this kind of poetry addresses man and the universe in situations where all limitations and all walls seem to crumble. Aali said that it would not be out of place to mention that the enormity and depth of the poetry of Ehsan Akbar, Iqbal-like, comes as a gift bestowed by a firm belief the infinite unity of God, and love of the perfect man. He pointed out that exhibition of a technical virtuosity does not seem to be the concern of the poet. Eshan Akbar has his own poetic diction and linguistic mood, an overbearing style, all his own; that is why his political artistry is part of his overall technique, and does nowhere give the impression of an effort at embellishment.

Dr Nawazish Ali thought that Hawa say baat is not only to be examined in the context of the contemporaries of the poets but within the framework of a whole literary tradition. He said that the poems were not written with a view to making them lengthy, but it was because the issues that were grappled with were the issues of the universe; the shadows of enormous reality that circumscribe his poetic thought, were raised in his poetry.

Ali Mohammed Farshi compared his poem Dabi pooer kamad ki with Mira Jis’ Samandar ka Bulawah and Rashid’s Husn Koozagar, and said that here in expressing his inner self, the poet breaks the bounds of communication and enters the world of total expression. Farshi said his poems also reflect the influence of Punjabi language which he has utilised to good advantage.

Poetess Parveen Tahir discussed the imagery of some of Ehsan Akbar’s well-known poems.

The poet of the evening, Prof Eshan Akbar, thanked all those who came to the function and recited from some of his kalaam (poems). Poet Mahboob Zafar performed his duties of nizamat (stage secretary ship) by reciting from couplets of the poet and told the audience that Prof Akbar has also writes poetry in Punjabi, English and Persian besides Urdu. One discerns in his poetry, he said, love for the country and history and civilizational problems are special areas of his study. An extract from Koi Dabi Pour Kamad Ki:

Aiay sambhlay jism kee nazneen

Quen niklee ghair kay sang?

—Mufti Jamiluddin Ahmad.