By Shafique Ahmed Shafique
Name of book: Aks-e-Shaoor
Author: Mashriq Siddiqi
Publisher: Bisat-e-Adab, Pakistan, A-6,
Adeel Centre, Block ‘M’, North Nazimabad, Karachi
Pages : 160|Price : Rs 100
The world famous English writer and critic Huzlet says:
“To know the best in each class infers a higher degree of taste, to reject the class is only a negation of taste, for different classes do not interfere with one another”. Any criticism touches to its extreme end without any justification becomes unhealthy and prejudiced. Whatsoever, the judgement requires honesty and sympathy. No justice can be done without sympathy. Sympathy is that very power which convinces a critic to analyze the subject matter open heartedly as well as open mindedly. Instead of preferring personal like and dislike a critic should underline the general requirements of a good literary piece. The above quotation of Huzlet is also stressing to adopt sympathy and balanced attitude towards poets, writers or their works during the analytical study.
The book “Aks-e-Shaoor” is a collection of Mashriq Siddiqi’s poetry and ghazals. The study of the book under review opines that Mashriq Siddiqi is a poet of middle level. So I am not going to compare him with Meer, Ghalib, Shaifta and Momin in this write up. Every poet no matter whether he is bigger or smaller to some extent has his own vocabularies, way of thinking, style of expression, study of social landscape, and interest of subjects. The author of Aks-e-Shaoor is a man of more than 55 years age and looks serious about creative activities. To him writing poetry is not a source of amusement. His poetic efforts speak by itself that whatever he writes he means it. He himself opines:
The enlightening is governing on the every leaf of this book
My temperament is also prominent in my every verse. After many days and nights painstaking creative efforts the book “Aks-e-Shaoor” is in your hands today. There are jewels of meanings which tiding over it. This is the first crown along with very many colored vocabularies.” Shair (poet) means the person who has consciousness. Whatever a poet writes in the shape of verse is the reflection of his consciousness. The consciousness of a poet comes into being through his social, political and cultural experiences. On the one hand these experiences create consciousness and insight and on the other these things make vision in the artists personalities. The consciousness is an extraordinary awareness of life and its related elements.
According to above views we find awareness, consciousness and vision in the poetic works of Mashriq Siddiqi. His poetic texture is a well compound of romance, social environment, cultural values and political awareness. But there is no sloganism, all these elements have been presented brilliantly and articulatively with the aesthetic values. There are also some shades of global issues in his poetry which have unbreakable links with human beings’ dreams and desires. The poet of “Aks-e-Shaoor” is a man of simplicity. His life is full of struggle and he may be called a self-made man. He is also a good social worker and has pain for the suppressed masses. Though he is not a millionaire and capitalist but in sense of love, politeness and manner he is more richer than these people.
The book containing 89 ghazals, 10 poems one Hamd and one Na’at is a readable collection and has quality to touch the wire of human feelings. In some verses he looks a satiric and in some places he appears with straight forward style. There is a kind of freshness of style as well as imageries, in the poetic works of Mashriq Siddiqi. The book under discussion is an evidence that Mashriq Siddiqi’s ghazals are better than his other poems. His articulative efforts have exhibited very well in the said genre. He has proved himself that he knows that very temperament, idioms, metaphors and diction which are not only the basic identity and characteristic of ghazal but also its beauty. There are three writes-up written by prominent writers such as Naushad Noori, Ahmed Ilyas, and Hadi Husain. Naushad’s write-up is in shape of letters in which he has given his analytical views on the author’s book.
Hadi Husain and Ahmed Ilyas have also given their opinions on Mashriq Siddiqi’s poetic ingenuity and aesthetic approach. The multi-coloured title has made the book very attractive.