By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
New Delhi:It is not Harry Potter. But “Tilism-e-Hoshruba: The Enchantment of the Senses” is no less than any tale of magic and sorcery across the world, says Pakistan-based translator Shahnaz Aijazuddin.
Aijazuddin says her book aims to take the adventures of Middle Eastern legend Emir Hamza to millions of English-speaking readers across the subcontinent.
Years ago, the accounts of Hamza travelled all over the Islamic world through storytellers who added their own versions to the tale. And that is how “Tilism-e-Hoshruba”, an Urdu epic, evolved in India in the 18th century.
“The book cannot be compared to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, J.L.L. Tolkien’s books or the Chronicles of Narnia,” Aijazuddin, a translator of repute in Pakistan, told IANS on phone from Lahore.
“The Potter idea is based on Christian traditions and the stories of Hamza are based on Middle Eastern, Persian and Islamic mythology. The second is that the stories of Hamza are essentially oral narratives meant to take the listeners away from lives that were replete with diseases, high mortality rates and drudgery,” she said.
The new translation of “Tilism-e-Hoshruba” has been published by Penguin-Books India this month.
The fables of Hamza first received the official seal in 16th century Mughal India when Emperor Akbar commissioned a volume of paintings based on the epic that enthralled him in his youth. Since then, the epic became cult classic among millions of Urdu-speaking Muslims in the country.
“But with its seven hefty volumes, it is a daunting book to read and when I tried to share it, I found that people mostly knew it only through the children’s version in Urdu published several years ago.
“There were yet others who had read the original text in small doses or parts of it, but very few were familiar with the original text itself,” Shahnaz Aijazuddin, who translated the book, told IANS from Pakistan.
“Over the years, I read and re-read Tilism several times and felt it should be presented in a more readable manner. I thought of a version in simpler Urdu, but was persuaded by my son, then 15, that whoever can read Urdu should try and read the original text and I should attempt an English version. It took me 10 years to complete it,” Aijazuddin said.
The epic opens with the commander-in-chief of the Islamic army, Hamza, pursuing Laqa, who makes false claims to divinity.
Laqa seeks refuge in Kohistan, adjacent to the enchanted land of Hoshruba, ruled by the formidable king of Sahirs, Afrasiyab Jadoo. Afrasiyab reveres Laqa and deputes his wizards to help fight Hamza.
Hamza’s grandson Asad then sets out to conquer Hoshruba, assisted by the clever trickster Amar, who possesses divine artefacts such as a cloak of invisibility and a magic pouch containing parallel worlds. Aided by powerful allies and after encountering magical snares, the Islamic army finally conquers Hoshruba.
“The fictional character of Emir Hamza Sahibqiran was ostensibly based on Hazrat Hamza bin Abu Muttalib, the holy prophet Mohammed’s paternal uncle. The real Hamza was known to be the bravest warrior from the Hashemite clan. In the Hamza story, the fictional Hamza’s early years and death are based on the life of Hazrat Hamza,” she explained.
“In between these two events, storytellers evolved the account of his adventures in Persia, India and Qaf, the land of fairies. Most likely, the character of Emir Hamza was a composite of various personalities.”
Aijazuddin has abridged the epic into short chapters – each narrating an anecdote. The 900-page volume has more than 100 chapters in a language that is both “English and Urdu”.
“As any translator will testify, to try and recapitulate the beauty of one language into another is often a daunting task. I initially tried to translate not only the works but the sentiments behind them. There is a certain formality to Urdu in the 18th century, which I aimed to keep.
“The Tilism in its entirety is crammed with poetry, diversions and tangents. I decided early on not to try to translate the poetry, borrowed from a variety of sources, but I decided to keep it focused on Hoshruba. I consciously tried not to over-translate and kept some words in original Urdu,” she said.
(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at [email protected])