Khwaja Mir Dard's 'madrasa ta ya dair ta ya Ka'ba ya but-khana ta'

For a scholarly article on the difficulties of translating Dard click here.
An interesting idea in an essay found here concerns the distinction between izafat and i'tibar- both of which have no real existence in themselves but with the former having a partial empirical existence through the One Reality's self revelation and the latter being wholly fictional and of the character of negation and non being. 
This enriches our reading of Dard, for the use of izafat will now suggests a variant ontology such that what it links exists only in a manner derivative  from that to which it grammatically enchains. 
Here is my version of the first ghazal in Dard's Divan.

Whether at the Ka'ba or Jaba the Hutt's Holy fane

Thy Guests, Lord, we at thy pleasure remain

Death's dawn revealed all Revelation was vain

Existence a dream and the Logos insane

 Does Autumn's feverish colour the wind's chill explain?
 Does the delivery boy, for its coquetry coy, my cock disdain?

My Pop's station is higher than Popes attain

'I'm a great mystic', is this ghazal's refrain

Oh yes and add in some shite about tears flowing like rain

And the Saqi and the Tavern & Love's torment & pain

& once you are done, start over and do it again

For 'I'm a great mystic' is every ghazals' refrain

My translation is not literal because I'm assuming Dard wasn't utterly stupid or concerned merely with coining sonorous cliches. But there is a more serious point- one I might refer to as the holographic nature of mystic poetry whereby the whole is contained in every part for by the principle of  lâ takrâr fi’l-tajallî, no synergy of the whole is not contained in the uncoiling haecceity of  the part, echo as it is of the primordial 'kun' ('Be').

Borges, Ibn Arabi and Charles H Hinton's alterable past

In 'the Secret Miracle', Borges writes of the first volume of a fictional poet's Vindication of Eternity as being'...a history of the diverse eternities devised by Man; from the immutable Being of Parmenides to the alterable Past of Hinton...'
Alterable past? Charles H Hinton had a concept of an alterable Past?
Borges continues, that the poet's second volume, 'denies (with Francis Bradley) that all the events in the universe make up a temporal series. He argues that the number of experiences possible to man is not infinite, and that a single ';repetition' suffices to demonstrate that time is a fallacy..."
The Ibn Arabi scholar, W. Chittick, writes
“There is no repetition in [God's] self-disclosure” (lâ takrâr fi’l-tajallî) 'By acknowledging the unity of the Real, Tawhid, we recognize that it is one and unique in its every act, which means that each created thing and each moment of each thing is one and unique; nothing can ever be repeated precisely because of each thing's uniqueness and the divine infinity.' (W.Chittick)

I must admit I still don't understand the phrase 'alterable past'- is it the notion that one can choose any past compossible with the present?
Dunno.
Help?

Narendra Modi and the doctrine of 'command responsibility'

The doctrine of 'command responsibility' holds that that the person holding command is responsible for the actions of his subordinates, including acts of omission.
The allegation against Narendra Modi is that he either himself abetted, or at the very least failed to prevent, heinous acts of violence in the aftermath of the Godhra atrocity.
In Indian law, Modi would face criminal charges if admissible evidence substantiates the allegation.
A separate question- one relating to the chances of success of court cases filed against Modi, on Human Rights grounds, in a foreign jurisdiction or one founded upon a claim for damages under the U.S Alien Torts Claims Acts- has to do with 'command responsibility'.
This begs the question as to whether Modi had inherited a machinery of State that was fit for purpose and, as such, amenable to command.
What are we to say of a State where, in 1992, the police were in the pockets of a gangster (who also financed the Congress party) who assasinates a senior Congress M.P who was about to present damaging information about him to the Central Home Minister? The same gangster, together with a former Congress Minister of Fisheries, then arranges a terror attack on Surat in response to the Babri Masjid demolition before fleeing to Pakistan.
Modi, over the years, may well have eliminated at least the criminal/terrorist/police nexus. But, in a democratic set up, how much further can he go to break the nexus between land sharks and corrupt policemen? What of illicit liqor, the flesh trade, drugs and the various other ills associated with rising material prosperity?
As for religious and caste prejudices- can his mantra 'all religions are equal paths to God' really prevail?
Modi was brought into Gujerati politics because he was neither a Patel nor a Kshatriya. He was supposed to confine himself to speech making and, perhaps, building bridges to adivasis and marginalized farmers. His response to the Kutch earthquake showed the calibre of the man. But Godhra should have cut him off at the legs. Riots are the means used by the middle level party bosses to render the guy at the top impotent. It's all about countervailing power. The middle level guys are paid off by the criminals who then themselves can rise to become political figures.
Modi essentially took responsibility for the post Godhra riots, utterly obscene though they were, thus rising above his rivals and concentrating power in his hands. With the courage of desperation he then brokered a deal with the farmers whereby they gave up free electricity in return for an assured power supply at night at a lower rate. This was only one of many path-breaking initiatives that he took. Some see Modi's manic energy, post-Godhra, as a psychological defence against the horrors of the riots. What is unquestionable is that Modi changed how Government and Society interacted.
His attitude towards Panchayat Raj- where he encouraged unanimous voting in elections- indicate his supicion of the political instrumenalization of disorder that is the other side of the coin of party politics.
Modi refers again and again to the fact that he wasn't involved in student politics and held no elected office until parachuted in by the BJP high command.
Both Godhra and its aftermath were the inevitable result of a corrupt political process in which not just criminals but also terrorists could be used to appeal to 'vote-banks'. The hilarious story of Ram Vilas Paswan taking along an Osama bin Laden look alike to gather Muslim votes shows how cynical our politicians are.
In this context, Modi's moral as well as 'command responsibility' for the post-Godhra riots pales into insignificance when compared to the hereditary masters of the Nation's destiny.
But, what's next for Modi? Sooner or later the very prosperity he has helped create will fuel a demand for change. Patels and other forward sections have attractive candidates of their own. A lot of money is being made in Gujarat. 'Rent seeking' has enormous scope for expansion. Few public officials and politicians like seeing money go straight to the poor through Garib Kalyan Melas.
And, without Modi, the necessity for communal riots will once again make itself felt. After all, how else are elections to be won?

