The poet of a timeless song

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Shaz Tamkanat’s most popular Sufi number ‘Kab tak mera maula’ casts a spell on listeners

Poetry is an inborn talent. But sometimes it takes a personal loss or a tragic incident in life to unleash the poet in you. For Shaz Tamkanat, the trigger turned out to be the death of his mother. He was so devastated that he took to poetry to express his pain and anguish. Usually one is at a loss for words to express the agony caused by the death of a dear one. But it was different for Shaz. Although he found his world crumbling down, words didn’t desert him. His sentiments found expression in a touching poem, his first one, which he dedicated to his mother. Sample his emotional outpourings:

Jawani ladakpan ka sadma uthaye
Meri rah main qare gham bo chuki hai
Duaon ke hale main mehfooz tha main
Meri raat wo chandni kho chuki hai
Tere zare pa meri jannat thi pinha
Kaiee saal guzre jo gum ho chali hai

His mother, Jeelani Begum, wanted him to become a doctor but he went on to become a poet. In fact after her demise, Shaz lost interest in life and his studies got interrupted for several years. But his journey as a poet continued uninterrupted and today he ranks among the finest classical poets of Hyderabad. Though he was hugely popular in mushairas, Shaz’s shayeri is essentially meant to be read and pondered over. Shaz lived for just 52 years but in this short period, he left an indelible mark on the literary map of Hyderabad and contributed immensely to Urdu poetry.

His parents named him Syed Maslehuddin, but he became famous with his takkhalus ‘Shaz Tamkanat’. Right from childhood, he was drawn towards fine arts. He loved painting and music. Under the moonlit night, he often played the bansuri (flute) at his Mallepally house and mesmerised everyone with its charming notes.

It was around 1952 that he started writing poetry earnestly. Soon his ghazals and nazms found appreciation and many leading literary magazines in India and Pakistan published them. However, Shaz was disappointed at not receiving due recognition in his own city, Hyderabad. This he expressed in one of his poems thus:

Mere naghmon ne payee Shaz shohrat be-watan ho kar
Mujhe ahle watan ki qadar dani yaad aati hai

Though he gained recognition as a poet, Shaz was always conscious of his incomplete studies. On the insistence of friends and well-wishers, he completed graduation and masters in Urdu literature. For brief periods he worked as an Urdu lecturer in different colleges and in 1977, applied for the post of Urdu Reader in Osmania University.  But there was a hitch – one of the conditions was that applicants must be  Ph.D qualified. Since he had already published three books and was hugely popular in the sub-continent as a poet, the University authorities relaxed the rule on the condition that he would complete Ph.D in a short period. Shaz did his doctoral thesis on Makhdoom Mohiuddin, another great Hyderabadi poet. Shaz authored five books of poetry: Tarasheeda (1966), Bayaz-e-Shaam (1973), Neem Khwab (1977), Warqe Inteqab (1981) and Daste Fariyad (1994). The last one was published posthumously. He bagged many awards, including the Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy award and the Makhdoom award.

When Shaz commenced his poetic journey, the progressive writers movement was at its peak in Deccan. Like many others, Shaz also came under its influence although he was not on the same wavelength emotionally. He was influenced among others by Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Ghalib, Momin Khan Momin, Firaq Gorakpuri and Ali Sardar Jafri. However, very soon he found out his own groove and style and brought a youthful fervour to his writings.

Shaz was basically a romantic poet. Initially he tried his hand at nazm, but his romantic impulses and subtle sentiments could find full expression in only ghazal. And for a lovelorn poet, there is no better genre than ghazal to capture the beauty of the rising sun, the charm of blooming flower and the mole on the cheek of the beloved. Shaz’s poetry is natural and musical and the content thoughtful and thought-provoking. He didn’t believe in placing his personal grief and the societal miseries in separate compartments. He had the flair to present his personal experiences in such a way that they gain a universal appeal. The discerning eye can detect in his poetry a sea of emotions trying to break free. Be it nazm or ghazl the canvas of his thoughts matches the intensity of his feelings.

While he stuck to the traditional from in ghazal, yet he differed from contemporary ghazal writers. His shayeri is full of love and affection. However, his love doesn’t seek pleasure or personal gratification – it rather seeks out pain and anguish. There are innumerable verses which speak of this strange longing.

Log kya jane meri khue aziat-talbi
Tujh pe tohmat hai ke tu ne mujhe barbad kiya hai
At another place he admits:
Main to ye jashne judai bhi manaun hans kar
Tum bus ek fursate gham mujh ko zara de jana

Apart from firaq-o-hijr (separation and disunion), Shaz’s poetry captures the romantic sentiments with a touch of  finesse. See how beautifully he expresses this:

Roz wahshat ka taqaza hai ke sehra ku chalen
Roz apne aap ko zanjeer pehnate hain hum
Isne doori ki bhi had kheench rakhi hai goya
Kutch khiyalat se aage mujhe jaane na diya

Shaz’s shayeri is straight from the heart. Like Ghalib he is torn by the conflicting forces of desire and frustration. Even as he is with his beloved he is afraid of separation and sometimes pines for it. See how he captures this sentiment in this verse:

Main kya bataun ke khurbat ka fasila kya hai
Ke jaise ghar to banye koiee, raha na kare

Essentially a poet of love, he created ripples when he wrote the sufi song – Kab tak mera Moula. The munajat rendered by Aziz Ahmed Warsi casts a spell on listeners whenever it is heard. Same is the case with his naath ‘Aap akele mil jayen to daman tham ke ro lunga’. It speaks of his undying love to the Prophet of Islam. And who could forget the lyrical beauty of the geet ‘Mouj o sahil se milo’. For sheer lyricism it remains unsurpassed.

Not many know that Shaz was also a good critic and prose writer. For a few years he was associated with the Andhra Pradesh journal brought out by the Department of Information and Public Relations. He reviewed Urdu books under the column “Ek Phool Ka Mazmoon” and poems under the title “Is Nazm Main”.

To quote his own verse, Shaz was a ‘tehra huva darya tha aur badi daer se chup tha’. The literary giant passed away in August 1985 creating a difficult to fill void in Urdu literature.

J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in Telangana Today

Dated June 09,2019