Wisdom of the Soul and the Cosmos
[‘Irfaan-i-Zaat-o-Kaayinaat]

This write-up is based on the excerpts from the brilliant Urdu scholar & pedagogue Dr Ali Abbas’s review of Shu’oor-i-Bekhudi [Anthology of Urdu Qit’at] by Ta’meer Chandigarhi. T’ameer [Arabic word for Building Design] is an offbeat sobriquet that becomes truly unique with the suffix Chandigarhi [which means someone who is based in Chandigarh]. Dr SS Bhatti is hailed as the most versatile professional in India as well as the highest qualified among 90,000 architects in the country. When he took fancy to writing verse in Urdu he was the first architect on the Indian subcontinent to do so.

He has published over 700 articles on wide-ranging subjects, themes, and issues in regional, national, and international newspapers, journals, and magazines. He has to his credit 33 books [including poetry anthologies] on diverse subjects, seven of which were published in America. He has written 1,000 poems in English and 5,000 in Urdu, Hindi, and Punjabi. ‘Irfaan-i-Zaat-o-Kaayinaat is his third anthology of Urdu poetry. The first one titled Pyaam-i-Dard-i-Bedarmaan was published in 1987.

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi conferred on Shu’oor-i-Bekhudi the Best Book of the Year Award-2019 in the category of Urdu Poetry, with a Citation and Cash Prize of Rs 25,000; and Award of Recognition-2020 for Outstanding Contribution to English Literature/Language, with a Citation and Cash Prize of Rs 1,00,000. National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language [NCPUL] has acquired 40 copies of his award-winning book Shu’oor-i-Bekhudi.

According to Dr Ali Abbas’s critique, “From the problems, thoughts, sights, and experiences that SS Bhatti has presented in his poetry one can draw one conclusive inference is that he has not only learned many diverse forms of fine art but also practised them in his everyday life. All the stated attributes of workaday existence he has based on the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God. His quatrains and couplets may be related to diverse areas and aspects like sociology, politics, patriotism, ethics and national integrity but the common factor among them underscores the relation between Man and God in terms of the intuitive Knowledge of the Soul and the Cosmos. There is in them a palpable concept of imminent dissolution alongside a veritable view of life eternal.”

Rambling through Ta’meer’s World of Irfaan-i-Zaat-o-Kaayinaat Quatrains we have exciting encounters with Wisdom of the Soul and the Cosmos.

Deedaar-i-haq kei waastei wa chashm-i-rooh kar
Ehsaas-i-karb-i-hijr hai aata naheen nazar
Is ka wujood teri tarah toh naheen sagheer
Phaila hua hai waqt-o-makaan farsh-o-‘arsh par

Open the soul’s eye for a vision of the Lord
It is unseen feeling of separation’s grieving sigh
Its existence is not microcosmic as your accord
It’s spread o’er time-‘n’-space, on earth ‘n’ sky

Manzil-i-haq par khuda hai doosra koyi naheen
Raasta soona parha hai qaafila koyi naheen
Chal parha is raah par jo himmat-i-mardaan liye
Juz khuda uska safar mein rehnuma koyi naheen

None other than God dwells on truth’s destination
Deserted is the path with no caravan seen far ‘n’ wide
He who embarks upon it with manly courage ‘n’ resolution
Sans God he has no one as his path-finder ‘n’ guide

A palpable portrayal of feelings Ta’meer Chandigarhi’s poetry embodies such thoughts and experiences as could be used for upraising the superstructure of a glorious future for humankind. The journey on which he has embarked is beset with obstacles and difficulties but the courage and determination with which he has been travelling to reach this far betokens certitude that he will go very far. From the charming dreams that are the building blocks of his poetic creations will one day spring up a fully realised vision that seems to have been the bread and butter of his art industry since he set it up some six decades ago!

• Paperback: 442 pages
• Language: Urdu
• Publisher: White Falcon Publishing; 1 edition (2021)
• Author: Dr SS Bhatti
• ISBN-13: 9781636403823
• Product Dimensions:  12.7 x 1 x 20.3 cm

Indian Edition available on: