A Sufi in a maze

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Muzaffar Ali [1]

Muhammad Iqbal, one of the greatest poets of the sub-continent, wrote in his diary, “Nations are born in the hearts of poets and die in the hands of politicians.”
The essence of a conducive social environment is to ensure that we do not let the spirit of the regenerative force of a culture dry up. It is to have in place such systems that despite political changes and upheavals the social order is not rocked. When we talk of government of the people, for the people and by the people, we are positioning people in a place of prime importance, both as participants and beneficiaries.

Democracy sounds like a great idea but may deliver choices that do not understand the essence of the flowering of the human soul and the nation withdraws its mandate at a colossal loss of time in its history of evolution. A renaissance in today’s context is more to do with the evolution of human sensibilities to comprehend people and history, responsibilities and futures.
The Sufis of yesteryears burnt in love and gave a glow to the world to understand its soul. In larger human interest, they enlightened the source of temporal power and maintained a balance between people and those who designed their physical destinies.
We stand at the crossroads of a civilisation, watching our own destruction helplessly on account of choices we have made out of our own free will. We watch immature, seemingly well-meaning leaders take us into a maze of confusion that they themselves are lost in.
Today, the mind and soul of the modern Sufi has to comprehend the 21st-century challenges and address them in an evolved way but with the same fire of the yesteryears. Their message, to both the artist and the people, is loud and clear: Don’t sell yourself or you will be lost.
You must remain an artiste and ensure that your poetic, painterly and cinematic touch is not compromised. That will enliven the spirit and rejuvenate the body and soul, and disseminate a social intelligence that makes one believe that “man is the measure of all things.”
Today, commerce would have put even the soul. But the soul does not want to buy anything or be put up for sale. It wants to own and be owned. It wants to manifest the attributes of its Maker.
Jab tak bika na tha to koi puchhta na tha
Tu ne mujhe khareed ke anmol kar diye.
(Till I had not surrendered to You, I had no takers,
Today when You own me I have no price.)

Muzaffar Ali is a filmmaker and painter. He is the executive director and secretary of the Rumi Foundation.