Dr.Ebadat Brelvi

Has this happened to you?

By :Intizaar Hussain

                                                                    When books take all the space in your house, what do you keep, your family or books?

It was almost after a decade or so that I had knocked at a door,which at one time was so familiar to me.It was the residence of Dr.Ebadat Brelavi,who lived here with his family.The house seemed to have changed in character during the intervening period.I was led into a part of the house,where all the rooms were bulging with books,but without any family members.

     Generally,writers and scholars in Pakistan can hardly afford to build a house spacious enough to accommodate their family and their books.And the limited space in their homes causes tension between family members and hostility towards the books,which continue to multiply with the passage of time.

Dr.Ebadat solved this problem by building a new house where he shifted along with his family and reserved his old house for his books.So,the books had the whole house at their disposal and went on piling up.The house now looks like a library in disarray.It is a very satifactory situation for the scholar.He pays a daily visit to the house and feels happy to find himself in the company of his books,periodicals and manuscripts without any fear of intruders.Dr.Ebadat,who is reckoned among the most distinguished critics of Urdu,began as a professor of Urdu in Oriental college of Lahore and,in due course became the principal.He retired in 1987 and accepted his retirement with grace- so rare in our times.With complete obedience to the unwritten dictates of retirement he now chose to go in seclusion and concenterate on his literary work.He shunned public appearance and was rarely seen at any literary debate or seminar.Recently,it was after a long time that he was seen at the Ghalib seminar arranged by the Academy of Letters in Lahore.Here, I wish to correct a mistake I made in reporting about the seminar.The function was infact presided over by Dr.Ebadat and Mr.Shahid Hamid was the chief guest.

During the last ten years Dr.Ebadat did his literary work with unusual discipline.He would rise early in the morning and get ready,like any working day as he used to do for years while going to college.But now,instead of college he went to his old house which serverd as a secluded corner for study.He already enjoys the reputation of being a proific writer.But after retirement he wrote abundantly and uninterruptedly.Thus he made generous editions to the ist of his publications which was already long.He told me that during these years,as an author,he has crossed a hundred.The world of cricket abound in century- makers. But in very few reach the hundred figure.By the grace of od Dr.Ebadat is now a century maker.

Dr.Ebadat had started as a critic of contemporary literature. He rose to prominence in the mid-forties during the hey-day of the Progressive Movement. Soon he won a place in the first rank of the critics associated with the Movement. After partition he came to Pakistan and, as stated above, joined Oriental College Lahore.

Dr.Ebadat’s journey to London in the early sixties appears to be the turning point in his academic life. During his stay in London
the critic turned into a researcher. He spent a few years at the school of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) as an Urdu teacher. During these years he devoted much of his time to probing into the South Asian treasures, which were buried the British museum, Indian office library, and the library of his Asiatic society. He managed to have access to the almost in accessible corners of the South Asian section in these libraries. And with great pains, he dug out a large number of precious
manuscripts and rare books, untraceable in the libraries of the sub-continent.After his return from London we found that the critic of contemporary literature in him had receded in the background. Instead, we saw him as a researcher wholeheartedly engaged in retrieving the lost heritage of the past. He laboriously complied all what he had been able to dig out from the buried treasures in the aforementioned libraries and presented it in series of volumes. After retirement, as he sat in seclusion and began to collect himself, he felt the urge to recollect and record his experiences. While he was engaged in this task, he remembered personalities whom he had met during his lifetime and tries to portray them.Hence, he emerged as a sketch – writer. The sketches go to make a number of volumes and present diverse personalities.The personalities depicted here are not always scholars and writers. In the volume entitled Ghizalan-i-Rana, we meet with two
personalities coming from two different walks of life and from two different social classes Agha Hassan Abdi and Ustad Sibti.

We have heard much about Agha Hassan Abdi as a banker. Here we meet the real man. Dr.Eabadat and Abdi were friends since their Lucknow day when Abdi was in search of job. He was allergic to banking then and used to think that banking did not suit his temperament. Ustad Sibti was head cook in the kitchen of the hostel of Anglo Arabic College in Delhi. He was a cook with a distinction, and yet was not merely a cook. He was a very humane character.The third personality P.E.D. Talbot, who was at one time manager of Kandawallah motor company Lahore.The rest are scholars and professors, such as Ralf Russell, C.H. Philips, Professor Mirza Mahmood Baig.The whole series appears to be a gallery of portraits, each with peculiarities of his own.

