{"id":36,"date":"2012-04-15T21:32:52","date_gmt":"2012-04-15T21:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/?p=36"},"modified":"2012-04-15T21:32:52","modified_gmt":"2012-04-15T21:32:52","slug":"response-to-the-complaint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/2012\/04\/15\/response-to-the-complaint\/","title":{"rendered":"Response to “The Complaint”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 I decided to make a pencil sketch based on a powerful set of related images in the midst of Iqbal\u2019s poem \u201cShikwa\u201d (\u201cThe Complaint\u201d).\u00a0 These images all refer to personified hearts, who are responsive to the political and social state of Islam and of contemporary Muslims. The passage I work from is as follows:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBreak, hard hearts, to hear the carol<\/p>\n

of this nightingale forlorn;<\/p>\n

Wake, dull hearts, to heed the clamour<\/p>\n

and the clangour of this bell;<\/p>\n

Rise, dead hearts, by this new com-<\/p>\n

pact of fidelity reborn;<\/p>\n

Thirst, dry hearts, for the old vintage<\/p>\n

whose sweet tang you knew so well\u201d (Iqbal 33).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sketch is divided up into four squares, and proceeds as a comic strip might, left to right, top to bottom.\u00a0 In the first scene I drew several broken hearts,\u00a0 and a nightingale singing mournfully (as the tears and music notes convey).\u00a0 The nightingale, of course, is a Sufi symbol often used in ghazals to symbolize the lover of God, singing with joy at the beauty of the rose, which symbolizes the beloved. \u00a0The nightingale is perched on a barren tree atop a grassy hill, to signify the fact that although this place is capable of nurturing beautiful vegetation, it is not blooming at its potential.\u00a0 This idea in the poem is paradigmatic of the Muslim people\u2019s longing for the power and beauty of paradise , and God\u2019s clear presence to be with them on earth.\u00a0 Yet the poem laments that this is not their current situation.<\/p>\n

The second scene is of hearts waking up to the sound of a tolling bell.\u00a0 I curve the hearts in an upward arc, each with a facial expression indicating increasing alertness.\u00a0 The idea expressed is that Muslims are called to become more aware of the change in their situation and the need to respond through prayer, reflection, and action (as this poem models and urges).<\/p>\n

The third scene depicts hearts arising like spirits from a grave, and a scroll with plume and ink float in the upper right hand corner of this box to symbolize the \u201cnew compact\u201d Iqbal solicits.\u00a0 Deadness, in Iqbal\u2019s estimation, comes from inaction, whereas faithfulness to God requires a living, active faith.\u00a0 Finally, the fourth scene is of hearts gathering around a wind glass, thirsting for a drink with open mouths.\u00a0 The bottle and wine glass symbolize what Iqbal calls \u201cthe old vintage\u2026you knew so well,\u201d which indicates the Sufi notion of God\u2019s intoxicating appeal and effect on a lover of God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 I decided to make a pencil sketch based on a powerful set of related images in the midst of Iqbal\u2019s poem \u201cShikwa\u201d (\u201cThe Complaint\u201d).\u00a0 These images all refer to personified hearts, who are responsive to the political and social state of Islam and of contemporary Muslims. The passage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4534,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/42"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/jamstrysko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}