محمد امین مسعود صدیقی
(ریاض الرحمن شروانی)
حبیب منزل، میرس روڈ، علی گڑھ،
۲۰۰۱-۳-۲۷ء۔
مکرمی و محترمی! السلام علیکم ورحمۃ اﷲ،
لکھنؤ سے کل ۲۵؍ مارچ کا ’’جدید مرکز‘‘ آیا تو اس میں محمد امین مسعود صدیقی صاحب کی اچانک وفات کی خبر پڑھ کر دلی صدمہ ہوا، اخبار میں اس خبر کی سرخی ’’مولانا آزادؒ کے عاشق تھے مسعود صدیقی‘‘ چھپی ہے اور اس سے بہتر سرخی کوئی اور نہیں ہوسکتی تھی۔ کیا عجیب عشق تھا کہ چاہتے تھے ہر فرد، ہر اخبار اور رسالہ اور ہر ادارہ اس عشق میں ان کا شریک ہوجائے۔ ہر ممکن طریقے سے مولانا آزادؒ کے پیغام کی اشاعت کے لئے سرگرداں رہتے تھے۔
ان میں اور بھی بہت سی خوبیاں تھیں، بہت دین دار، مخلص، متحرک اور بے نفس انسان تھے، میرا بہت لحاظ کرتے تھے۔ میں کسی معاملے میں ان سے اختلاف کرتا تھا تو خاموش ہوجاتے تھے، کبھی بحث نہیں کرتے تھے۔ مولانا آزادؒ پر کہیں کوئی چیز ان کی نظر سے گزرتی تھی تو اس کی فوٹو کاپی مجھے بھیج دیتے تھے۔ میں لکھنؤ جاتا تو انہیں مطلع کردیتا اور میرا جہاں کہیں قیام ہوتا وہ وہاں آکر مجھ سے ضرور ملتے تھے۔ مجھے ان کا آخری خط جو ۲۵؍ فروری کا لکھا ہوا تھا، ۲۸؍ کو ملا تھا۔ اس میں انہوں نے لکھا تھا: ’’معارف کا فروری ۲۰۰۱ء کا شمارہ آپ کو مل گیا ہوگا۔ اس میں اس ناچیز کا ایک مراسلہ شائع ہوا ہے۔ اس مراسلے پر حواشی میں جو باتیں تحریر فرمائی گئی ہیں۔ اس (کذا) سے نفس کی اصلاح کا موقع ملا ہے‘‘۔ ملاحظہ فرمایا آپ نے کس طرح اپنی کوتاہی کا اعتراف کیا ہے۔ میں نے کچھ غلط تو نہیں لکھا کہ کیسے بے نفس انسان تھے۔ اﷲ تعالیٰ مغفرت فرمائے اور درجات بلند کرے۔ بہت جلدی چلے گئے۔
امید ہے...
The ancient 5000 BCyears old Indus Valley Civilization, widely recognized as one of the most important early cities of South Asia. It is one of the world’s first cities and contemporaneous with ancient EgyptianCivilizations and Mesopotamian civilizations. Mohenjo-Daro is located west of the Indus Riveraround 28 kilometres (17 miles) from the town of LarkanaDistrict, Sindh, Pakistan. The Indus Valley civilization was entirely unknown until 1921. It was discovered in 1922 by R. D. Banerji, an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India, under the direction of John Marshall, K. N. Mohenjo-Daro does mean 'Mound of the dead'. It is the name given by the locals to the place. The total area of Mohenjo-daro is 620 acres. Numerous objects found in excavation include seated and standing figures, copper and stone tools, carved seals, balance-scales and weights, gold and jasper jewellery, and children's toys. Many important objects from Mohenjo-daro are conserved at the National Museum of India in Delhi and the National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi. In 1939, a representative collection of arteffacts excavated at the site was transferred to the British Museum by the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India.
The bulk of world literature comprises stories of tangible and symbolic quests and American literature is no exception to this general rule. The quest narrative dominates the American literary landscape and, on the surface, is founded on its history as a nation of immigrants seeking, above all, religious freedom. It would have been facile to state that this quest is for the American Dream, and it would have been just as easy to define this modern Dream as social equality and economic opportunity, or vice versa. After all, a prime purpose of the Mayflower project was to become free of medieval Europe’s pomp and show, most importantly in religious practices. However, the ubiquity of ancient symbols in the American quest narrative intrigued me. These symbols indicated hidden meanings that went beyond materialistic realization of America’s constitutional ideals. Exploration of the deeper meanings of quest narratives in modern America required plumbing symbolic depths. The vortex motif helped to go far beneath the surface meaning of the symbols encountered. This quest was both a vertical plunge and a horizontal journey towards a specific goal. Fascinatingly, the quest in the texts analyzed almost invariably ended at a destination that turned out to be its starting point. The hermeneutic cycle helped to explain the circularity of the quest. This study, therefore, set out to explore the nature of the American quest, to sift through the symbols dotting the literary terrain, to encounter a key symbol, to explore its religious content, and to fathom the significance of this symbol in modern American literature. A brief survey of modern American literature proved the presence of quest stories in almost all genres, from science fiction to the American literary canon. In many American narratives, obsession with apocalypse also combined well with the quest theme to make for great story telling. Importantly, they easily reincarnate as cinematic script. Apocalypse has riveted American attention after 9/11 but it also prevailed during the 20th century and earlier American literature produced along modern lines. Quests to survive and flourish invite inclusion of marginal voices, presenting equality of opportunity for blacks, women, the old and otherwise infirm, so essential to American narratives. The quest aspires to assume metaphysical properties. Its goal is an elusive symbol. Powerful symbols contain coded messages dating from ancient religions. In modern narratives they shed their religiosity. However, cult following reestablishes the symbol’s spiritual status. They embody eternal Truth. The Holy Grail exemplifies such powerful symbols. The grail icon is so prevalent in American society that most of its canonical writers are compelled to weave tales around the grail. This study suggests that American society has Americanized the grail, and to understand the United States one must also grasp the manifold meanings of its Holy Grail – there being no better place to start than traverse the modern American literary landscape.