Poet of Youthfulness

You didn't think of Hafeez Jallundhri (1900-1982), the author of Pakistan’s national anthem, as the poet of youthfulness, right?

In the early 1920’s, Urdu literary scene was rocking with an unusual poem, ‘Abhi Tou Mien Jawan Hoon’ (‘For Now I am Young’). The poet, Hafeez Jallundhri had the approval of Iqbal almost to the extent as if the Poet-Philosopher was preparing this unschooled newcomer as his successor.

Hafeez, who had not completed his high school, was fired with Iqbal’s idea of finding one’s own voice and therefore he didn’t imitate Iqbal. Instead, he created a new diction of simple and easy words which did not seem profound at first but were capable of bringing out deepest emotions from unknown recesses of soul once they were taken to heart – and they almost always were. This was in sync with the life cycle of the East which, according to Iqbal, had “opened its eyes after a long slumber.” East was young, and hence the “I” of 'For Now I Am Young’ became the voice of collective consciousness.

This collective “I” enabled Hafeez to write devotional poetry about Lord Krishna which at one point came to be sung by Brahmins in the temples of Benaras (Varanasi) while on the other hand his epic poem about the glory of Islam, Shahnama-i-Islam, received acclaim from Hindu critics of Urdu literature.

It is an honor for Pakistan that the author of its national anthem also wrote devotional songs for Hinduism while being an unabashed defender of Islam at the same time. He was a man of the masses.

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