The Return of Laili : Selected Songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam (Hardcover)

Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was himself like a lyre, every bit of him was musical. From an early age he performed in a folk based group called the `letore group ’ and his ability to compose songs and tune them instantly were obvious from those early adolescent days. Later, in his adult life, he took training in classical music from various maestros including Ustad Zamiruddin Khan and researchers claim that he has written and composed almost four thousand songs. Once he was asked to speak in an occasion, Nazrul said `I am not a speaker, I am a poet of youth, what I want to say I express in my songs’. His own comment about his songs was that `I do not know about my other creations, but I am confident that whatever I have contributed in the form of music and poetry in my songs will stand the test of time’.
Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was a versatile genius who not only wrote the songs which have very powerful lyrics, but the tunes set to them have also left the mark of a maestro. He has played extensively with the ragas in Indian classical music, creating songs of various genre. In fact,there are very few poets who can be called a versatile musical maestro. He has written and composed the `gat’ in several ragas and has also revived rare ragas such as basant murari, anandi, pat manjuri. In some of his songs, such as `keno kade poran ki bedonay’ he has mixed three ragas-tilok kamod, behag and khambaj, taking his songs to new heights in creating light modern songs using the classical style. In doing so, he has not compromised any of the literary value of the poetry. In fact, many researchers have commented on the matching beauty of the words and tune which have established him as an unparalleled genius. He has created some original ragas himself, which were handed over to him in his `dream’. These are ragas such as `dolonchampa’ `bonokuntala’ `nirjhor’ and many others. He uses the name of the raga in the body of the song, for example for rag `dolonchampa ’ his song starts `dolonchampa bone dole’.
Nazrul introduced new genre of songs such as the `march song’. Being rebellious in nature, he wrote unusual songs to enliven the general masses against the oppressive British regime in India. In this theme he also wrote very powerful lines to encourage women to end the doom of seclusion and rise to be leaders (`Jago nari jago’). Nazrul was called ambidextrous because of his ability to write songs on religious beliefs in both Islamic faith and Hinduism. This too has been a unique quality found only in Poet Nazrul Islam who wrote these songs in the same sitting. In his childhood Nazrul had been a caller of prayers in one mosque and the doctrines of Islam were well set in his being. In his creation of Islamic songs, which were meant not only as religious rendition, he sought to awaken the Muslim community who had a backward role during the days of British-occupied India. Nazrul also wondered far and yonder living with snake charmers, gypsies, ethnic minorities called `saotal’ and brought their songs to Bangla literature. He created folk impressions and on one particular occasion when Abbasuddin (artist) was singing his native song in the premises of the studio, Nazrul composed his own verses using the tune and rhythm of the `bhawaiya’ , using no pen and paper and only requesting Abbasuddin to sing the song repeatedly `nodir nam shoi anjana’ .
Nazrul borrowed from Persian literature, he loved the works of poet Hafiz and produced songs shadowing both the themes and the literary style of the `ghazal’. In fact, before poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, the advent of Bangla ghazal was a rare event. His ghazals became very famous not only for the tunes but also for the characters and words (phrases) being borrowed from Persian literature which was a unique style created by the poet. He also borrowed tunes from Egyptian, Turkish, Cuban songs and enriched the Bangla literature.
Nazrul, in his private life, felt disappointed in love and many of his love songs speak of the intense rejection both from his loved one and from this world. His beautiful description of nature, coupled with his romanticism has made his love songs outstanding in literary value.Critics maintain that Nazrul was the first poet who came out of the shadows of Nobel laureate Poet Rabindra Nath Tagore and created his own style in poetry and music. The cover of this book represents the song `Laili tomar esheche phirya’ a famous modern song where the poet urges the saddened lover to open his eyes, as his beloved Laili has returned and his days of sorrow are over. This is a very popular love song of Nazrul and I feel that it is representative of his embodiment of Persian culture, theme of love, description of nature into a perfect blend and a valuable addition to Bangla literature.
I have been translating Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam's songs for a long time. In fact, it dates back to my student days in Canada (1981), whenever I rendered Nazrul songs, I would offer a small translation before the rendering. Everytime it was spontaneous and before some erudite audience who either wanted to know the meaning or were non-Bengali and a little translation would introduce them to the gist of the song. In doing so, I put special emphasis on including our next generation who may not understand the intricacies of the Bangla language as used and bemused by Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Recently (2007) one of my audiences who was completely an English speaking American commented to a friend of mine that he was specially impressed by the translations which were impromptu yet the English was brilliant. His exact comment was that he, as an Englishman could not have explained so beautifully. Sometimes, unknown to us, other people's comments enable us to understand the gift and power that lies within your own self.
I wondered if I should pen down my translations and compile them into a book. From the age of three, when I clearly remember my father singing Nazrul songs with me in his arms, I have internalized Nazrul’s thoughts and they come to me as much in Bangla as in English. With the American gentleman’s comments passed on to me by painter Jamal (who did the book cover), I began to realize that I owe it to the poet to translate his songs and disseminate them to a wider audience worldwide.
