Waris Shah and William Shakespeare-The Poets of Passion

International Journal of English and Education 265
ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:1, Issue:2, October 2012
Waris Shah and William Shakespeare-the Poets of Passion
Kaneez Fatima Syeda
Assistant Prof. of English
GC(w) Jhang ( Pakistan)
M.phil Scholar
GC University, Faisalabad
kaneezfatimasyeda@gmail.com
Abstract:
A poet is a person who more often than not looks beyond the barriers of time and space. The hallmark
of pure poetry is the height of imagination; imagination which generates vision. Vision is the insight to
see beyond the concrete, the physical. The journey from physical to metaphysical shapes the focus of
the poets to say the unsaid and unsay able with quite ease. This marks the universality in art. The
suppression of art is not a new phenomenon. The powerful and civilized have always used the tools of
civilization to colonize the ever sounding universal thought on one hand whereas erected barriers
between the vision and universal art to mark the superiority of their self on the other.
The present paper will explore the thematic unity, similarities and dissimilarities in approach of two
great writers; Waris Shah and William Shakespeare. Despite their social, cultural geographical and
religious differences, there is much which they share as common because of the universality in
literature. In this research the critical comparison of the two writers has been tried in order to find out
the outweighing genius of the one over the other. This study makes use of socio-cultural, literary and
theoretical perspectives to unveil the matter. It is a text based literary research with thematic approach
also using secondary sources (criticism) with analytical research design
Keywords: Waris Shah, Willam Shakespeare, Poets of Passion, Themetic Comparison
Introduction
Poetry is initially a matter of self expression. There is no room for doubt that poetry is a sheer
product of poet’s inner vision. Intangible process of reticent emotions takes root in the inner “Utopia”
of a soul. Soul confines this mime trait of entity to the deep recesses of mind. Whence it gushes out like
an unchecked flow of words but in sequence and eventually this outburst of words and feelings takes
the shape of poetry. Everyone deals with poetry with different idiosyncrasies of nature. This divine
frenzy is purely an instinctive process. Therefore, words differentiate themselves and pace forth at
different stages of thought.
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Literature Review
Comparative literature is the most significant and universal tradition of postmodernism which involves
inter-textuality on one hand whereas bringing together different cultures and nations together on
account of universality in themes such as life and death, love, hatred, tyranny and injustice. Goethe
terms this universality in literature as: “WELTLITERATUR.” Goethe attempted to be in connection with
foreign readings of literary masterpieces and stressed upon the same to his readers. Even in sub-
continent Allama Iqbal’s “ Piam-e-Mashriq is the apt example that can be compared to Goethe’s “ Der
Dewan.” Many of the English novelists and poets imbibed influences and said to be compared with
writers other than English. These writers not only acknowledged their debt to these alien sources but
also their works manifested similarities with these. Many English novelists learnt from the nineteenth
century Russian writers so these can be compared as James Joyce borrowed from Italo Svevo. Influence
of Dante’s “Divinia Comedia” on T.S Eliet which he has quoted in The Wasteland.
Comparative Analysis of the two Poets:
Poetry is purely the art of an introvert plummeting the depths of human psyche and exploring the
frontiers and wastelands of the reality of “being”. The question of form in poetry is not limited to the
kind of meter and stanza pattern used. With pure poetry it means the inner structure of a piece of
poetry; the underlying thematic thread. Poetry is a kinship between the felt experience and the
resources of language whatever language it might be. Every language of the world is rich and fertile
enough to entertain a literary enterprise either it is a Shakespearean poetic tragedy or a folk-lore verse
of Waris Shah who is often called the Shakespeare of Punjabi literature. Having been mentally colonized
we feel elated in ranking our legends like Waris Shah with western legends like Shakespeare. This Euro-
centric approach, on one hand, is nothing short of inferiority complex while on the other hand it
hampers the true spirit of criticism. Underestimation of one’s own self always stems out of the
overestimation of the other. Universality in poetry lies in level of profoundity in imagination. Poetry
exposes fully how possessed the soul of the poet is. Waris Shah writes in Heer:
“ Manter keel na janiyay doomnay da aiwain sutray nag na chairay ni Waris Shah jay pias na howay
ander sheeshay sharbatan de nahin bhairiay ni
( don’t fondle with the serpent of poetic imagination if you can’t handle it
fully.If you have no thirst for knowledge in your soul, the wine of intuition is useless for you.)
No doubt, the subject matter in the poetry of Shakespeare and Waris Shah are almost the same,
however, the art in handling the themes is totally different. One may say with assertion on close
study that the poetic insight of Waris Shah is too deeper than Shakespeare. The former very

