Reviews - The mystical water in Niloy Rafiq’s poems- an analysis of his collection of poems named ‘The White Stone’., Reviewer - Shah Jehan Ashrafi

The mystical water in Niloy Rafiq’s poems- an analysis of his collection of poems named ‘The White Stone’.

In Niloy Rafiq's collection of poems ‘White Stone’, water stands as a gigantic and enigmatic spiritual symbol. His poems delve in purity, simplicity and spirituality. Water is present in ‘monsoon’, ‘clouds’, ‘zam zam’, ‘Yamuna’, ‘estuary of blue waters’. The poet’s fascination with water and movement is so vivid throughout his writing.

Born on August 6, 1983, Niloy Rafiq is a Bangladeshi poet. His writing journey began at school. Some of his famous works are ‘Sun Leaf’, ‘An incomplete Kiss’, ‘The Unknown Fire’, ‘The Eyed Adinath, ‘The Fragrance of Fire’ and many other books that have been translated into English, Spanish, Polish, French, Arabic, Urdu and so many other languages. 

The poet states:

“I don't even know why I write, I see mountains of words forming before my eyes without my mind knowing, I arrange the words and compose the poems in my own way.”

For him, ‘poets  are children of nature as he grew up in nature’s majestic lap. He usually accepts the themes that are formed before his eyes and through his thoughts with joy. The Sufi philosophy is spread all around him as he  believes in this world and the hereafter because of Sufism. If there is no Sufism in poems, he believes that ‘poems will never be timeless’. 

I could witness the power of Sufism and the manifestation of mysticism in various poems found in ‘White Stone’. Rafiq’s poems depict a connection to something greater with the use of water in most of his poems. Water is a purifying source in the Sufi tradition. It rejuvenates and represents the essence of life : ‘aabe hayat’. Mercy and hope are also ideas that are associated with water.

‘Time’s wing burns in the fire of love’ is an introspective poem by Rafiq, in his recently published poetry book named ‘White Stone’. The poet plays with oxymorons as he uses water as an imminent metaphor in this poem to burn ‘time’s wings’ in the ‘fire of love’. In this way, the poet wants to hold time in his mind where ‘faded memories burn’. However, this where the paradox begins. Some say that water is life. The rain is symbolical.  The water found in the rain has indeed so many meanings, for instance, it stands for ‘transformation’, ‘subconscious’, ‘reflection;, ‘purification’, ‘motion’, ‘renewal’ and ‘intuition’.  In Tarot, it is a way to tell about the future through the use of cards, it is ‘a symbol of the deep, primordial unconscious mind and womb’.  Knowledge on the strange power of the mind (psychic power) to do things that is unexplainable by reason is presented by water in Tarot tradition.  The holy water is a great purifier during baptism and according to Cait Johnson, ‘The human spirit understands water as the Great Beginning.’ 

In this poem, water is the beginning of cherishing the time laden with memories. The use of ‘zamzam’ and ‘Yamuna’ merges the importance of water from Hinduism and Islam. Here, the poet traces his roots from India, the womb that holds different lands that had parted from it, namely Pakistan and consequently, Rafiq’s own motherland, Bangladesh. However, the poet sticks to his religion, Islam, as he refers to ‘zamzam’ the holy water found in Mecca. The poet’s connection to both ‘Yamuna’ and ‘zamzam’ depict his spirituality and his effort to show respect to a middle ground that forsakes fixed identities. By mentioning both ‘Yamuna’ and ‘zamzam’, the poet points to hybridity and the possibility to dwell in oxymorons. Thus, the poet gets closer to ‘sorrow’ that is ‘the face of Cherry Hill blooms’. Here both joy and sorrow conflate to show union rather than loss and longing in the poem. This poem is about movement of emotions and placing love and memories in eternity’s cradle rather than enslaving them to the mind’s cage. 

 Another amazing poem named the ‘wave-hunter’ by Niloy Rafiq from his poetry collection ‘White Stone’ shows water as a fascinating metaphor throughout the poem. The poet depicts water as a drop in the portrayal of the ‘wave-hunter’ river, however the presence of the sea and the ocean depicts the possibility of moving to a magnifying space occupied by water. Rafiq does not write about still waters even if he refers to ‘deep’ ‘meditative waters’ at the end of the poem. For him existence is like the movement present in water itself. He highlights ‘waterfalls’ that keep making noise to manifest the presence of life in the natural world. The ‘salt-sweat fragrance’ also reveals the efforts made by farmers to plough. Rafiq paints life filled with motion like the wave itself. The wave-hunter is chasing waves that keep coming forth and receding. This process narrates the ups and downs in life. However, this is what makes the wave-hunter river exciting and great. It ‘sinks deep in meditative waters but does not forget its exuberant movement. It is in itself the sea and the ocean, it holds the whole although it is a part of the ocean.

The real taste of the Sufi water is found in Rafiq’s ‘Dhikr of Sounds’. In this short poem, the poet takes the reader on a spiritual journey. ‘The woman’s black hair’ points to the Sufi tradition of presenting the Creator or the Beloved as a woman or a bride. The black hair has so many interpretations and one may be a reference to the Kaaba itself. Thus, the longing that takes the form of the tears and ‘the monsoon months’ show water’s close relationship to divine love. The ‘dhikr’ of sounds is therefore the weeping caused by the Beloved’s absence. And water portrays this heartfelt longing so well.

Rafiq’s poems have so many meanings and they left me fathoming over them. His poems are as deep as the sea composed of mysterious waters. The more you dive in it, the more you enjoy reading the verses.

By Shah Jehan Ashrafi 

Poetess and reviewer from Canada