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6:44 PM - 1/2/2006hello here we are , smelling fresh and sweetThe problem of evil has baffled many thinkers. Evil is not mere darkness that vanishes when light arrives. In other words, evil does not have a negative existence. This darkness has as positive an existence as light. The problem is how to account for evil in a world created by an all-good God? Rumi’s answer is that the existence of evil is necessary for the fulfillment of the divine plan. Goethe thinks that evil is the reverse of good. Without evil, it would not be possible to identify good. Iqbal is of the view that the running parallel lines of good and evil meet in infinity. He points out in one of his quatrains: How may I describe good and evil? The problem is complex, the tongue falters, Upon the bough you see flowers and thorns, Inside it there is neither flower nor thorn. (Payam-i-Mashriq) Rumi’s long poem titled “Mu’awiyah and Iblis”, Goethe’s Faust and Iqbal’s verses dedicated to Satan can be considered as great diabolical apologies in world literature. The three poets blend the “classical” with the “romantic”, and despite the gaps in the times of their lives, their ideas on the role of evil in the spiritual and material development of man are similar. In Iqbal’s poetic vision, Rumi and Goethe meet in paradise. Goethe reads out to him the tale of the pact between the Doctor and the Devil, and Rumi pays tribute to him in these words: O portrayer of the inmost soul Of poetry, whose efforts goal Is to trap an angel in his net And to hunt even God. You from sharp observations know, How in their shell pearls form and grow, All this you know, but there is more, Not all can learn love’s secret lore Not all can enter its high shrine, One only knows by grace divine, That reason is from the Devil, While love is from Adam. (“Jalal and Goethe” in Payam-i-Mashriq) Rumi’s portrayal of Iblis depicts him as a lover of God. But a heartless being is incapable of loving, and here lies his deceit. Therefore when Iblis claims that all envy arises from love, for fear lest another becomes the chosen of the beloved, he is lying. In fact, Rumi’s Iblis is nothing but reason (‘aql), the reverse of love, (‘ishq). According to him Adam lapsed because of his stomach and sexual passion whereas Iblis was accursed because of pride and ambition engendered in him by reason. Rumi also shows us that Iblis not only instigates man to commit sin, he sometimes persuades man to perform a virtuous act in order to deprive him from earning a higher reward. In Goethe’s Faust the role of Mephisto is not that which is usually attributed to the Devil. He represents a spirit of nihilism, negation and contradictions, which is inimical to all life and higher forms of existence. Goethe first takes up the conflict of good and evil on a subjective plane and thereafter at the cosmic level. It is only when Faust rejects all pretensions of knowledge that Mephisto appears at Faust’s own craving. The events that follow take the reader through the problems of human innocence, suffering, love, hate, desire, appetite and sin. It is the unique quality of Goethe’s genius that he picked up an ordinary legend and filled it with the experiences of the entire human race. According to Goethe, evil is a stepping-stone to virtue in a mysterious way and this is conveyed through the words of Mephisto in Faust. Iqbal was profoundly influenced by Rumi who is his spiritual guide. On the other hand he was also a great admirer of Goethe. Yet Goethe’s spirit, like the Urdu poet Ghalib’s, is that of a poet, whereas Iqbal’s spirit, following in the footsteps of Rumi, is more of a prophetic nature. The topic can be discussed at length. There have been different concepts and theories in this regard. Everyone has tried to define and interpret it his own way, but the question still remains. And will continue to remain unanswered.6:33 PM - 1/2/2006 |
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