Eyes are a mirror of the soul, it is said. Some eyes are sly and roguish, some serene and shining, a few, seductive and mysterious. Prod Dr Abdul Moiz Shams and he reels out details about a variety of eyes and their intrinsic worth. He should know considering he is an ophthalmologist by profession, but then Dr Shams also has a keen eye for Urdu  poetry.

During his long service as an ophthalmologist, he has looked into innumerable defective eyes holding a little flashlight. While restoring vision, he has also looked beyond, into the soul. And what he has come up with is a book titled Aankh Aur Urdu Shayeri.

Inki aankhen ye keh rahi hain Faraz

Ham pe tasneef ek kitab karo

(Her eyes tell Faraz

Write a book on us)

Dr Shams has compiled a 389-page book containing couplets of different shades and emotions on eyes. It’s a treasure trove for connoisseurs of poetry. From Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal to Meer, Sauda, Shaad, Faiz, Majaz, Jigar Muradabadi, Ali Sardar Jafery, Parveen Shakir — a whole lot of Urdu poets and their verses on aankh have been listed.

The book is divided into three parts — the first one contains couplets beginning with aankh, the second one has verses which are allegorical in nature and the third part has proverbs containing the word aankh, listed topic-wise. The book is a ready reckoner of sorts, on eyes. This is perhaps the only book of its kind where all the pages are full of verses on one body part.

Right from his student days Dr Shams had a love for poetry and when he became an eye specialist, his passion took a different turn. He started focussing on poetry of eyes. It’s no wonder that he has four other books to his credit: Hamari Aankhen, Jism-o-Jan, Jism-Be-Jan and Aab-e-Hayat.

“The eye is the jewel of the body. Its function is not just to see but to look beyond and sense colour, form, light and movement. That’s why I started collecting couplets on eyes,” says Aligarh-based Dr Shams who released his book in Hyderabad.

The insightful couplets are real eye-openers. Sample this couplet of Parveen Shakir.

Aankh ko yaad hai wo pal ab bhi

Neend jab pehle pehal tuti thi

Full-length ghazals of Ali Sardar Jafery, Khaisar Siddiqi, Hasrat Mohani and Basheer Badr, all on eyes, make for delightful reading.

Gulab aankhen, sharaab aankhen

Yehi to hain lajawab aankhen

Aankhen uthen to dard ke chashme ubal pade

Palken juhken to payar ka badal baras gaya

One can get an eyeful of couplets in this book which was released at the recent two-day National Urdu Science Congress at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University. “There is no dichotomy between science and literature. In fact they complement each other,” says Dr Abid Moiz, who is also a good humour writer.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Book / by J S Ifthekhar / March 06th, 2019