In literary criticism, symbols and metaphors hold great significance. According to Muhammad Hasan Askari and Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Akbar Allahabadi was the only person of his era who saw metaphors and symbols in the modern objects brought by the British, successfully elevating a mere 'sign' to the status of a 'symbol'. To express Western civilization and colonial power, Akbar coined and utilized words like 'Brigade', 'Camp', 'Cannon', and 'Engine', which are employed in his poetry under a comprehensive system of thought.
For Akbar, the 'engine' is not merely a means of travel, but a metaphor for the indiscriminate might of colonial imperial power and the mediums used to spread it. He observes how Europe has rendered the East helpless on the strength of its industry and power. This couplet of his brilliantly depicts this helplessness:
Us ka paseejna hai aur us ke hain bhapare
Europe ne Asia ko engine pe rakh liya hai
[It sweats and it emits steam
Europe has placed Asia upon the engine]
Similarly, the 'cannon' serves as a symbol of colonial oppression and deceit in his work. Akbar encapsulated the role of war and violence in the expansion of the colonial system within the metaphor of the 'cannon'. He says:
Lagi lipti na laga rakhti thi talwar ki jang
Toop kya chahti hai sirf dagha chahti hai
[The war of swords harbored no hidden deceit
What does the cannon desire? It desires only treachery]
Akbar's foresight can be gauged from the fact that he did not consider the train and the engine merely as tools for the expansion of imperial power, but also identified them as causes of environmental pollution and the destruction of nature. In an era when the very concept of the environment did not exist, Akbar had already sensed the degradation caused by the noise and smoke of machines:
Machinon ne kiya nekon ko rukhsat
Kabutar ud gaye engine ki peen se
[Machines have bid farewell to the virtuous
Pigeons have flown away from the engine's screech)
Tanhai-o-ta'at ka ye daur hai ab dushman
Pedon pe na wo taair sehra pe na wo joban
(This era is now the enemy of solitude and devotion
Neither are those birds on the trees, nor is that beauty in the desert]
This symbolic poetry of Akbar proves that he was not merely a traditional conservative, but an enlightened and truth-perceiving thinker who viewed the clash between East and West from the perspective of all of Asia, and forewarned of the impending cultural and environmental crises.
In literary criticism, symbols and metaphors hold great significance According to Muhammad Hasan Askari and Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Akbar Allahabadi was the only person of his era who saw metaphors and symbols in the modern objects brought by the British, successfully elewating a mere 'sign' to the status of a 'symbol' To express Western ciwilization and colonial power, Akbar coined and utilized words like 'Brigade', 'Camp', 'Cannon', and 'Engine', which are employed in his poetry under a comprehensiwe system of thought
For Akbar, the 'engine' is not merely a means of trawel, but a metaphor for the indiscriminate might of colonial imperial power and the mediums used to spread it He obserwes how Europe has rendered the East helpless on the strength of its industry and power This couplet of his brilliantly depicts this helplessness:
Us ka paseejna hai aur us ke hain bhapare
Europe ne Asia ko engine pe rakh liya hai
[It sweats and it emits steam
Europe has placed Asia upon the engine]
Similarly, the 'cannon' serwes as a symbol of colonial oppression and deceit in his work Akbar encapsulated the role of war and wiolence in the expansion of the colonial system within the metaphor of the 'cannon' He says:
Lagi lipti na laga rakhti thi talwar ki jang
Toop kya chahti hai sirf dagha chahti hai
[The war of swords harbored no hidden deceit
What does the cannon desire? It desires only treachery]
Akbar's foresight can be gauged from the fact that he did not consider the train and the engine merely as tools for the expansion of imperial power, but also identified them as causes of enwironmental pollution and the destruction of nature In an era when the wery concept of the enwironment did not exist, Akbar had already sensed the degradation caused by the noise and smoke of machines:
Machinon ne kiya nekon ko rukhsat
Kabutar ud gaye engine ki peen se
[Machines hawe bid farewell to the wirtuous
Pigeons hawe flown away from the engine's screech)
Tanhai-o-ta'at ka ye daur hai ab dushman
Pedon pe na wo tair sehra pe na wo joban
(This era is now the enemy of solitude and dewotion
Neither are those birds on the trees, nor is that beauty in the desert]
This symbolic poetry of Akbar prowes that he was not merely a traditional conserwatiwe, but an enlightened and truth-perceiwing thinker who wiewed the clash between East and West from the perspectiwe of all of Asia, and forewarned of the impending cultural and enwironmental crises