Dr.Ebadat Brelvi
By:Ralph Russell

                                                                The recent death of Ebadat Sahib left me to mourn a friend of almost exactly fifty years standing .I first met at the end of 1949 when, having just been appointed to a lectureship in Urdu at London University’s school of Oriental and African studies,I came on a year’s study leave to India and Pakistan.In those days Ebadat Sahib was a lecturer in Delhi College,and after a short stay at Aligarh Muslim University I came to spend some days in Delhi.Ebadat Sahib was one of the first people I met there and he was from the outset infinitely helpful to me.After that I did not meet him again until 1958.He had migrated to Pakistan not long after our first meeting and had made his home in Lahore where he stayed for the rest of his life.I first visited him there on my second study leave in 1958 ,and stayed at his house.Thereafter whenever I visited Pakistan his house was like a second home to me.

Quite apart personal character I had always greatly admired his command of his native language Urdu.Both in speech and in writing his language was fluent,idiomatic and effortless,and entirely free of the obscurity which one often finds in the writings of his contemporaries.It was these qualities which influenced me strongly when I recommended him for what SOAS called an ‘overseas lectureship’ to work there for five years as my colleague.In SOAS too his help to me was invaluable,and when I compiled my Urdu course for English students , I incorporated in it two tape-recordings of conversations with him,one on his experience of the commnal riots which accompanied independence in 1947,when,like many DelhiMuslims he lived under the most difficult conditions for many days in the Old Fort,and the other on his first inpressions of life in England and the way in which he adjusted to the new situation in which he found himself.One interesting result of this was that many of my students became thoroughly familiar with his voice and when one of them accompanied me and met him in Lahore on the occasion of my last visit in March 1998,ahe was fascinated to be able to match his appearance with the voice that she knew so
well.

Most people who read this will know that he was an indefatigable worker,and apart from his teachings responsibilities at SOAS he spent most of his spare time in working on the Urdu collections in the British Museum and India office Library and so produced the materials for many of the very large number of books which he published during his lifetime .These included preciously unpublished texts of works written at the behest of John Gilchrist during the days of Fort William College in Calcutta in the beginning of the nineteenth century .Although over the course of the last fifty years I have acquired many friends amongst
Urdu writers and scholars in Pakistan,some of whom ,like Dr.Maulvi Abdul Haq are no longer with us ,he is one whom I shall miss most ,and during the years of my friendship with him I became ,whenever in his home ,almost like one of his family.My warm sympathies are with his widow ,his son and other members of his family.

His work was his life…that still,is alive
By: Hina Khan.

Dr.Ebadat Brelvi is considered to be one of the greatest Urdu critics of the twentieth century. A revolutionary in his own time, Ebadat led an extraordinary lifestyle. Rarely has there been such a radical, yet brilliant, man.The man who lived and had his being in criticism. Whether it was Ghalib with a sophisticated theme, Meer with wistfully romantic word content or Faiz with height of devotion , Dr.Ebadat Brelvi could always put his heart and soul into the situation. Among his many contributions to Urdu literature, the outstanding one is that he opened the eyes of contemporary literary critics and Urdu literature lovers to the prime importance of word culture and word modulation, and the supreme value of emotion in his description.

As being an undisputed name in literature Dr.Ebadat earned a priceless heritage which was a result of his authentic observations. It is still that his work is treasured amongst the valuables in Urdu literature.This point can also be proved by the words of his colleagues and students. A recent article was published in ‘Shaam-o-Sehr’ by Dr.Agha Sohail which was based on Dr.Brelvi’s last manuscript ‘Hasrat Mohani’ which depicted Molana Hasrat Mohani’s work and Dr.Ebadat’s intelligent observations on Molana’s work as a critic. Moreover, a lot more articles were published with reference to the time before and after the death of Dr.Ebadat Brelvi. Some of them include, ‘HAS THIS HAPPENED TO YOU?’ by Intizar Hussein, which was published before Dr.Brelvi’s death. ‘IN MEMORY OF DR.EBADAT BRELVI’ by
Gilani Kamran, ‘REMEMBERING DR.EBADAT BRELVI ‘ by Dr. Anwar Ahmed and ‘DR.EBADAT BRELVI’ by Ralph Russell, all were published after the death.

