What We All Can Learn From The First Modern Persian Poet Rudaki

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 23 May 2023 "An individual's attempt to relate to the whole world does sound good but is not practical. Instead, concern yourself with your surroundings and try to relate to that." Rudaki, 880 CE- 941 CE (First major poet to write in new Persian) "One Cannot Weep For The Entire World: It's Beyond Human Strength. One Must Choose." Jean Anouilh (1910-1987) "Jo Kahte Hain Ke Gham-E-Duniya Ko Liye Phirte Hain Sach Poochhiye Toh Ye Log Sirf Riyakaari Karte Hain " Naubatrai ' Nazar ' (Those who claim to carry the pains and sufferings of the whole world/ To be truthful, they just resort to tall talks) Rudaki ----- Rudaki's famous and most practical quote was on my syllabus of Ethics in Persian Poetry while studying in Iran. Just imagine, Rudaki said this more than a millennium ago. Isn't it still relevant? In fact, its relevance has increased all the more in this age of extreme hypocrisy and knavery. The underlying sarcasm in Rudaki, Jean Anouilh and Nazar's statements and couplet is obvious. Ulema and Muslim politicians will shed crocodile tears for the Muslim Ummah but will not do anything worthwhile for the beleaguered Muslims of India. Their rhetoric will encompass the Muslims of the world but they're indifferent to the Muslims around them. The affluent new-age Babas and gurus will exhort you to shed tears for mankind, but will do nothing to wipe out the tears of their own people they can relate to. Certain lofty, fixed and often vague slogans like the world is my home/ Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam are empty rhetoric. Only those who don't do anything constructive will resort to shallow and hollow slogans like this. Once the Japanese Nobel laureate in Literature Kenzaburo Oe was asked by a BBC correspondent as to how Japan rebuilt itself after the Second World War, Oe replied, " We think universally but act nationally and locally. We attend to what's immediate and leave what's unnecessary." Got to say, a very wise approach to nation-building. The father of modern Turkey, Kamal Ataturk Pasha said the same while rebuilding modern Turkey," Turkey is a part of Muslim Ummah. We've respect for the Islamic values, norms and ethics. But at the same time, we need to create our own independent image, existence and value system." True to his words, he dispensed with the Arabification of Turkey and did away with Arabic as the script of Turkish language. Now modern Turkish is written in Roman script with specific diacritical marks and symbols. Don't they say, charity begins at home? Muslims of the subcontinent should also learn a lesson from this. They mustn't look towards Arab and its brand of hardcore Wahhabi Islam and Arab lifestyle even while speaking (e.g. nowadays, the words Ramzan and Hazrat are exasperatingly enunciated Ramadan and Hadrat as both have hard-tongued ZUAD letter of Arabic, pronounced properly as a quasi-D by the native speakers of Arabic but often erroneously by the ill-educated and fanatic Muslims, esp. the Sunnis, of the sub-continent). All politicians, regardless of their political outfits, must imbibe the spirit of Rudaki's statement and concentrate more on their constituencies rather than talk of the country. Be true to yourself and your own folks and then talk of the nation and the whole world. Choice is yours. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/modern-persian-poet-rudaki/d/129833 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism