| Subh-e-Azadi | |
|---|---|
| Subh-e-Azadi (August 1947) | |
| byFaiz Ahmed Faiz | |
| Original title | صبح آزادی |
| Translator | Victor Kiernan,Shiv K. Kumar,Naomi Lazard,Agha Shahid Ali,Ralph Russell, Ludmila Vasilyeva[1] |
| Written | August 1947[2] |
| First published in | 1996 |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Language | Urdu |
| Publisher | Center for South Asia,University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Publication date | 1996 (1996) |
This stain-covered daybreak, this night-bitten dawn,
This is not that dawn of which there was expectation;
This is not that dawn with longing for which;
The friends set out, (convinced) that somewhere
there would be met with.[3]
Subh-e-Azadi (lit.'Dawn of Independence' or 'Morning of freedom'[4]), also spelledSubh-e-Aazadi or written asSubh e Azadi, is anUrdu language poem by a Pakistani poet,Faiz Ahmed Faiz written in 1947.[5][6] The poem is often noted for itsprose style, marxist perspectives, disappointment, anguish, and critic atmosphere. It centerspartition of India after theBritish rule was ended in theIndian subcontinent,[7] leading to rise different concerns and feelings associated withmulti-ethnic origin. The poem primarily revolves around the poet'ssentiments andemotions about those people who migrated from onesovereign state to another, leaving their native places. Subh-e-Azadi was written as an expression ofsolidarity with the people who were living either in India or Pakistan before the region split into two independent nations.[8][9]
The poem illustrates split of Indian subcontinent in animaginary style, covering aftermath and its related events as personally felt or realized by the poet. The poem also illustratesdispleasure of the poet which he claimed or saw acrossIndia–Pakistan borders. Faiz expresses hisemotional pain,sadness ordistress about the cost paid for sovereignty and suggests a degree of resignation.[10][11]
Subh-e-Azadi was written on thefirst day of Pakistan, highlighting the issues encountered or experienced by thenew sovereign state. In this poem, the author expresses his disappointments experienced during or after the partition.[8][9] It is also claimed he wrote the poem in solidarity with people killed or displaced during 1947intrastate war that sawreligious as well aspatriotic violences from the both sides such as India and Pakistan.[12]
Subh-e-Azadi is often recognized as anarrative poem. It reads naturally, conversationally or possibly emotionally and begins as a kind ofcross-border depiction of partition.[13] It consists of four to seven modern prose style stanzas of lines each. At some occurrences, the first line loosely rhymes with the third and fourth, and since it is an Urdu language poem, the second line doesn'trhymes with the next one. The rhythmic variation of the poem and its Urdu language naturalness affects the reader's sense of expectation.[14] The poem is recognized one of the prominent writings of Faiz which was "praised" as well as "criticised" by the both nations.[15][16]
Subh-e-Azadi'slyricism associated withBritishpolitical movement expresses the poet's sorrow about events occurred during or after partition. It was criticised by the notable authors, raising their concerns about its views and ideological style in which poet has opposed the sovereignty of the two nations (freedom/partition). Some writers criticised Faiz's sorrow over freedom and expressed their views citing "freedom had finally arrived". One of progressive poetsAli Sardar Jafri described the poem "half truth" citing "a poem like Subh-e-Azadi could be written by both anIslamist or aHindu organization". A Pakistani scholarFateh Mohammad Malik defended the poem citing "critics never managed to see in it his deep" andpatriotic contribution made via poem.[8]