Daud Kamal (1935-1987), Pakistan’s most accomplished poet, taught English literature at Peshawar

University for nearly three decades. His poems, which are in English, convey a sense of loss and spiritual
displacement in the face of violence and cultural erasure. Kamal ’s first book, Reverberations (1970),
consists of translations of the classical Urdu poet, Ghalib. His original poems in English appeared
in Recognitions (1979), A Remote Beginning (1985), and in such posthumous volumes
as Rivermist (1992), Before The Carnations Wither (1995) and A Selection of Verse (1997).
Kamal’s translations of the Urdu poets Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi, Munir Niaziand Ahmed
Faraz appeared in Four contemporary poets (1992)

Prayer-beads

Under
the shade
of a willow tree
where the river bends
in a rock-pool
prayer-beads rise
to the surface
from the mouth
of an invisible
fish.

Themes:
1. Reverence of Lord: Each and everything praises lord.
2. Pantheism: God is in every stone. This universe is designed to serve God.
With numerous cultural paradigms being the derivatives of the colonial era, Pakistani poets had an
unchartered demesne where they could savour the freedom to experiment with the verse, form, rhythm
and language since the English language offered many expressive resources. It is for this reason that one
explicitly as well as implicitly notices the presence of a lot of English and American poets in Pakistani
poetry in English. Daud Kamal is a case in point since his poetry is discernibly reminiscent of the Imagist
tradition as in his poem 'Prayer-Beads':

Daud Kamal’s short poems, sometimes dark and brooding, sometimes sparkling like jewels, resemble
the work of the imagists, conjuring a mood or an image in almost every line.

Kamal has a completely different style of writing poetry. He writes beautifully in fragments. The main
themes of his poems are rural and rustic. He plays with the idea of brutal injustice of kings on common
men. His deep observation of small things reflects through his poems in a vast manner. Kamal can also
said to be a mystic poet because images of sufi world can also be seen in many of his poems. In his
poetry we can see graceful images of nature as well. He talks innocently of great Himalyas, starry sky,
sparkling waters and trees. As a poet he has a deep connection with his soul as well as the soul of the
universe (which is nature). Kamal’s sensitivity towards changing world around him deeply affects his
poetry.
His writing style is deeply influenced by the Imagists. He follows the style of W. B. Yeats and Ezra Pound.
In his later life, he was deeply moved by Latin American authors. A man of heightened sensitivities, he
was not unaware of what was happening around him. His poetry has a unique sense of history and the
need of an artist. The need to connect to the culture of the past can also be felt in his poetry. The
images of monasteries, miniature paintings, bullock carts and antiques are recurrent themes.

Resilience

The unendurable is the beginning of the curve of joy. Djuna Barnes

Sparks
From an old anvil
Desiccated petals of fire
And the rafter
Blackened by generations of smoke,
Don’t give up.
Nothing lasts longer
Than what can be endured.
Boats on the river
And the flowering almond trees.
Love-
Cloudless wine,
But something is always lacking.
Does man learn by suffering?
The night
Neither denies nor affirms.
Glimpses (or memories) of perfection
Cusp of the moon.
Fortuitous conjunctions,
The lead turns with the wind.

Resilience – coming back to its original position even after deforming

Shah latif says:

Who is your lord? God asked, my ears listened this question in Aalam e Arwah (a place where souls live
before birth). I said right at that moment; You Lord, You are my Lord!. I still remember my words, I still
remember my promise.

Themes of the poem resilience

1. Resilience – concept of Aalam e Arwah & Aalam e Barzakh – radiance and souls don’t die, they
just change their shape.
2. Impermanence
3. Endurance

4. Beauty is temporary – all beautiful things will turn into dust, there is no perfection in this world.
5. Ideas are universal
6. Nothing is mightier than man’s strength
7. One should not give up fighting the impermanent things, sufferings are temporary, the
hardships are temporary.