Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu (English: "Today I Invoke Waris Shah" or "I Say Unto Waris Shah", Punjabi: , ਅੱਜ ਆਖਾਂ ਵਾਰਸ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਨੂੰ) is a famous

dirge A dirge ( la, dirige, naenia) is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegies ...

by the renowned Punjabi writer and poet

Amrita Pritam Amrita Pritam (; 31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of wo ...

(1919-2005) about the horrors of the partition of the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

during the 1947

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

. The poem is addressed to the historic Punjabi poet

Waris Shah Waris Shah ( pa, ; ; 1722–1798) was a Punjabi Sufi poet of the Chishti order, known for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is primarily known as the author of ''Heer Ranjha'' . Background Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Kh ...

(1722-1798 CE), who had written the most popular version of the Punjabi love tragedy,

Heer Ranjha ''Heer Ranjha'' (or ''Heer and Ranjha'') ( pnb, , ਹੀਰ ਰਾਂਝਾ ) is one of several popular tragic romances of Punjab, other important ones being "Sohni Mahiwal", "Mirza Sahiban" and " Sassi Punnhun". There are several poetic na ...

(ਹੀਰ ਰਾਂਝਾ, ). It appeals to Waris Shah to arise from his grave, record the Punjab's tragedy and turn over a new page in Punjab's history.

Summary

In the poem the poet invokes Waris Shah, a historic Punjabi poet, who wrote a popular version of Punjabi love tragedy ''Heer Ranjha''. Pritam asks to record and witness the miserable condition of Punjab and its people after partition (1947) and open a new page of his book of love. In the story of ''Heer Ranjha'', Shah narrated the misery of a woman (Heer), but a million of daughters of Punjab, Pritam feels, were crying to Shah. The fields are lines up with dead bodies, and

Chenab The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...

is filled with blood. Someone unknown poured poison in the water of the five rivers, and the deadly water is destroying the land. The land, which used to be fertile, is sprouting venom, and the sky has turned red from endless cries and tears.

Lyrics

These are the lyrics of the poem:

In popular culture

The poem found resonance in both Punjabs -

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and Pakistani. It featured in the Pakistani Punjabi film, '' Kartar Singh'', where it was performed by

Inayat Hussain Bhatti Inayat Hussain Bhatti ( ur, ), (12 January 1928 – 31 May 1999) was a Pakistani film playback singer, film actor, producer, director, script writer, social worker, columnist, religious scholar and a promoter of the development of the Punj ...

. It is one of the most widely read poems in modern Indian literature. Pakistani band,

Mekaal Hasan Band Mekaal Hasan Band (, sometimes shortened to MHB) is an international sufi rock band formed in Lahore, Pakistan in 2000 by composer, singer-songwriter and guitarist Meekal Hasan. The band members have roots in different genres, including Pop mus ...

included a 7-minute, 27 second song "Waris Shah" on their albums

Sampooran ''Sampooran'' (Urdu: سمپورن, literal English language, English translation: "complete/perfect") is the debut album of the Music of Pakistan, Pakistani rock (music), rock band Mekaal Hasan Band, released on January 8, 2004. Singles from the ...

and

Saptak Saptak means "gamut" or "the series of eight notes". It denotes the set of swaras i.e. Ṣaḍja (Sa), Ṛiṣabha (Re), Gāndhāra (Ga), Madhyama (Ma), Panchama (Pa), Dhaivat (Dha), Niṣāda (Ni), Sadja (Sa) which comprise a musical scale ...

Javed Bashir Javed Bashir ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 8 August 1973) is a Pakistani playback singer who mainly sings classical songs. Javed has sung songs for many Bollywood movies including ''Cocktail'', ''Kahaani'', ''Rush'', ''Bombay Talkies'', ''Bhaa ...

was the vocalist. The band also released an animated video for this song, which was directed by Zeeshan Pervaiz.

References

{{reflist Punjabi literature Indian poems Partition of India in fiction

Summary

Lyrics

In popular culture

See also

References