Shaikh Ayaz – The great poet and voice of Sindh

Karachi: This is the street of Jinaat Chowk Old Sukkur where there is a three storey building which has been plastered with cement but there is no colour on this building. The sound echoes inside the house “Zarina o Zarina I am going to court” and then the door of the building opens. The person takes small steps and moves towards his car at Jinaat Chowk. People passing by the street call this person “Wakil Sahib Assalam-o-Alaikum.” He sits in his car with a slight smile and responds to their greetings and the new shiny car leaves from there towards the court in the city, this are the famous poet, writer and thinker of Sindh Shaikh Ayaz.

Shaikh Ayaz was a well-known poet, writer, jurist and thinker of Sindh. He was born on March 2, 1923 in Shikarpur, Sindh with his full name being Mubarak Ali Sheikh. There were people who were famous for trade in the whole region and there were also personalities who worked hard for the welfare of the people – an example of this can be seen in the medical centers at Shikarpur.

Shaikh Ayaz studied at C&S College, Shikarpur during a time when Hindu-Muslim unity movement was in full swing and short dramas were also being presented in this regard. Various magazines were published in which the writings of Shaikh Ayaz were published.

Shaikh Ayaz joined DJ Science College, Karachi in 1940 where he was in the company of well-known leftist writer Ibrahim Joyo, founder of modern Sindh ideology Hashu Kevlarani, Subho Gyan Chandani and Goband Malhi.

Subho Gyan Chandani was also active in various trade unions and Sheikh Ayaz followed suit. This was the period when Naginder Nath Vyas was launching Gujarati magazine “Agge Kadam” in Karachi, Shaikh Ayaz, inspired by this magazine and launched it in Sindhi language and it went on to become the first progressive Sindhi magazine in the province.

His poem “Gao Inqilab Gao” that was written before the establishment of Pakistan earned him a lot of fame. His poems “Boaiy e Gul Nala e Dil” and “Bhanwar Bhare Aakas ” were published and became popular too. He wrote prose, plays, his past and people liked all his writings.

Shaikh Ayaz is considered as the founder of modern Sindhi literature. He is also known as a resistance and progressive poet and was called the second great poet of Sindh after Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

He wrote about fifty books, including books of poetry, fiction, autobiography and poems, but the language he used was Sindhi.

He also translated the great Sufi saint, poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s words “Shah Jo Risalo” into Urdu which is certainly a great feat. Shaikh Ayaz’s other works include “Neel Kanth or Neem kay Pattay”, ” Jo Beejal Nay Aakhia”, “Dunya Saari Khuab Saaray”, Ay Aho Chashm Kidhar, Booy e Gul Nala Dil,  and “Halqa Meri Zanjeer Ka.” He highlighted love, affection and beauty in poetry, he wrote revolutionary songs and included the poor class of Sindh and its oppression in his poems.

Shaikh Ayaz’s revolutionary poetry was also became the reason for his arrest. Some of his works were banned from 1962 to 1964. “Ye sangram samnay hay Narayan Shaiyam, Is per kaisay bandooq uthaon kaisay goli chalaon?” Became very popular among the people, after which Shaikh Ayaz was arrested and imprisoned in jail. During this time, rumours were circulating that Shaikh Ayaz would signal Indian warplanes by lighting a light from the roof of his house or he would send messages to the Indian Army via a wireless system but these were just rumours. Shaikh Ayaz remained in the party of Bangladeshi leader Rasheed Mujeeb-ur-Rehman’s Awami League. When Shaikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehman was arrested, Shaikh Ayaz was also arrested along with him.

Shaikh Ayaz is a revolutionary and public poet as well as a lawyer of high courts. He writes in his autobiography: “The work accelerated to the point that I used to write even during the hearing of my cases in the High Court and when it was my turn to speak in the court I would keep the notes in my books. My fellow lawyers thought that maybe I am writing something about cases. In the same way, I used to get up in the middle of the night and start writing. I had little time and I did not wish for death, but death was real.” Shaikh Ayaz used to call poetry his beloved aka ‘Mehbooba’, he loved to write poetry keeping in view the circumstances and events. That is why there is a hint of modern Sindh in his poetry.

Shaikh Ayaz was awarded the highest literary award Hilal e Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan in 1994 for his poetry. He was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Sindh and remained in the university despite the ouster of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the assumption of power by Zia-ul-Haq, which was criticized by nationalist organisations. He also served as the editor of the Sindhi newspaper “Barsaat”.

Poets and writers from all over Sindh seem to be very impressed with the poetry of Shaikh Ayaz. Well known poet Adal Soomro says that Shaikh Ayaz was a great poet and he laid the foundation of modern poetry in Sindh. According to Adal Soomro, Shaikh Ayaz used to write poetry by drowning, the way he has adapted the circumstances and events of his time to poetry is not the work of everyone. Undoubtedly, Shaikh Ayaz was one of the great poets of Sindh and his poetry is still alive today. His poetry is a kind of new light that paves the way for future poets. There is also a Shaikh Ayaz Chair named after Shaikh Ayaz at Shah Abdul Latif University to pay homage to the poet.

Mumtaz Bukhari, a well-known journalist, writer and playwright of Sindh says that Shaikh Ayaz was not only a poet but he was an inspiration to the new poets and writers of Sindh. It is said that his operas include Rani Kot dacoit, Dodo Soomro’s death and Bhagat Singh. His dramas were also staged and these stage dramas received much acclaim, the journalist also added that Shaikh Ayaz had an emotional attachment to the land of Sindh and sincere love of Sindh and this emotional attachment is reflected in his poetry.

Shaikh Ayaz was a great poet and writer not only in Sindh but also in Pakistan. His poetry, fiction, drama, poems and writings in his past are still alive today. Shaikh Ayaz died of a heart attack on December 27 in Karachi. He was buried on the shores of Lake Karar adjacent to the mausoleum of the great Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in Shah.