A STARTLING name introduces the first collection of poems from the pen of a mature poet making his debut without any fanfare. Seemiya is apparently one of the mysterious or occult bodies of knowledge which has the power to enliven inanimate objects; however, the name may be more familiar to those who read Urdu poetry regularly through the use of the term by the poet Saqi Farooqi in a poem published several years ago.

Even better known, Seemiya is the title of a fascinating short story by Naiyer Masud, a living legend and one of the finest and most original fiction writers in Urdu. Masud’s dream-like story lends its title to his first collection of short stories published in 1985 and is prefaced with a couplet from Nizami Ganjvi and these lines from Alexander Pope: “Created half to rise and half to fall, Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all.”

The first-time poet, Salman Ansari, has placed himself in good company and these lines could well describe the worldview which emerges after going through the volume of finely crafted and polished poems which deserve to be better-known and appreciated.

Ansari is not known as a poet in literary circles but one learns from the brief biographical details on the dust cover of the book that he is a computer software engineer based in Chicago. He has a family history going back to Bhopal with both parents well-versed in the classics and who introduced a love of Urdu and Persian in him.

Even a cursory reading of the poems in the collection Seemiya-gaar will make it clear that Ansari is well-grounded in the classics. His language has absorbed the lessons of Persian without sounding ponderous or archaic. In fact, the lessons learnt from the Persian masters come across as a lyrical and reflective strain. He refers to Ghalib in several places and draws upon the great poet’s lines, almost weaving them in the context of his own poems, as in the poem ‘Rakhsh-e-Umr’ (the name itself a beautiful reference to Ghalib), the sunlight in the courtyard, aangan ki dhoop, leading up the wholly unexpected but startling and delightful “Alam tamam halqa-e-daam-e-khyaal”.

But classicism is not a defining or limiting feature for Ansari. He displays a great understanding of the modern sensibility in Urdu poetry and has also absorbed the influence of Rashid, Faiz and Akhtarul Iman.

The influence of these remarkable but completely different poets exists simultaneously here and enriches Ansari’s language and sensibility. The silken sensuousness of Faiz is juxtaposed against the dramatic flair and rough-hewn imagery of Akhtarul Iman. This is especially interesting since while Faiz influenced almost an entire generation and also engendered countless imitators, Akhtarul Iman, who was himself influenced by Faiz in the early part of his career, moved away to a very different kind of poetry and did not have many followers. Perhaps the path that he had selected for himself was more difficult, yet this difficult and less-travelled road suits Ansari’s poetic temperament.

In his brief introductory note, Javed Akhtar has highlighted Ansari’s diction and comments, saying that it traces its path from the Persian classics to the great moderns — Faiz, Rashid and Akhtarul Iman. This is very true but it must be pointed out that the best qualities of Ansari’s poems go beyond the influence of the classics. If it had only been an act of homage to the great poets of the past, there would have not been anything remarkable in these poems. However, there is a great deal of substance here and Ansari has employed this diction to serve his own purpose.

Ansari’s mood is reflective and his vision is a questioning one that wants to understand and experience the purpose of all things and the great shifts in human society. Contemporary events are echoed in a subtle manner. He takes Rashid’s well-known poem about Hassan, the Koozagar from Baghdad, and writes about the destruction of his clay pots from bombing, implying that the dastaan-like figure of Jehanzad is overshadowed by the destructive forces let loose in the contemporary world.

Ansari is equally at home with the nazm as well as qat’aa and the ghazal. While his great felicity of language is occasionally marred by certain expressions, these instances do not deter from the moving and fine poetry that this book introduces us to.

One hopes that the poet will continue with the calling of his craft and I am also looking forward to the fiction which is promised in the biographical note. Clearly Ansari has many things to say and has found a fine way to put into words what he wants to express.

The reviewer is a writer and critic

Seemiya-gaar

(POETRY)

By Salman Ansari

ISBN 978-969-419-049-05

Maktaba-e-Daniyal, Karachi

192pp.