oftenly tends to dwell upon intuition whereas the later commonly deals with mere imagination.
Waris Shah was a well read person and the glimpses of his vast interdisciplinary knowledge can
be seen from his verse. Serebryakov writes about Waris Shah:
“We can conjuncture that he was well acquainted with Persian literature. He mentioned
Gulistan and Bostan by Sadi, Halikbari by Amir Khusro, Hikayat, Anwar-ul-Haq and other books. Hindu
literature was also familiar to him…..”1
The major theme of the two poets is the reality of life and death. Stronger than any other subject matter
in poetry is this very theme that even the vicissitudes of literary taste and temper in the postmodern age
have not weakened the appeal of it. Shakespeare altogether negates the physical importance of soul by
saying that:
“O that this too, too sullied flesh would melt.
Thaw and resolve itself into dew.”(Hamlet: 11.111)
The matter, however, is not the same with Waris Shah. With him life does not come to an end with
resolving into dew. Man is not merely meant for melting after death. There is something more than this;
some greater reality lurking behind the scene which Shakespeare completely fails to grasp. Waris Shah
says about life; about body and soul in his famous epic Heer:
“Heer ruh te chak qalboot janou, Balnath aih pir banaya ee
punj pir hawas aih punj tairay, aithay ahlna kisay na paya ee.”
( Heer has been portrayed in the story allegorically as soul whereas Ranjha as body.who part with
each other temporarily and eventually unite after death. Your five senses are depicted in the epic as five
saints who guide you about the life here and after.)
Again, he writes on the death of Heer and Ranjha:
“Dowain dar-e-fana thee wida huay, ja rupay ni dar-e-baqa mian.”
(both Heer and Ranjha left this temporary world and reached in the eternal concrete world where
they will never part with each other.
Waris Shah’s treatment of the issue of life and death never tends to dwell upon nothingness.
The true art of a poet lies not in the thing that mere a surface reading would suffice to get in connection
with his poetic genius; it lies in the fact that the genius of a poet should be multi-dimensional in its art
and craft. Narang writes about Waris Shah:
“ Not only the description of daily routine of the farmers , Waris Shah has given details of the
different natural Phenomena. Different types of snakes, fruits, trees and natural remedies are also

mentioned by Waris Shah in his verse. It will not be an exaggeration if I say that the composition of Waris
Shah is a rere ocean of the vast nature. Readers can get the few drops while jumping into the unending
and measureless depth of Waris’ poetry.” 2
The poet is a person who very often does not say openly what he means to say. A poet is often in a state
of fluctuation; a fluctuation between ‘what is’ and ‘what is not.’ This dilemma is quite essential for the
beautification of a poetic fancy. A poet always takes great pains to form a balance between the ‘things
felt’ and the ‘things expressed’. It is quite clear from the mighty works of Shakespeare that he feels
himself perplexed about some greater realities while handled in verse. He writes:
“ To be or not to be------ that is the question

whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
the slings and sorrows of outrageous fortune
or to take arms against the sea of troubles.” (Hamlet: 111.11)
Quite contrary is the matter with Waris Shah. He conceives his subject matter fully and is never
disturbed about the expression. The beauty of his art lies in the simplicity of his style which often
envelops some very somber and grave statements. He gives universal statements quite easily;
“ Ranjha akhda khiyal na pawu mairay, sup, sheenh, faqir da dais kiha
koonjan wang mamolian dais chaday, asan zat, qabeelra, khaish kiha
Watan daman de nal te zat jogi, sanun sak qabeelra khaish kiha
Jaihra watan te zat wal dhiyan rakhay, dunia dar he oh darwaish kiha.”
( Ranjha says, don’t disturb me as I have no identity to tell you about me. I have just like birds, wild
animals or gypsies who have no native place. I am a saint and saints neither have any identity nor do
they make homes.”)
The universality of art lies in its appeal to common man irrespective of culture, region and even religion.
Waris shah’s Heer is the story of passions which are common in all. He shows the real picture of Punjab
which was the abode of men living like human lot irrespective of the difference in their religions and
creeds.
“For instance Ranjha, a muslim peasant, is shown to have been prevailed upon by Heer
( also a muslim) to join the Hindu order of yogis, which he actually does. A Muslim Qazi hands over a
Muslim married girl to a Hindu Jogi, disregarding disparity of their religious faiths.” 3

