Citation : Singh AR (2023) The Struggle Between Temporality and Spirituality, Modernity and Tradition.In :Ghalib, Psychology and Human Behaviour - 1 (A.R Singh and S.A Singh Eds), Mens Sana Monogr; 21:1.pg 46-47
ایماں مجھے روکے ہے جو کھینچے ہے مجھے کفر
کعبہ مرے پیچھے ہے کلیسا مرے آگے
ईमाँ मुझे रोके है जो खींचे है मुझे कुफ़्र
काबा मेरे पीछे है कलीसा मेरे आगे
iimaa.n mujhe roke hai jo khii.nche hai mujhe kufr
ka.aba mere piichhe hai kaliisaa mere aage
(DG 209,8:1291)
Meaning
Faith stops me when disbelief pulls me towards it
The Ka’ba is behind me and the church is in front of me.
Explanation/Comment:
I have a dilemma between what to choose. I am attracted by the joys of temporality which I can enjoy only if I give up my Faith. But, whenever I am so tempted, my Faith stops me from moving forward.
While I know that the Ka’ba (meaning my Faith) is behind me, I equally realise that the Church (representing a new found Faith) is ahead of me.
The Ka’ba being behind means two things. It’s a thing of the past, or I can fall back on it. The Church is ahead of me also means two things. A new found Faith, which had entered India during Ghalib’s times with the advent of the British. And also the advent of science and modernity that came in its wake.
The struggle between a Faith that supported him, even as he was tempted to abandon it, and the pull of modernity that tempted him, even as his Faith supported him – this ambivalence is so poignantly described here.
This is the dilemma of most eastern cultures even today, as they seek support from their respective traditions to offset the onslaught of modernity that assails them.
The struggle between temporality and spirituality, between modernity and tradition continues from Ghalib’s times till today.