On October 3, I posted my forecasts of the next 20 years on my blog. Many friends thought them unlikely to happen.
I had stated that Pakistan will become increasingly distanced from the world, especially the West, and from 2010 will begin a period of isolation. Even that seemed unlikely to some in those days amid all the hype about the forthcoming Obama, and so on. Five months later, sadly, it doesn’t seem very far-fetched (Read what everyone is saying after the tragic attack on Sri Lankan players in Lahore yesterday).
I was asked to explain what I meant by isolation, and I referred to Shikral, an imaginary landscape in the works of Ibne Safi (arguably the greatest Pakistani novelist). A dear friend commented that Shikral was modeled after the tribal regions of Pakistan and hence it is unlikely that the rest of Pakistan could ever come even closer to that sort of thing. Well, we now have our democratic government sanctioning the enforcement of rigid Shariah laws in Swat, the tourist haven once considered to be a mini-Switzerland in Pakistan.
I am not a soothsayer, nor clairvoyant. Yet in this newsletter I have been bringing up the issue of forecasting because, odd as it might sound, Pakistan came with a roadmap. Its destiny was foretold in the writings of Iqbal, and in the speeches of Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan.
Forecasting is not only to fulfill your curiosity. It is about preventing disasters and steering your ship in the correct direction (“The future isn’t the same once you’ve seen it,” Nicholas Cage says something to that effect in Next, a movie I recommend strongly if you haven’t watched it already).
I have now done enough research to become bold about things which so far I have only suggested as hints (that’s why I was away). I shall begin by saying that one of the key themes in the works of Iqbal was forecasting the destiny of one’s nation, and ultimately the destiny of the humankind.
The theme is so dear to Iqbal that when he meets God “face to face” at the highest point in his journey, his single request to the Almighty is, “Let me see the destiny of the humankind.” There are quite a few methods for forecasting the future, and most of them are nothing more than pleasant pastimes. What I am talking about (and Iqbal was talking about) is different.
It is a kind of intimacy with God. It is “interpretation of stories and events”, which God describes as His special boon to Joseph in the Quran. It is to develop our thought to such perfection that we can analyze history and Nature to see not only what is visible but also what lies beneath: the current of Life which is ever flowing through our lives, sweet and low, singing a song so faint that we need to shut off so many noises in order to hear it.
“Listen to the flute,” says Rumi. “How it complains and narrates the story of its separation.” So far you’ve wondered if Time is a dimension of space. I am inclined to perceive space as a dimension of Time.
Dear Khurram sb, since you mentioned Iqbal here saying that key themes in the works of Iqbal was forecasting the destiny of one’s nation, my mind is drawn towards Iqbal's epic poem "Shama aur Shaer". I would like to ask with reference to the last stanza of this poem that how will you relate Iqbal's forecasting with your current analysis of future of this country. Can it be related or are we just focussing on Pakistan whereas Iqbal talked about the entire world in a big picture ?
ReplyDeleteYou have rightly poited out that we have to revisit our sources like Iqbal, Rumi and others to carve destiny for ourselves that so far seems like an illusion
ReplyDeleteYou have rightly poited out that we have to revisit our sources like Iqbal, Rumi and others to carve destiny for ourselves that so far seems like an illusion
ReplyDelete"So far you've wondered if Time is a dimension of space. I am inclined to perceive space as a dimension of Time."
ReplyDeleteSaying this you are mixing Zamaan-o Makaan. Space (makaan) has three dimensions for our mortal world, zamaan (time) is a separate dimension. So you can uniquely define a location in the world by assigning identifiers (numbers) to the three coordinates (or any transformation thereof). What happens at that location at different times could be the kaifiyet o that makaan in various zamanay (times) again defined uniquely)
It is the further higher dimensions that we mathematically could define but do not have the physical understanding of. My idea is that the higher your level of Irfan is, the more dimensions you can comprehend and utilize. It's the access to higher dimensions that could take a mortal from farSH to arSH in the blink of an eye.
Ahmad...
"It's the access to higher dimensions that could take a mortal from farSH to arSH in the blink of an eye."
ReplyDeleteSo we aren't limited! We can see BEYOND dimensions! How is it possible?
What do you think about imagination? It is faster than the speed of light..
-rIZ
Imran Ashraf, Wasim Dar, Ahmad Bhai and Rizwan, thanks. 'Shama Aur Shaer' requires a detailed post, which will be coming soon. Every prophecy made in that poem has been fulfilled but we are trapped in our "illusions" (as Wasim Dar says in a somewhat different manner), like the inhabitants of MATRIX, except that they were living in a devastated world and believed it to be good, we are living in a good world and believe it to be devastated. The only thing which is devastated is our soul, and that is why we cannot see things "as they are".
ReplyDeleteAhmad Bhai, the purpose of that comment about Time and Space was to provoke comments. That having been fulfilled, I won't perceive Time as a dimension of Space if you say so, because you are a better authority on this subject than I am :). I hope you will also answer the question raised by Rizwan. I can only say to Rizwan, there is difference between fantasy and imagination (call them by any names). There is a type of imagination which was regarded by Sufis as a window to the Realm of the Soul. The revelations of this imagination are real and as trustworthy as physical experiences. To me, it seems that this sort of imagination is faster than the speed of light. Don't get trapped into cobweb of archaic terminology if you want to know more about this kind of imagination. Delve into a careful study of "consensus literature" and you shall find better answers than are available through theoretical discussion.