Waris Shah’s Heer is the criticism on the social evils of his time. “Waris Shah’s Heer symbolized
expression of man by man. She struggled to wrest her rights from a male-dominated society and corrupt
state institutions.” 4
A poet is a person who feels deeper than others; whose life is drenched in passions. A person who is
devoid of passions and deeper feelings is never a great poet. It is not always necessary that every
passionate statement should be the self experience of the poet meaning by that if a poet fully grasps the
theme of love; it is not always the case that he himself be in love with someone. A poet is a person who
merges himself in the feelings of others and makes every experience within his soul. Love is the supreme
passion of love and a person cannot be considered a great poet if he fails to handle the very ideology of
this universal theme. Waris Shah made his love epic Heer an enterprise of mysticism and followed the
footsteps of Ibn-ul-Arbi about whom Reynold A. Nicolson, a professor of Arabic at Cambridge University
writes:
“Ibn-ul-Arbi went so far as to say that the most perfect vision of God is enjoyed by those who
contemplate Him in woman.”5
On a close comparison of Heer Waris Shah with Romeo and Juliet as love tragedies there is no room left
for doubt that Shakespeare completely fails to reach that zenith of art in handling the theme of love
which Waris Shah easily attained. Waris Shah universalized the theme of love by making Heer a tale of
Divine love; he used his characters as allegorical mouthpieces to vocalize Divinities whereas Romeo and
Juliet is only an ordinary story of two lovers from common lot. No divine implication of celestial love is
seen anywhere in the tale. It is merely a work of superficial ideas and flowery diction. Shakespeare
writes in Romeo and Juliet:
“ My bounty is as boundless as the sea
My love as deep: the more I give to thee
The more I have, for both are infinite.”(11.11.133-5)
It is startling here that how can a universally acknowledged poet claims the infinity in love with a clear
claim of “ the more I give, the more I have.” It is the mockery of divine status of love. Waris Shah’s
treatment of the theme of love encompasses the whole universe by infusing divine spirit in love of Heer
and Ranjga. He writes:
“ Ishq karn te taigh di dhar kapan nhin kam aih bhukhiyan nangian da jaihray maran so faqar
theen hon waqif, nhin kam aih faqr theen sangiyan da
aithay thanun nhin arangiyan bangiyan da, faqr kam he saran tun langian da
Shoq,mehr te sidq yaqeen bahjhun, kaiha faida tukriyan mangiyan da
Waris Shah jo ishq de rang ratay, kandi ap he rangdian rangiyan da.”

(To love and wield the sowrd are not vocation of lowly; those who die over a hundred anxieties cannot
die lovers’ death. This is not the work of mendicants and sophisters but that of saints who have lost their
self and dyed themselves in the hues of love.)
Again Waris Shah writes:
“ Ishq pir, faqeer da martaba he, mard ishq da bhala ranjool mian
Khilay tinhan de bagh qaloob ander jinhan kita he ishq qabool mian.”
(Love is the status of selected ones ; saints and sufies. The heart of a lover is like a garden, those who
embrace love are blessed with it.)
Moreover, Waris Shah’s Heer is a document which celeberates the triumph of right over wrong. “Waris
Shah transforms a love story into a saga of supreme resistance against tyranny.”6
Conclusion:
Shakespeare used a broader canvas ; stories about far off lands and about mighty figures but even then
he failed to universalize his themes as his treatment deals with surface and not the kernel of reality. On
the contrary Waris Shah’s art is local ; rural Punjab of his own time but he infused such a universal spirit
in his themes that those became the very manifestation of greater realities and divine status. He used
his poetry as a medium on one hand to teach the moral values to his people while on the other to
unfold the mysteries of the universe through his mystic vision. Waris Shah is no doubt the great legend
of art; the universal art. Serebryakov acknowledges Waris Shah’s universality and truthfulness in these
words.
“Waris Shah paints a truthful picture of the Punjabi people and local scenery. Actual contemporary
life is the fount from which he derived his aesthetic imagery and devices. His characters are
generalizations of his contemporaries; the background is the events of his time.”7
References:
1- Serebryakov, 1. Punjabi literature : A brief Outline (Lahore Progressive Publishers ( 1975)p55
2- Narang, C.L . History of Punjabi Literature( Delhi: National Book Shop. 1987)
3- Gurcharn, Singh: Makers of Indian Literature: Waris Shah ( Delhi: Sahitya Academi n.d)p24
4- Mirza, Shafqat Tanvir. “ Why is Waris Shah so popular?” in The News Islamabad/ Rawalpindi
edition July 23 , 2000, n.p
5- Nicholoson, R.A: Rumi: Poet and Mystic (Reykjavik, Finland: One word press. 1998 ed), p.44
6- Mirza, Shafqat Tanveer: Resistance Themes in Punjabi Literature. Lahore: Sang-e-Meel. 1992
7- Serebryakov, 1. Punjabi literature: A brief Outline (Lahore Progressive Publishers ( 1975)p52

Bibliography:
1- Usborn, C.F The Adventures of Hir and Ranjha: London: Peter Owen, 1973
2- Dhuryalvi, Fazal Hussain: Asli Wuddi Heer: Lahore, Sheikh Ghulam Ali and Sons,n.d
3- Andrews, W.T (ed.) Critics on Shakespeare: Delhi: universal Book Stall. 1998
4- Charlton, H.B Shakespearean Tragedy. Cambridge: CUP, 1961
5- Dowden, Edward. Shakespeare: A Critical Study of His Mind and Art. India: Vishwavidyalya
Prakashan, 1990
6- Fluchere, Henri. Shakespeare: London: Longman, 1961
7- Harison, G.B. Introducing Shakespeare. Harmondsworth : Penguin Books. 1991.

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International Journal of English and Education 265

ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:1, Issue:2, October 2012