ANALYZING DRAMATIC TECHNIQUE IN ALLAMA IQBAL'S POETRY WITH REFERENCE TO THE DEVIL'S CABINET

• Published date: 30 June 2021

Allama Iqbal's didactic poetry has been explored from a variety of angles. However, the poet's art of constructing dialogue has set a new direction for research scholars working on Iqbal's poetic structure. The poems composed in the form of dialogue seem to be divided into two parts. The first part encompasses ‘building conflict', while the second part is focused on resolving the conflict. In this way, the dramatic structure of Iqbal's poetry appears to be the tool through which the poet tries to communicate and disseminate specific poetic theme to his readers.

The poem selected for analyzing dramatic technique in Iqbal's poetry can be emphasized for the fact that it is composed in the last few years of his life. The poet's maturity of thought based on his life-long experience is reflected in it. The dramatic style of Iqbal's didactic poetry makes it not only a perfect example of sublime poetry but also difficult for a clear majority of readers to understand or interpret it. The title of the poem “Iblees ki Majlis-e-Shura” has been translated as ‘The Devil's Conference', Satan's Parliament, ‘The Devil's Parliament' and ‘Satan's Advisory Council' (Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi/ Asif Kidwai), and I have preferred ‘The Devil's Cabinet'. All titles seem to create a picture more like that of a drama.

Existing scholarship on Iqbal's dramatic technique is much higher and beyond the scope of this paper to discuss all or even majority of those works. Mustansir Mir (2011) analyzing the dramatic feature of Iqbal's poetry claims that:

Iqbal had a fine sense of the dramatic, and in his poetry, he frequently uses dramatic techniques. Many of his poems are structured like a play, with the first half building a tension or conflict that is resolved, or raising a question that is answered, in the second half. Examples are ‘Gabriel and Iblis', ‘The Dew and the Stars', ‘The Houri and the Poet', and ‘Fatimah bint Abdullah'.1

Mustansir Mir's claim is perhaps based on two points i.e., poetry in the form of dialogue, and the technique of building and resolving conflict. The importance of themes in ‘dialogue poems' is connected to specific characters. The vigor of a character as a mouthpiece of Iqbal, determines the significance of a message Iqbal wants to convey to his readers. The poem ‘Gabriel and Iblis' offers a good example of dynamism. The dynamic character of Iblis has an edge over Gabriel who is a passive follower. The conflict is resolved and concluded by Iblis.

Iqbal's tendency to follow the dramatic technique seems to be the need of his poetry. According to Mohammad Hasan,2 the greatness of art lies in its capacity of resolving conflicts or tensions at both levels i.e. internal and external. The greater art is created through resolving greater tension at higher level. Tension between philosophy and poetry is prevalent in Iqbal's poetry. The philosophy calls for exactness while the poetry demands sensitivity, and Iqbal has no choice other than resolving the tension through uttering his philosophy in poetry.

Iqbal's poetry deals with rare, uncommon and some of the most difficult concepts like extermination or annihilation of self and unrestrained declaration of self, for which he uses symbolic characters like angel and Satan as his mouthpiece, and the tension between two conflicting forces is resolved through dominance of one over the other. Jibril is supposed to have no Self while the Satan has uncontrolled Self or ego. Mohammad Hasan, referring to his poem ‘Jibril and Iblis' claims that due to dynamism of his character Iqbal considers Iblis superior to Jibril:

You see from the far-off sea-coast the clash between the good and the evil,

who faces the tumult of the storm, you or I?

The prophets, Khizr and Ilyas, both are helpless,

but my storms rule the waves, the rivers and the streams.

If ever you could get chance to be alone with God Almighty, ask him,

Whose blood made Adam's tale so colourful?

It is I who pierces the divine heart like a thorn;

while you are there only to sing his praises, praises and praises.3

Satan's character controls the events of life in this world. It is almost like Milton's Satan (Paradise Lost-Book-1) who does not even think to surrender his ego to any power including God. Iqbal gives similar role to Satan (Iblis) in his poem Iblees ki Majlis-e-Shura (the Devil's Cabinet). The poem seems to be composed through following dramatic technique i.e., building and resolving conflict through dialogue. If the poem is analyzed through a model usually followed in analyzing the structure of a play, the poem can be safely declared as a drama.

To what extent the poem meets minimum criteria to be declared as a drama? To answer this question, it is highly significant to analyze it through applying a model specified for analyzing a drama. R.J. Cardullo's model seems to be appropriate for interpreting Iqbal's poem “The Devil's Cabinet”. It suggests an analytical question to be followed by dramatic analysis in three phases i.e., analysis of plot, character, and language.4 Key Analytical Question according to Cardullo is, “What type of dramatic structure or method does a particular play use, and how does this structure or method help to express the writer's meaning?”5

The model gives basic outlines to be modified and followed according to subject matter and structure of a drama. The specific points applicable to the structure of the poem “The Devil's Cabinet” can be summarized as follows:

i. Analysis of Plot

The plot of a drama according to Cardullo's model is analyzed through highlighting the given circumstances, our...