IBN ul QALAM (Sumera Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shoby

IBN ul QALAM (Sumera Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shoby

Qalam (The Pen)... That very honourable thing to which ALLAH has sworn in Holy QURAN... Ibn e QALAM (The offspring of the pen)... Like every other title of Sumera Hameed's novels/ fictions, this one has yet again the very same tendency of binding the reader and make one think. So let me give you my take on it.

Qalam (pen) symbolically represents the wisdom, knowledge or education. To me, the term Ibn ul Qalam may refer to the by-product of your wisdom & knowledge. The phrase here may explain what your understanding & observation has finally made you in your totality. 

Here I want to quote few lines from an exceptional sermon given by the gate of the city of knowledge IMAM ALI (asws) regarding ILM (knowledge/ wisdom). I believe these lines beautifully elaborate the essence of knowledge and wisdom...He says,

ILM teen balisht hai. Pas jo pehli balisht tak pohancha woh mutakabir ho gaya or daawa kerney laga... Jo doosri balisht tak pohancha mutawaazeh ho gaya or apney ko zaleel samajhney laga... Or jo teesri balisht tak pohancha, faqr ikhteyar kiya or fanaa ho gaya or us ko is baat ka ilm hua ke woh kuch janta hi nahi... (Book Reference: Nehj ul Asaar, Page number 36)

The fiction written by Sumera Hameed Ibn e Qalam primarily revolves around two altogether distinct characters. Abn e Aziz, an almost blind author who has been travelling since most of his lifetime and his better-half Zainab Kulsoom, who has not only been a faithful wife but has also acted as a loyal servant all through Ibn e Aziz's journey. In the words of Sumera, ALLAH ki Reza ke baad usey apney shoher ki reza matloob thi...

Zainab Kulssom has been introduced as a keen observer & proofreader by the author as she highlights the depth of letter "Suaad" but Ibn e Aziz seems to be not much concerned with the handwriting, rather he is quite confident that whatever he has written, it simply stands out and no one else can write in the same manner...

Right from the very beginning, we have come across with two different mindsets. one being brutally proud of his knowledge & the other being exceptionally thankful to ALLAH for whatever she was blessed with.

And then one night. when Zainab woke up for offering Tahajjud, she found the box which used to contain the written scripture of Ibn e Aziz lost. She prayed and prayed rigorously that it may come back by some miracle but as it is said, miracles dont happen too often. So ultimately, the box was not found.

Zainab, being much faithful to her husband never wanted to put him in grief so she asked Abi Daood to help her as she needs the book at every cost. Abi Daood suggests her to write the original script by herself as she herself has also travelled with Ibn e Aziz all the places and has gathered all the knowledge & wisdom. After much hassle & thinking, she started writing the lost part of the book in nights, whereas Ibn e Aziz used to write in days and eventually her script got completed along with that of Ibn e Aziz and the complete draft of the book was sent for further procedure of publishing.

Now pause for a second. Just try to grasp the hidden meaning within it. Sumera beautifully managed to convey a delicate yet intriguing message. One who used to write the book in days was so much sure about the authenticity of his writing that he did not bothered to have a second look on it. He was actually considering it as a product of his very own skills, struggles & hard work. On the contrary, the other one was all thankful to ALLAH who helped her in the completion of the project. Pehley lafz se akhri lafz tak, us ne khud ko haqeer hi samjha... Raat ki tareeki, gosha nasheeni, qalam or ilhaam... Zainab ne khud ko ALLAH ke rubaroo paya.

While further steps of book completion took a bit of time, Ibn e Aziz became impatient and asked Zainab he want to ask for forgiveness in case he has done anything wrong with her. In reply, Zainab told him that she has fouled him by writing the lost part. Ibn e Aziz became furious over her as he thought she has destroyed his written scripture. He further accused her of burning the original script written by him as he thought she was jealous of his wisdom & knowledge.

She clarifies that she has written whatever she has learnt from the genius & greats while travelling all around the world with him. Sumera has gathered some very interesting pieces full of knowledge & wisdom, while discussing what was written by Zainab as a compensation to the lost part of Ibn e Aziz's book.

Ibn e Aziz was all pride, mere lafz mere aemaal ka saboot they ke main ne ALLAH ke liye safar ikhteyar kiya and Zainab was all #Belief, ALLAH ko to saboot ki zarurat hi nahi hoti Ibn e Aziz...

And then Sumera sums it all, Main ne is kitaab per tumhari izzat ke liye kaam kiya... Tum ne apney ruutbey ke liye ALLAH ki mkohabbat ko istemaal kiyo kiya???

Meanwhile door opened and Molana Altamish who was heading the cabinet for the completion of book entered and hands him over the final published draft of the book. To much of his surprise & jolt, the published book was all the material written by Zainab Kulssom, whereas the portion which was trashed by the proof readers was the part written by his own self.

This very simple tale of two major characters had very interesting & pertinent lessons in it. Its a sea of lessons to be learnt for every human being regardless of colour, language, religion or creed. I urge, do not take this written piece as a fiction. It is something very close to reality. Reality where we all live, where we lead our lives every damn day.

Its a universal truth that more you read & understand and more you travel, your wisdom & knowledge enhances and with the increase in wisdom you become more down to earth and thankful. But it pertains to only those who read in order to understand the nature and those who really want to get close to ALMIGHTY. On the other side, for those who learn only for personal gain & fame, get a big nothingness and zero in the grand finale.