Guess the author- 'A modern Manikavachakar'

Entrusted with funds for Defense procurement, the Poet/Saint journeyed to a certain place where, moved by devotion to God, he forgot his mission and  immediately built a beautiful temple with the Government's money..

When the Ministry demanded to see the Munitions purchased, the Poet/Saint appealed to God who immediately sent the same- however, by Maya they turned into excuses. Temple also turned out to be a prostitute. Commission of Enquiry is predicted to file its report by 3013 A.D.
Here is a beautiful poem of the Poet/Sage.



What a beautiful poem! Only poetry like this can fill heart with Devotion, or if not devotion then at least the determination to try to moderate one's desire to shit in the mouths of mystics and piss on the bald pates of priests.
(from the Tamil)

Ghalib’s ghazal- ‘jahan tera naqsh-e-qadam’

Thy footsteps, in desert sands, are where to our famished gaze

Iram resurrected stands, its rose beds all ablaze.
 

   That Beauty's mole miss kiss her lip, must so trouble and amaze

 Reason we now let slip & Reality e'en lower appraise.
 

Tho' the rapture of your beholding mere human havoc plays

Yet less Cosmic is the tumult, Doomsday itself displays.
 

To find the Ninja who, by dark, attacks, foils Day's detective rays

  For, fleeing my heart, assassin tracks, Night as its Sun assays.
 

Now lost to her own looking glass, alas! her not the spectacle sways

 Of her lovers as lost to a mirrored, for, but blind alley, maze.
 

 In a goliard's tuneful tatters, cloak, Ghalib, Thought's gilded lays

For Princes now are paupers & only tadpoles croak thy praise.

Restructuring Religious Studies in Schools- a modest proposal.

Having once taught Religious Studies for Common Entrance, I have long pondered a method to reduce the amount of cramming the Subject requires and to re-constitute it on a logical and analytical basis. One great benefit that would flow from such an approach is that it would provide an introduction to comparative metaphysics, epistemology, and hermeneutics.

That this should be done, as far as possible, by encouraging the free exercise of the young pupil's own creative intellect, goes without saying.

The method. I propose, is to get the kids to compete to find the shortest logical chain, for any given Religion, from the three fundamental propositions viz.

1) God is really really nice 

2) That's why he loves and cherishes all beings 

3) And coz it's nice to be nice he wants you to be nice 

to the big pay-off viz

X) so kindly hand over all your money to us and go kill, at our command, lots of people you never met and who did nobody any harm and remember you are a miserable pile of shite, God bless you, coz God is really really nice and loves and cherishes all beings etc.

Since Metaphysics and Hermeneutics help shorten the number of steps in the logic chain- the pupils interest in these fields will be greatly stimulated.

Iqbal, khuddi and the barzakh

Excerpted from  an essay by Dr. Ayesha Leghari Saeed

Iqbal believes that human being have the potential for creative growth. Growth takes place through actions, deeds and personal effort. He is against the pessimistic doctrine of Materialism, which supposes that man’s end takes place at death. For Iqbal “...death, if present action has sufficiently fortified the ego against the shock that physical dissolution brings, is only a passage to what the Qur’an describes as Barzakh.”[17]

The barzakh is a state of consciousness which experiences space and time differently from how they are experienced in this present spacio-temporal order. It is the isthmus that connects this realm of physical reality with the realm of the spirit. The realm of the spirit being so pure and powerful, that access to it is only possible through the intermediate realm of barzakh. The barzakh allows for the spiritual realm and the physical realm to find a meeting place where the qualities of both realms are integrated and amalgamated, as in the realm of dreams and the angelic realm. According to Iqbal, barzakhis not supposed to be experienced in a state of passivity. Instead it is supposed to be experienced as an active state of consciousness, which allows the ego to encounter, understand and interact with other levels of reality without losing its individuality. The time spent between death and resurrection is therefore a time spent in this intermediate realm of reality called the barzakh, where a strengthened ego does not face dissolution when faced with powerful forces from thebarzakhi reality.

Resurrection, according to Iqbal, is nothing more than an ego’s own self-assessment of its own past actions in the face of a comprehensive understanding of the actual and volitional potential for growth that it enjoyed while it was clothed in this earthly existence. The ego, therefore, experiences resurrection not as an external event but an internal self-evaluation; a resurrection of its own self from the ashes of its own past experience and the seeds that it sowed for its future growth.

Iqbal believes in the possibility of the ego’s growth even after death.[18] He quotes the following verse of the Qur’an to substantiate this belief: “What! When dead and turned to dust, shall we rise again? Remote is such a return. Now know We what the earth consumeth of them and with Us is a book in which account is kept.”[19]

The Qur’an has again and again reiterated the message that the end of human life is not death of the physical body. To Iqbal, the above message suggests that the nature of individuality is such that it is maintained even after the disintegration of the body, as we know it. Although we cannot gain any ‘insight’ into the nature of the ‘second creation’ i.e. life after death of the physical body, but the Qur’an clearly teaches that it is the nature of the human individuality to remain distinct and separate. It is due to its individual character that it experiences resurrection and punishment or reward according to what it deserves through its deeds, before death. Iqbal writes:

Philosophically speaking, therefore, we cannot go further than this that in view of the past history of man it is highly improbable that his career should come to an end with the dissolution of his body.[20]

In order to grasp Iqbal’s understanding of the concepts of hell and heaven and the growth of the human individuality after death, the following passage has been quoted from his seminal lecture on ‘The Human Ego- His Freedom and Immortality”. It is important to keep in mind that Iqbal came to these conclusions after an exhausting analysis of the concepts of hell and heaven as are elucidated in the vast realms of Islamic Philosophy, the Qur’an and Sunnah. Iqbal believes that heaven and hell are not some physical locations outside the human ego but are states of the inner human consciousness. “Hell, in the words of the Quran, is ‘God’s kindled fire which mounts over the hearts’ (37:41-49)― the painful realization of one’s failure as a man. Heaven is the joy of triumph over the forces of disintegration.”[21] Iqbal does not conceive of Hell literally as a “pit of everlasting torture,”[22] imposed by a vengeful God. Instead he understands it to be a place where an ego devoid of sensitivity to God’s Grace is kindled into a state from which he/she cannot but help respond to God’s Power and Glory. Heaven, on the other hand is conceived as a state where the ego becomes not a passive but an active participant in the creative process.

And the recipient of Divine illumination is not merely a passive recipient. Every act of a free ego creates a new situation, and thus offers further opportunities of creative unfolding.[23]

The creative unfolding of the human ego through a clear understanding of the doctrine of personal immortality is at the heart of Iqbal’s concept of khudi.


How does Iqbal's conception, outlined above, differ from Ibn Arabi's concept of the Barzakh? 
Iqbal's notion has affinities with Bergson's concept of Time and Creative Evolution. Ibn Arabi on the other hand affirms

“There is no repetition in [God's] self-disclosure” (lâ takrâr fi’l-tajallî) '

By acknowledging the unity of the Real, Tawhid, we recognize that it is one and unique in its every act, which means that each created thing and each moment of each thing is one and unique; nothing can ever be repeated precisely because of each thing's uniqueness and the divine infinity.' (W.Chittick)

In other words, in the same way that 'kshanika vada' (doctrine of momentariness) rescues Buddhism from other than instrumental commitment to karma, Ibn Arabi's system too is rescued from the hilarious image of Iqbal thinking great thoughts while mouldering in his grave.