Syed Fakhruddin Balley was not an individual; he was an institution in itself. He was like a shady tree that gave sigh relief and protection from scorching sun to many. Young or old all enjoyed the fruit of this celestial tree. Aroma of his personality delighted his zealous fans. He had equal command on Urdu, Persian, English and Hindi languages. He has more than 150 publications/compilations to his name in these languages which included books, booklets and broachers. He was a down to earth man; never caused discomfort to anyone. I can claim this basing on my relations with him that encompass not a few years but over half a century. The relation that developed in Aligarh, as the time passed, kept on strengthening. Lahore, Bahawalpur, Multan, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, where ever he went we remained in touch. We had a wonderful time in Bahawalpur. We attended innumerable literary gathering. Memories of these gatherings cannot be penned in single article. Yes, a thick volume may justify to some extent. I seldom met such multifaceted personality. He always gathered love and respect through services to literature. Literary fraternity wrote a lot about him. Right from his early age he engrossed attention of literary giants of his era.
Let us appreciate the statements of great literary figures of his time. Account of these people will vividly explain the personality of Balley Sahib.
Baba-e-Urdu Maulavi Abdul Haq Says, “May be verse or prose, picking mistake in his work is next to impossible”. According to Firaq Gorukhpuri, like a painter with palette, he painted with his words. In one of his article DrUnwanChishti wrote, “Syed Fakhruddin Balley had numerous unexplored worlds within himself, which were revealed time to time accordingly”. He was like a shrine of KhawajaGhareeb Nawaz. Perhaps that is why we see a hue of Chishtia Maslak and mysticism in his work. In one of the literary gathering Josh Maleehabadi openly remarked that the work of Balley Sahib contained flow of streams and brooks. His work reflected in depth study of history, literature and mysticism. Mirza Adeeb once remarked, “Every time I met Balley Sahib I discovered yet another facet of his personality. To me he was honour and pride of Urdu literature”. Jagan Nath Azaad used to say that after reading his literary work it was difficult to get out of his spell for days and months. Dr.Khawaja Zikria wrote, “His personality as well as his work was multi-dimensional. His conversation reflected his in depth study and rich experience. People who met him always carried with them a pleasant feeling about Balley Sahib”. Muhammad Tufail, editor of famous literary journal “Naqoosh” acknowledging his multi-faceted personality said, “I find him as a multi-dimensional personality. He is a man of many dimensions with one body”. Allama Syed Ahmed SaeedKazmi once quoted the saying of the Holy prophet (pbuh), “Ali is lord of those whose lord I am”. Transfiguration of this quote which was transferred to AmeerKhusro by HazratNizamud din Aulia is seen fulfilled inSyed Fakhruddin Balley Sahib. His fulfillment of this linkage is a great achievement in itself. Khawaja Naseerud Din Naseer of GolraShareef appreciated Balley Sahib whole heartedly.
Balley Sahib’s historic achievement of writing “QaulTarana” (a specific way of writing Quali) after seven centuries, yet again became the pride of Multan city.
Dr.Aslam Ansari writes,”Balley Sahib’s effort to write “Rung” (way of writing quali) is not only an attempt to preserve centuries old tradition but to carry it forward. I believe his effort will be recognized for years to come”. Let me explain to the reader that “qual and rung” was introduced in quali by AmeerKhusro. But after seven centuries Syed Fakhruddin Balley Sahib invented a new “Qual’Tarana”. These qawalies were composed at Radio Pakistan Multan. It was a new genre introduced in Qawali. This genre of quali was reinvented after seven centuries. Annemarie Schimmel an influential German Orientalist, Pir of Hala Sharif Makhdoom TalibAl Maula, Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi, Dr.Burhan Ahmed Farooqi and Pir Hassamud Din Rashidi termed Balley Sahib an authority on mysticism and Sufism. Annemarie Schimmel and Balley Sahib had been writing letters to each other. He showed me some of her letters. She was a great admirer of his knowledge and wisdom. DrWazir Agha in his critical essay on Balley Sahib wrote, “Balley Sahib has such command and grip on mysticism that we can very conveniently call him authority on the subject”. Balley Sahib carried out detailed and in depth research on Hazarat Ali. He sent the manuscript of this research to Dr.Baqir Rizvi as well. Dr.Baqir appreciated this research as a great achievement. He sent a letter of appreciation to Balley Sahib for this great work.