This thought lingered in my mind, but as is common, the work never materialized until one day my aunt Mrs. Ferdausi Rahman handed me a cassette full of rare Nazrul songs. Two of the songs were so beautiful; as I learned them I just could not help translating them. The first song that I translated `Oh evening’, where the beauty of the evening is narrated with such eloquence and the analogies used for comparing the darkness spread like the untamed hair brought in me some indomitable zest to share.
The songs that I have chosen here are the ones that I sing most often, starting with `Oh evening’. This was my first translation and the second one was another rare song 'ore chapa ronger sari amar'. The Nazrul exponents of Bangladesh have an organisation called Nazrul Songeet Shilpi Porishod who produce a yearly publication during the month of May to celebrate the birthday of the poet.I was left with very little time to write anything for this publication and remembered my two songs, I let them print these two songs. My mother, who was a Professor of Dhaka University, loved my translations and she said I should try some more. I tried 'shaono rate jodi' and then 'laili tomar esheche phirya'. I showed no one, I was shy. I kept the songs to myself and often scribbled one or two lines here and there when I had some free time. I have the original songs memorised, I have a picture for every song in my mind and I didn't need any book or document to support me in my translation. All I needed to ponder upon was to portray exactly what the poet had tried to say in his assembly of words, analogies, thoughts and imagery.
Faridur Reza Sagar of Channel I ,invited me and my father Justice Mustafa Kamal to be his guest in a talk show called `tritiyo matra’ (third dimension) and as I read out the English translation of `laili tomar' ,I heard a quiet murmur in the form of appreciation from my father, which was not audible in the telecasting version of the show. Yet, my mission was accomplished; I had the blessings of my father whom I consider to be the final judge on matters of academia. I immediately embarked upon the task and was able to finish translating fifty songs which are presented in this book.
As I mentioned earlier, I have spent a lot of time over the years learning these songs, thinking about them, having a visual picture in my mind for each of the songs. When I translated them I thought of the inner content and the message that the poet is bringing about in each song. I tried to retain the rhymes and also tried to translate in such a way that some of them can be sung (not all of them).I tried to write the bird instead of the exact name of the bird (chatok or chatoki) which would convey the meaning to the reader without taking away from Nazrul. Similarly, in naming various deities, I just mention the generic name instead of the specific which might make it easier for the English speaking audience. In short, instead of verbal translation,I tried to bring out the inner meaning of each song.
I thank my sisters Naeela, Nazeefa and my cousin Sharmini for providing constant encouragement for completing this book. Also thank my friends Khozaim Ziauddin, Murshid Jahan and Sandhya Parmar for sharing and enjoying the english translations. My tabla nawaz Raju Chakrabarty for marveling over these poems and sharing them with Nazrul exponent Yakub Ali Khan ,who then shared with Nazrul researcher Prof Dr. Rajeeb Humayun and all of them provided some impetus to continue. My heartfelt thanks to my maternal aunt Prof Husne Jahan for providing advise on this book. No piece is complete without thanking my beloved auntie Ferdausi Rahman for patiently hearing my translations over the phone and always encouraging me to be a protégé of my grandfather Abbasuddin.
My special thanks to artist Jamal Ahmed for patiently bearing with me and sharing the same passion for Nazrul. Finally, I would like to thank my publisher Mr.Zakir Hussain of Adorn publication who showed profuse interest in this book and cooperated extensively and made the publication possible.

Nashid Kamal was born to be a lover of Nazrul. She is the granddaughter of the legendary artist Abbasuddin Ahmed whose friendship with poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and their partnership in producing songs have made an ever lasting impact on the minds of all music lovers. Of special mention is the role of Islamic songs written by poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and ardently sung by Abbasuddin Ahmed which worked as a catalyst to awaken the Muslim masses who otherwise, had taken a passive role during the period of British occupied India. Nazrul Islam was an admirer of Mustafa Kamal Attaturk, the great leader of Turkey and named Abbasuddin’s eldest son as the same. In doing so, Nazrul wished that the new child would establish the rule of law in the nation. The son is none other than the Former Chief Justice Mustafa Kamal and father of Nashid Kamal.
Born with such a legacy Nazrul has been alive in Nashid’s mind ever since she has been able to sing the first lines of `hera hote hele dule’ at the age of three. The next song that impressed the child was `dhormer pothe shohid jahara’. The search for Nazrul and the love for him and his songs began at that age!
Through her brilliant academic career, pursuing statistics and population sciences, Nashid has earned laurels in rendering Nazrul songs of all genre. At an early age she started her Nazrul songs with popular numbers like `momer putul momir desher meye’ and `hulo re tui rat birete’. As time progressed she saw herself as a Nazrul researcher too, seeking deep into the soul of Nazrul, plucking out those songs which are rare and hitherto undiscovered. To her credit, Nashid has produced five compact discs which can boast of rare compositions of Nazrul.
Apart from being an academician and a musician, Nashid is also a writer of repute. She has been contributing regularly to local dailies such as Daily Star, New Age and Holiday and has many academic publications in peer refereed journals. Known for her eloquence as a speaker, Nashid has presented her academic papers in various prestigious international conferences. She has also presented Nazrul songs all over the world and explained her songs in English to the wider audience. She has already published three books in the vernacular. This is her first attempt to translate Nazrul’s songs into English.