A literary review of the book KAM-O-BESH by KHAN HASNAIN AAQIB
The book 'Kam o besh' based on valuable research articles: Author Khan Hasnain Aqib (Review)
Reviewer:
Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari, Pakistan.
Email:
[email protected]Translation from Urdu by :
Aly Osman, Mumbai, India
The book Kam O Besh is based on literary research articles by renowned Indian poet, writer, research scholar, translator and reflective translator, Khan Hasnain Aaqib.
Javed Nadeem (Mumbai), Another renowned poet writes so well about Khan Hasnain Aaqib, who has been associated with the world of poetry and literature for about three decades:
'Hasnain Aaqib is the name of a humble personality who is ever absent from the hustle and bustle of fame and fortune. Someone feigning not to know him is actually the one whose study of contemporary world literature is incomplete.'
A unique feature of Khan Hasnain Aaqib is that he has translated all the surahs of the thirtieth part of the Holy Quran into English in poetic form and has a unique identity in the subcontinent in this regard.
First of all, we would like to talk about the title of this book and why there was a need to have such a title. According to this reviewer, all the articles on this topic leave a good impression on the reader. Hasnain Aaqib says, 'Neither do I claim that I know many things about what I have written nor do I have that expertise. There are evidences of my 'lack' of knowledge spread and many things can be 'too much' in terms of my penmanship. It may be in excess. That is why the title 'Kam O Besh' which means less or more.
This book is based on the literary research articles of Khan Hasnain Aaqib who is a member of many literary, linguistic and educational institutions besides being on the Urdu and Persian Language Committee of Bal Bharati, Pune. He is the author of about sixteen books. The book under review can be considered a historical document that gives strong arguments to refute numerous so far established theories. It is a different matter that we can make room for discussion and debate on these ideas.
The articles that are included in this book, are varied in nature. If you look at the following topics, you will come to know that in this book, Hasnain Aaqib has written research articles on unique topics, the topics that have not yet been taken seriously in literary circles. It is Aaqib's speciality that he always focuses on topics that are unique, new and untouched. Just look at the following titles.
* Iqbal is not aware of Iqbal
* Iqbal, India and the two-nation theory
* Contemporary Persian Ghazal: Evolution and Trends
* The concept of. Mother in contemporary Persian feminist literature.
Khumsa e Khusrow and Khumsa e Nizami: A Comparative analysis
* Hamdiya elements in contemporary Urdu ghazal
* Reflective translation
* Literature for the sake of art and literature for life
* Three translations of Goethe's poem 'Mahamet's Gesang'.
* Simab's poetic universe
* Zabir Rizvi and the scenario of modern poetry
* Hindustaniyat(Indianness) in the poetry of Zafar Gorakhpuri
* Corrective aspects of satire
* Influence of English on Urdu language
* Contemporary Urdu non-Muslim poets and writers.
It is a well known fact that the purpose of research is to work on aspects that are hidden from a common view, trying to disprove the theories that have been pushing us astray for years. If you want to know more about Khan Hasnain Aaqib's love of literature, then this book itself can interpret a lot about him because he has a certain angle of his thinking as a writer. Just have a look at the attribute that he makes Aqib, in the book Kam O Besh,
'For the sincere, virtuous and fortunate writers who cultivate literature at all levels of life and for the recovery of life in literature, due to which, even today when there are very faint possibilities of light in Urdu literature, a glimmer is for sure has been created by their work.'
This reviewer considers the article titled
"Influence of English on Urdu Language" to be the best article of this book which illustrates nowadays how little attention is being paid towards the fact that Urdu language is being dominated by other languages and also that it should not be dominated by English language in particular. Just as a powerful country takes over a poor country, so today the powerful class of people influenced by English is trying really hard to destroy the Urdu language.
When there are alternative English words in Urdu, then their use must be promoted. The author of this article deserves credit for showing his deep love for Urdu and for his awareness.
According to Hasnain Aaqib, "We should not limit Urdu to reading a few poems fluently, but speak, write, read and recite pure Urdu in every domain, in all fields of science, art and life."
At one place Hasnain Aqib has written so well that "Iqbal is not aware of Iqbal either".
He stresses that even when he (Iqbal) took up the profession of advocacy, he preferred earning only enough for his and his family's needs.
Going further, the Aqib writes: “If he had not spent the rest of his time in the house of Lahut, (the highest pious destination) he would have missed the point of consciousness when he reached this destination, and he said helplessly about his inability to discover his own self.
He forgets that he always said, 'Iqbal is not aware of Iqbal.'
The article entitled "Iqbal, India and the Two Nation theory" is very thought provoking and understandable. India and Pakistan used to appear on the world map as the one and the same country but after 14 August 1947, there has been a lot of talk about Iqbal, India and his two nation theory since its inception. In this article, Hasnain Aqib has tried his best to prove from various references that Iqbal's ideology which is presented with reference to India is something else.
According to Hasnain Aaqib, Iqbal's idea was not of two nations but since then he has been counted among the first founders of Pakistan, despite the fact that he lived in India and wrote 'Sare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara.
This essay should be read by the scholars of history so that they can get a chance to know what are the reasons for distorting the facts to prove that Iqbal's ideas were something else. A very interesting fact is that many magazines and newspapers have avoided publishing this article in Pakistan.
However, under the Freedom of Expression Act, anyone can express their views. Despite this, Khan Hasnain deserves accolades for having courage to write on a subject that leads to scholarly and literary debate.
"Reflective translation" is a new term that is slowly gaining popularity. The term was coined by Hasnain Aqib years ago and is currently being debated at the university level and in serious translation circles. In this regard, Deshmukh Sajid Maqsood Ahmad says, “Translation has been going on for centuries, it is a complex art. Translators from all over the world continue to translate literature, stories, myths or books from one language into another but so far there has been no systematic way of translating and presenting literary works of one's own language into another language. No progress has been made in this regard. It is a matter of great pride and expansion for the Urdu lovers that Khan Hasnain Aaqib has not only coined the term Reflective Translation but has also substantially translated Urdu prose and poetry into languages such as English, Persian and Hindi.
In his essay, ' Three translations of Goethe's poem' Mahamet's Gesang '"An Overview, Khan Hasnain Aqib refers to the translations of the great German poet Goethe's famous poem which is based on the biographical description of the prophet Muhammad. After Goethe, Allama Muhammad Iqbal translated it into Persian and Shan-ul-Haq Haqi translated it into Urdu, which is a must read.
In the article "Literature for the sake of art and Literature for Life", the author has tried to explain in a very beautiful way that only literature that benefits the life of the society and the individual is sustainable.
Hasnain Aaqib has done great justice while writing on other topics of this book. The book has 255 pages and costs Rs. 155 Indian Rupees which is nothing as compared to the value of the book.This book can be obtained from the writers address as well as from various other online platforms in soft and hard formats.
Ashraf Book Depot , Aqsa Chowk, Sunnat Nagar, Posad