As Director Multan Arts Council, Balley Sahib conducted 25-day Jashan-e-Tamseel-82 (Drama festival). It was recognized as a great cultural success. On this success he was given the title of “Man of the stage” and “Benefactor of Art and literature”. During 1991 GhulamHaiderWynewas Chief Minister Punjab and Balley Sahib was chief editor of fortnightly Muslim League News. A delegation from film fraternity called on Chief Minister GhulamHaiderWyne in Muslim League House. I also went there. In fact Balley Sahib was already there and it was he who asked to join them. During meeting famous film actor Muhammad Ali told Chief Minister that a single person like Balley Sahib would be good enough to save the sinking boat of film industry.
Pareshan Khattack called Balley sahib a towering personality of Urdu literature. According to Professor Pareshan Khattack Balley Sahib”s literary achievements were far greater than the works of many people put to gather. DrAsiKarnali wrote, “Balley Sahib is not a person he is a university embodied; he is art and culture transformed into a person. His fertile mind is like a computer programmed with unfathomable knowledge. The various shades of his knowledge are manifested according to the need of the time. We are astonished to see the depth of his knowledge. He is a deep ocean of knowledge”.
Joan Alia used to call Balley Sahib “My Love” (jaan-e-janan). In his several interviews to newspapers, Joan Alia more than once called Balley Sahib as “My Love” (jaan-e-janan). Joan Alia used to say that Balley Sahib and his poetry both were beautiful. Balley Sahib’s personality is reflected in his poetry. His poetry and personality are so strongly knittedthat studying poetry and his personalityseparately is not possible. They are so beautifully that only the beholder can understand and visualize his beauty.
It was during mid-seventies that some friends gathered at the residence of Josh Maleehabadi’s son Kharoosh. During tea time people were reciting their poetry as well. Famous poet Zameer Jafari appreciated Balley Sahib’s poetry in his typical manner and declared his piece of poetry as the best of the evening.
When renowned Indian literary figure Ram Lal came to Pakistan, Chief Editor “Naqoosh” Muhammad Tufail’s son Javed Tufail invited literary fraternity at his house. Various aspects of Urdu literature were discussed during this gathering. While hugging Balley Sahib, Ram Lal told him that literary fraternity in India always remembered him in good words. A few days back I met some colleagues in Delhi. I told them about my visit to Pakistan. This revoked the mention of Balley Sahib. Your colleagues from Aligarh were also there. Hearing this Dr Agha Sohail promptly remarked that it not something surprising for him. “Balley Sahib is a caravan personified. Where ever this caravan halts, literary assembly is formed. Love of Indian men of letter for him is not something unusual. He is an honor and pride of literature. Balley Sahib knows the art of living in the hearts of his fans”. During this conversation it was revealed that Balley Sahib had very close relations with Muhammad Tufail the father of Javed Tufail.
Some twenty years back I arranged a literary gathering at my place. We were fortunate to hear a lot of beautiful Naats. Hafeez Taib did wonders. His Naat was so soulful that our eyes were swelled with tears. We in our ecstasy were roaming around in the streets of Madina. In the same gathering Balley Sahib also recited his Naat. Balley Sahib’s Naat was so meaningful and devoted that HafeezTaib was again and again reciting Naat of Balley Sahib. He was so deeply involved in the words that his lips started trembling. That piece of Naat still resounds in my mind. The lines are:-
Out of fear I can’t call him (pbuh) god
But unfortunately I don’t find alternative word
During fifties decade there was a newspaper named Noroze published from Karachi. Balley Sahib was Joint Editor of this newspaper.Balley Sahib wrote a very pinching article for the newspaper. Let me tell you that Balley Sahib was a diehard Pakistani. Love for Muslim League was inherited by Balley Sahib. We could feel ideology of Pakistan reflecting from each and every word of his literary work. However he never supported wrong policies of Muslim League leadership. Balley Sahib often used to say that Muslim League was damaged by Muslim leaguees. Balley Sahib had been joint secretary of Muslim Students Federation in Aligarh. The article cited above was written against Makhdoom Hassan Mehmood, with complete support for Muslim League. Mukhdoom Hassan Mehmoodasked RaeesAmrohvi where he could find this writer. Raees Amrohvi told Makhdoom Sahib that the same writer was coming to his home so he could also come and meet him. Makhdoom Hassan Mehmood told Balley Sahib that his article was so incisive that it forced him to rethink about himself. Your critical way of writing has gripped me, Makhdoom Sahib told Balley Sahib. RaeesAmrohvi told Makhdoom Sahib that Balley Sahib was a man of letter. He was very very creative individual. This story was personally told to me by Raees Amrohvi Sahib.
