We Shall See ...

We shall see/certainly we, too, will see/
that day that has been promised us

When these high mountains
Of tyranny and oppression/ turn to fluff
And evaporate

And we oppressed
Beneath our feet will have
this earth shiver, shake and beat
And heads of rulers will be struck
With crackling lightening and
thunders roar.

When from this God's earth's (Kaa'ba)
All falseness (icons) will be removed
Then we, of clean hearts condemned by zealots those keepers of faith,
We, will be invited to that altar to sit and Govern
When crowns will be thrown off and over turned will be thrones

We shall see/certainly we, too, will see
that day that has been promised us

Then God's name will remain (Allah will remain)
Who is invisible and visible too
Who is the seer and and is seen
Then will rise one cheer???I am God!
Who I am too
And so are you
Then the masses (Khalq e Kuda) people of God will rule.
Who I am too
and so are you
Then will rise one cheer???I am God!
Who I am too
And so are you

Hum Dekhein Gey ...

Today is the birthday of Faiz, but the celebrations have been going for for some time now. In the morning, we went to the Faiz colloquium held at LUMS, my university. Very informative and inspiring. Faiz is known all over the world but people of the sub-continent know him very well. Today, a well known lady from India commented that: Faiz is the most quoted poet in the Indian Parliment after Mirza Ghalib. I don't know how far that is true, but having read his poetry, I will not be surprised if it is true. I am also told that his Centennial birthday celebrations will also be held in India.

The evening's event was probably the best of all I have seen so far. It started with kathak dance performance on faiz's poem by young girls of a local school (5 - 6 years of age). Beautifully choreographed and well coordinated.

The second event was the recitation of some of the letters exchanged between Faiz and his wife Alys, when he was in Jail. The recitation was done by Faiz's grandchildren Adeel Hashmi and Mira Hashmi.

After the recitation, the stage was taken by Tina Sani, who sang the words of Faiz for straight 1.5 hours, mesmerizing the audience with her magical and powerful voice. The whole hall (consisting of almost 1000 people) enjoyed thoroughly as it was apparent from the occasional wah's and by observing so many people with tears in their eyes and many others who were in a state of awe as if they were moved spiritually. We were no exception. The last ghazal was the one I have posted above and the whole hall joined in, clapping their hands and everything ended with a standing ovation.

Indeed, a moving experience.

She also sang Mori Arj Suno, which in my opinion is a MUST LISTEN for everyone (no matter where you are in the world). Put your headphones on and turn on the volume :)

The image today was taken on Manual mode as I wanted to try out my camera in a big hall from far away. It could have been better, but sitting in the audience, this was probably the best I could do.