Although Ebadat Sahib is primarily known for his criticism, his earliest passion was poetry as he wrote a few poems in his early times. Though the manuscript remained unpublished as he never wished to continue the poetical journey.Some excerpts include,

Bazgasht
Inqilaab
Taraqi Pasand Adab.

Dr.Ebadat took his role as a critic quite seriously.Criticism was always a passion for Ebadat as it is evident from the fact that he made excellence in his work.At times his criticism had the power to advance the concepts of poets. This helped a lot to understand the poet through the criticism or in other words Ebadat’s criticism became a helping step. His reviews were always based on authentic observations, as it was the most important point of his style. Eventually Ebadat’s work earned him a magnificent repute.Ebadat’s fascination with Urdu was partly due to his teacher’s unlimited interest in subject. He was also influenced by their
expressions.

As mentioned in “Yaad-e-Ehd-e-Rafta”

“I always admired Professor Hamid Ullah who kindled my heart with the real passion of Urdu literature. He highlighted the main
concept and importance of the language and introduced various well-known poets of Urdu.He taught me the basic principles of
criticism .My love for literary criticism was actually a blessing from Prof.Hamid Ullah”.

This was the initial time of Ebadat’s career which had an immense impact on his character for being a critic.Dr.Ebadat took his role as a critic quite seriously, and some of his best works include Tanqeedi Zaviyay, Momin Aur Mutalay Momin,
Kuliat-e-Meer, Urdu Tanqeed Ka Irtiqa, Ghalib Aur Mutalay Ghalib and many more.

As mentioned by Dr.Sahib in an interview

“Urdu Tanqeed Ka Irtiqa is a complete piece of my research as I received my Ph.D. form Lucknow University on behalf of this
research .In this I have tried to depict the tradition of Urdu criticism and the way different critics proceeded in their own circles”

Another book titled Kuliat-e-Meer, contains an account of Dr.Ebadat’s view on Meer’s realism. The preface as a whole almost covers a big part of the book with the major highlights. The entire essence of the whole book is in preface, which is a result of the critic’s intelligent observations and vast knowledge.Although Ghalib Aur Mutalay Ghalib is more conventional, his originality really begins to surface in Ghalib Aur Mutalay Ghalib. In this work, he critiques different works of Ghalib according to his own aesthetic ideas. He firmly believed that a poetry review should be entirely personal, and that a critic should write exactly what he feels about a work, even if it be intense hatred. He mentioned that a critic should not only reflect the beauty and experience expressed by the poet, but that he should also understand the artist’s intentions, and essentially transform pleasure into knowledge.Apart from his work, he also left a great repute of his own amongst his colleagues, students and of course family.

As mentioned by Ralph Russell,
“Although over the course of the last fifty years I have acquired many friends amongst Urdu writers and scholars in
Pakistan,some of whom,like Dr.Maulvi Abdul Haq are no longer with us ,Dr.Ebadat is one whom I shall miss most ,and during
the years of my friendship with him I became,whenever in his home ,almost like one of his family”.

Also by Gilani Kamran

“He was a very obliging person and I still remember how he had admitted those students to M.A Urdu who had been
recommended by me”.

I still remember the way he used to treat me when I was a child,whenever I used to visit him there was a typical sentence on his tongue “Aray Tera Kya Haal Hai?”.I also can never forget this when I used to sit in his lap taking food from his hand and a typical sentence he used to say “Kha Khoob Kha”.That moment was so very full of satisfaction.

Dr.Ebadat left behind a priceless and glorious heritage in literary criticism.For me, besides this, there remain very fond and
enduring memories of his warm-heartedness and intelligence. He still lives in his work, as his work was his life.

                        Zindagi kaafi thee tar mahtab say tabinda tar
                     Khoob tar tha subh kay taaray say bhi tera safar

                         Misl aiwan-e- sehr marqad farozan ho tera
                      Noor say mamoor yeh khaki shabistan ho tera

                     Aasman teri lahd par shabnam aafshaani karay
                      Sabzah-e- noorasta is ghar ki nighaybani karay.

                                                                                      Iqbal