No one knew when Jagan Nath Azad came to Pakistan. For one day he stayed at Balley Sahib’s house. Actually JaganNath wanted to have very intimate sitting. DrAjmal Niazi was also asked to join. I was also present there. Several literary topics were debated at large. We were so deeply engrossed in our conversation that no one realized what all we had had been talking about. Jagan Nath Azad remarked that people in Lahore would come to know about my presence tomorrow. Jagan Nath Azad admitted that Balley sahib’s work had made him his biggest fan. His vision was broader than human imaginations. I salute his vision. It was nearly impossible to get out of the spell of his work. No doubt Jagan Nath Azad was a great fan of Balley Sahib. During our sitting we discussed several aspects of Urdu literature. Honestly speaking I learnt a lot in that gathering.
Dr.Faoq Kareemi came to Pakistan from India. He was Balley Sahib’s class fellow in Aligarh University. He also refreshed a lot of memories and recalled past stories. For years there used to be gatherings of literary society “QafilaParaou” at Balley Sahib’s house. I also had been attending those gatherings. It used to be a great opportunity to meet great literary figures. We hardly find such gathering these days. It was there that I met Dr.Fauq Kareemi. Dr Fauq conveyed greetings of several literary figures from India to Balley Sahib. He told that Dr.Qamar Raees passionately missed Balley Sahib. Qamar Raees confessed that he owed a lot to Balley Sahib, which he would never be able to return. Dr.Fauq Kareemi very secretly told that Qamar Raees was writing some research article on Balley Sahib.
Annemarie Schimmel a famous German Orientalist had been corresponding with Balley Sahib. Balley Sahib once showed me some of her letters written to him. She was a great admirer of Balley Sahib’s knowledge and wisdom. Syed Qasim Mehmood had complaint against Balley Sahib that despite several reminders Balley Sahib did not send his credentials for the Encyclopedia Pakistanica compiled by him.
Mansoor Aqil and Syed Fakhruddin Balley Sahib had a lot in common. Both were very loving and down to earth personalities. Both of them had served in Information Department. Both of them showed their skills in the field of journalism as well. They had vast circle of friends. I was proud to have contacts with both of them. I am proud of my connections with them. Memories associated with them are my greatest asset. I wish would that time be reversed and I get yet another opportunity to spend time with Balley Sahib and Mansoor Aqil. How should I convince my heart and mind that time and tide doesn’t come back.
Me and Balley Sahib had a lot of memories associated with Bahawalpur. Late Hayat Meerathi convinced Majid Qureshi MA to write “Dabistan-e-Bahawalpur”. This book is to date reckoned as the best book on the history of Bahawalpur. This book contains two separate articles on Balley Sahib and Manssor Aqil. Both were shining stars on the literary horizon of Bahawalpur. Both have been mentioned in the book with love and revere. This book refreshes a lot of memories of several literary figures. ShahabDehlvi, Ali Ahmed Rafat, ZahoorNazar, AllamaRehmatullahArshad, MajeedTamana, SohailAkhtar, Adeeb Wasqi, Tabish Alwori, Mansoor Aqil and Bulley Sahib are the few to be named. These literary stars arranged innumerable gatherings. There used to be very useful discussions in those gatherings. During those days gatherings of Poets (Mehfil-e-Mushaira) were very common. In the early part of fifties Balley sahib recited a memorable ghazal in one of such gatherings. I still remember punch lines of that ghazal.
