With the Ramzan Id round the corner, all eyes will be scanning the sky once again for the “Id ka chand”.
As it plays hide and seek giving anxious moments to the ‘rozadars’, the predicament only deepens.
A sort of tempo builds up as the Id draws near. But quite often God throws up a surprise when everyone is craning his neck out to glimpse the crescent. It happened when the month of fasting commenced last month.
The confusion is captured best by a poet thus:
Ek banda ajiz hun, karta hun dua tujh se
Ulma ki ladayeee ko istarha se suljhade
Har mah ki jhanjhat se accha hai mere Moula
Tu chand ki girdan mein tareeqh bhi latkade
This uncertainty about sighting of the moon has produced good amount of poetry in Urdu.
The lovelorn poet visualises his beloved in the “Id ka chand” as the bright object in the sky has deeper connotations for him.
Aap ko Id ki khushiyan ho mubarak laikin
Aap ne chand nahin, aayna dekha hoga.
Urdu poetry, which is full of ‘ishq’ on the sly has a rich treasure trove of couplets with the moon theme. The poet finds himself on the horns of a dilemma whenever he sees the moon and looks at his lady love.
Romeos who can’t sing paeans to their moon-faced Juliets need not despair. Urdu poetry comes to their rescue.
There are any numbers of verses rich in imagery for the passionate souls. Sample this one. Dekhoon hilale Id ke dekhoon tera jamal
Wo aasman ka chand hai, tu hai zameen ka chand
Urdu poets imagination runs riot on this subject. Quite a few verses talk of their ardent wish to steal the glimpse of their heart-throb on the pretext of looking at the “Id ka chand”.
As the sun sets this Saturday, everyone will be out in the streets to spot the moon, which heralds the “Id-ul-Fitr”. But the Majnoon fears there might be a stampede if his Laila too appears on the roof to watch the moon. This anguish and dilemma finds expression thus: Mahe nau dekhne tum chath pe na jana hargiz
Shahar mein Id ki tareeqh badal jayegi.
This idea is captured in a different way by another poet. Chand idhar aur tum udhar nikley
Aagaya humko itebare Id
