O You Who Go

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

A few days back I heard my wife humming a few lines from an old Hindi song. It was from a film, and had its own romantic ramifications.

But I found myself explaining to her my own interpretations of those lines in an Islamic perspective. Below are those interpretations:

Kahan ja raha hai tu ae jane wale (Where are you going, O you who go)

Most men and women are wont to go about in this world pursuing their limited worldly objectives. They want to lead comfortable lives, with ample means to do so. They get upset if someone or something comes in the way of getting that objective fulfilled. Then they resort to doing things, fair or foul, that could overcome those hindrances.

This worldly life is the be-all and end-all of their existence. They don’t believe in any life after death. And they don’t believe in any divine punishments for any misdeeds on their part. So, they go on grabbing whatever they lay their hands on.

Some of them believe in and worship their personal gods. Some believe that some of their own kind, dead or alive, achieve divine powers, to whom they go to for redressal of any of their personal problems.

But whatever way they go in their worldly pursuits, there is a common, pervading feeling of unhappiness and unfulfillment among them. The poet addresses such a one in his line above.

Andhera hai man ka (A mental darkness it only is)

He is telling such a one that the latter is just groping in the dark. It is unlikely that he will find any real happiness and satisfaction because of the darkness that his own mind has created. The causes for the mental darkness are his misconceptions about the purpose of his life. He perceives that he is superior intellectually to any other form of life on this earth. That perception misleads him to the false belief that he is the master of what he surveys. It has led him to believe that there is no such thing as a Creator of this world/universe, which he thinks has come up on its own! He has become aware of the exquisite planning, wisdom, wizardry, craftmanship and care that has gone into the making of his own body, but he dismisses any idea of God bringing it into being and guiding and monitoring his actions here in this world.

That is his undoing; he continues to grope in the dark!

Diya to jala le (Just you put the light on please!)

The Maker Who has created him with such superhuman intelligence has not left him just to grope in the dark after his creation. HE has given him a mind which time and again prompts him to see the wisdom of recognizing the existence of the Maker. HE has provided evidences galore of His Existence. And He has sent down His Book of Guidance, the Qur’aan! This is the Light that is capable of extinguishing the utter mental darkness of the man. But the man, in his self-destructive arrogance, has refused to put that Light on!

The above poetic line beckons man to just put on that Light to put an end to all his misery.

Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 28^th of July 2017.