Drunkard booze continuously,
He is not encompassed by time and tide to drink
Most of Balley sahib’s time was spent in Multan. Kashfiul Asadi, Hakeem Abdul MajeedRahi, Kaif Ansari, DrArshSiddiqui, Dr A.B Ashraf, Dr.Aslam Ansari, Masood Asher, Shams Malak, Dr.Baidal Haidery, Syed Sultan Ahmed and Sardar Rasheed Qaisrani were great fans of Balley Sahib. Dr.Khiyal Amrohvi on his return from Iran visited Balley Sahib. The conversation opened up in Persian language. Balley Sahib had command on Persian language. Dr.Khiyal Amrohvi was surprised by Balley Sahib’s skill in Advance Persian language. He remarked, “Balley Sahib! Living in Pakistan and having such command on Persian; isn’t it amazing”. While talking in Persian I couldn’t realize whether I was in Pakistan or Iran. Where did you learn modern Persian?” Balley Sahib smiled and replied, “I am a humble student of literature. What so ever I am it is the blessing of my teachers”. The humble answer of Balley Sahib brought his inner self out. In one of his poem he writes:-
A tree laden with fruit
And its bent branches
Is a symbol of humility
SehbaAkhtar is one of my favorite poets. Very few poets enjoy command on language as he did. He had flow of thoughts; his flight of imagination was unlimited. He was a great poet of poem (Nazam). In one of the literary gathering both Balley sahib and Sehba Akhtar were present. Balley Sahib recited apoem titled, “Baran-e-Karam”. This poem was inspired by snowy winters of Quetta. Literary allegories were abundantly used in this poem. His description of Quetta winter was such that FiraqGorakhpuri’s words flashed in my mind. He once said,”As painter paints on his canvas with colors Balley Sahib knows the art of drawing pictures with words”. FiraqGorakhpuri must have heard such poem that compelled him to make such remarks about Balley Sahib. SehbaAkhter appreciated Balley Sahib’s poem a lot. Joan Alia requested Balley Sahib to recite his poem again and again. I was so excited as if the Poem Baran-e-Karam was written by me.
Syed Fakhruddin Balley Sahib was not an individual; he was an institution and a galaxy on the horizon of literature. He loved and was loved by people. The grooming he received in Aligarh always reflected in his personality. Tufail Hoshiarpuri remarked that
Balley Sahib was an introverted person. Despite all his efforts he could not stop the light glowing within himself. No one can deny his presence. He still lives amongst us. His name, his work will live forever. He always revered his juniors as he revered his seniors. Some of his poetic lines coming to my mind are:-
I am carrying my head on the lancer of my body
Earth has shrunk for me as it was shrunk in Karbala
(I am leading a painful life)
To kill myself, my friend
I have snakes up my sleeves
I will not let myself be transposed
I will not express my thoughts in words
The agony I am passing through my soul
I will not let you know as a revenge
Here I will make mention of some magazines and journals published by Balley Sahib as editor. All these magazines were of various hue and colour. These magazines and journals are vivid testimony of Balley Sahib’s multi facet personality and his caliber. Just like literary journey his journalistic voyage also started from Aligarh. He was pioneer editor of magazine “Jhalak”. During this stint he manifested his abundant talent. He held various positions of Pioneer chief editor/chief editor and editor. He was editor fortnightly journal “The union Aligarh”, Pioneer editor of monthly magazine “Jhalak”, joint editor daily “Nauroz Karachi”, joint editor “Bahawalpur Review”, editor monthly “Lahore Affairs”, editor weekly “Istaqlal Lahore”, editor monthly “West Pakistan Lahore”, pioneer chief editor monthly “Falah” Lahore, pioneer chief editor monthly “Auqaf” Islamabad, pioneer chief editor monthly “Hum Watan” Islamabad, pioneer chief editor monthly “Yaran-e-Watan” Islamabad, pioneer chief editor weekly “Jaras” Lahore, pioneer chief editor fortnightly “Muslim League News” Lahore, pioneer chief editor monthly “Nawa-e-Baldiyat” Lahore, pioneer chief editor monthly “Hamara Multan”.
سید فخرالدین بلے ۔ ایک آدرش ۔ایک انجمن
Syed Fakhruddin Balley
Written By
Jamil-ud-Din Aali
Translated By
Maj. (R) David Emmanuel
