Haider Rizvi

“He is beautiful,” she said. Her bright brown eyes were alight with joy. It’s almost mid-night, but the street is glimmering with lights. Looking at the crowd dancing on the beat of drums, she added: “I love him. I just love him.”

In attendance at the Festival of Lights last Sunday night, she was talking about Shah Hussain, the 16th century philosopher-poet whose songs of love and freedom have inspiredseveral generations of intellectuals and artists as well as the common folks in Punjab for well over 400 years.

Every year, at the end of March, the Festival of Lights is celebrated by tens of thousands of peoplefrom all walks of life who sing and dance ecstatically at the shrine of Shah Husainnear the historic Shalamar Garden in Lahore.

“It’s the first time I am here,” said Shahida, a student at a local college was never learnt  about Shah Hussain school because there were no courses offered in Punjabi language and literature, although Punjabi happened to be her mother tongue.

“How did I learn about Shah Hussain?” she asked. “By listening to his songs performed by folk singers…You know the song MaaiN Nee Mein KehnuNAkhhaDardVicchoray Da Haal Nee (Oh…mother how do I find someone to share the pain of separation).”

Shah Husain (1538–1599), is known to many as a mystic or “Sufi” poet who stands for spiritualism that ordinary people don’t know how to comprehend. But scholars of Punjabi literature see Husain as a highly creativeand unconventional thinker who believed in nothing, but love, freedom and justice.

The poetry of Shah Husain remains as alive as it was more than 400 years ago because it represents the common aspiration of the masses.Born out of the common songs of Punjab, Shah Husain’s poetry consistsof short songs known as “Kafis” which are designed as musical compositions for singing. It is said that Husain himself sang his songs while dancing on the streets of ancient Lahore, an act that raised eyebrows among the ruling elites and clergymen.
In his songs, Husain raises critical questions about the role of religion in society, male dominance, and social inequality. Husain was arrested on suspicions that he was supportive of Dulla Bhati’s freedom fight in Punjab against the rule of Mughal emperor Jalal Uddin Akbar.

Born in Lahore, Husain belonged to a Rajput family of converted Muslims. He had learnt a great deal of religious knowledge before declaring himself “neither a believer nor infidel.”
Shah Husain is also known as MadhoLaal which refers to his life-long friendship with a Hindu young man who fully embraced his life-style and teachings.

Expressing his friendly love for Madho, Husain says: “My life is Madho. Whoever happens to be poor and dispossessed is Madho.”

In his poems on the relationship of man with nature, Husain refuses to abide by the religious rules and morality. “I am who I am,” he says in one of his short songs. It may take several years for Shahida to discern this kind of assertion on human freedom, But she seemed anxious to learn more from the great poet.  She wanted to talk further about Husain’s songs. But, suddenly she stopped.

“Why are you talking to her? I am her brother,” said a young man who came out of nowhere to halt the dialogue. “Just get out of here,” he yelled. “We are just talking about Shah Hussain and his poems,” I tried to explain.

“I say just leave, otherwise...” he said in a threatening tone. I left Shahida and the crowd in dance, wondering if the young man had anything to with the Taliban. Maybe he never got a chance to listen to Hanid Ali Bela, Noor Jehan, Pathhanay Khan and Abida Parveen, all of whom performed Shah Husain’s songs with love and devotion. Who knows, but maybe, one day, he would learn from his sister .