Ibn-e-Insha
I heard someone raising a question " Ibn Insha is a great writer and poet. Will somebody tell me why his writings are humorous while poems are 'Udass'"
Ibn-e-Insha is one of the best--a writer of great elegance and charm. He maintains his uniqueness in both prose and poetry. Urdu language is fortunate to have writers/humorists like A.S. Patras Bukhari, Dr Shafiq-ur-Rahman, Ibn-e-Insha and Mushtaq Ahmed Yousefi. No doubt that all of them are wonderful and at the same time distinctively different.
I have read all writings (prose) of Ibn-e-Insha and found them perfectly rounded. Nonetheless, I have never been a big fan of his poetry; not tht I don't like it but to me it seemed like that was not in his specific province. He can easily be compared with Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi who is originally an 'afsana-nigar' but wrote poetry too. His poetry did not get much attention despite it carried great sensibility and themes. Even some great poets of his time including Faiz did not consider him a poet. So, when it comes to Ibn-e-Insha, I think his poetry comes second to his prose. I would see it like grafting wings on to a creature that had been planned for walking only.
Why Insha ji's prose and poetry are so opposite to each other. I think this is a good topic to research by looking at his personality, his personal circumstances and then domestic scenes. I observed that too but never went further to investigate. Maybe some people did and found the reasons as to this difference. To me Insha ji is a serious person who turned to create humour in his writings, which he did to a perfect degree of subtlety. He, then chose poetry to express the real of him, an 'udaas' person. He added slightly unique diction (in his time) as he followed the diction and style of Amir Khusro rather than led in the field of poetry. He is almost certainly the only modern poet to create a distinctive diction of ancient classical Hindi-Urdu complex of languages.
I see Insha ji as a 'private poet' like Jaun Elia (not comparing the poetry of the two). As with the Jaun, with the exception of a few pieces his most of the poetry was published after his death. If I remember correctly his first book was published when he was 58. Obviously he suffered from some complex or inhibition with regard to the publication of his poetry and therefore desisted from having it printed. The case of Insha is different when it comes to publication but if we group most of his poems under different headings we not only see the sadness in him but also some inhibition. One searches in vain for the more particular signs of romance and philosophy in the poetry of Ibn-e-Insha, they are not particularly found. Romance and poetic philosophy in the traditional sense at least, is not his special gift. Though his poetry is distinctive as regards its technique. His technique may be considered under different heads the use of words, metrical and rhyme patterns.
To his prose I would say no other last century Urdu writer, neither Majeed Lahori nor Yousefi (etc.) ever equalled the writings of Insha. Patras Bukhari was of course a different 'animal'.
Note: The above post contains my personal opinion and is not backed by any research study. It is based on my limited knowledge and understanding of literature. Please feel free to correct me.
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