'Chasing Shadows' -By Sadiqullah Khan

A Review

Indulge me. 

                   Envision this. 

A Committee of ten individuals in a room at Nobel Institute in Stockholm, Sweden to decide which of the two books placed in the middle of the table should be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2015. One, 'Chasing Shadows' by Dr. Sadiqullah Khan and two, 'Thoughts I Thought' by Mrs. Charu Gandhi. Each member is eying his/her favorite.

Envision further.  It is a tie.  Both books received equal votes.

Now this is really outrageous but visualize this, they invited me to cast a tie-breaking vote. 

You say, ha, ha. 
But I am. 
Just humor me.

I could cowardly choose to withdraw my entry from the consideration. 
I could arrogantly vote for my book. 

Instead I opt for the first book. Dr. Khan's would be my choice for the winner. 

It is truly a remarkable book of poetry. His poems have dimensions. They have breadth of knowledge, height of style and depth of wisdom. His subjects are varied.  It is compilation of genius by a genius.

There are roughly two hundred thirty one poems in 'Chasing Shadows'. I read them all. Many I understood, several went over my head. But I adored them, precisely for their eloquence and style. Fortunately for me, he has often footnoted the inspiration, sometimes the explanation and occasionally even the history. He brings together with style the richness of Eastern and Western cultures.  He gently points out what is wrong with the world today.  He has one Ghazal and one poem in Pashtu language. 

I am posting one poem here not only because it is small but also because I am familiar with the fable associated with it:

"Kastoori

Be pure absence
The narcissus eye is blind
You have travelled
Far and distant
Meadows, valleys, bazaars
Taverns, visited harems.

In this vast, unending absence;
Like the fabled musk deer, - Kastoori
Who searches the whole world
Over. The source of the scent
Comes from itself.

Islamabad

November 12, 2013"

I often sense the influence of late nineteenth and early twentieth century British poets, especially when I see the use of  O' while addressing a personification. That has added a charm to his style. He is a free styler not following the rules of meter, rhyme and structure. I like that very much. 

Dr. Khan writes effortlessly. Writing simply seeps out of him. Selfishly, for my sake, I would like him to make difficult writing accessible. But if he does that he will risk loosing an admirer of his authorship. I will loose that 'Khalish', that itch to someday be able to write as well as he does. 

Of course, time is not on my side.

I am not a professional critic nor do I profess to know anything.  I am merely stating what I like and admire in his penmanship.

If you like to read poems, if you like stylized poems, your personal library should be embellished with at least this book of his if not perhaps, all of his books.

BTW, I used name of my book only to make a point of how brilliant his is. It would be tasteless to use somebody else's work for comparison. And I hope that he is big enough to forgive my transgression of having used mine.