It Was My Destiny to Love and Say Goodbye

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 14 February 2024 Love Longs for Newness to Augment Its Scope. No One Individual Can Ever Fully Define Your Idea of Love. All Are Broken Pieces in The Whole Jigsaw of Love and Life. ------ Love is in the air as February 14 is celebrated as Valentine's Day. Being a glutton for sublime love poetry, be it of Ahmad Faraz in Urdu, Charles Baudelaire in French, Urfi (not Urfi Javed!) and Bedil in Persian, Shelly, Keats and Byron in English, P C Hooft in Dutch, Sunil Gangopadhyay in Bengali, Sappho in Greek, Horace in Latin or Pablo Neruda in Spanish, more than the tenderness, sensuality and passion, it's the eternity of love that has always appealed to me. For example, when Neruda says, ' It was my destiny to love and say goodbye ' (From 'Still Another Day '), I feel, this is how one must love. This famous line from Neruda's poetry is a metaphor that goes beyond mere man-woman love. Persian poet Anwari also says the same thing: Loving and leaving go hand in hand. You can truly love when you love all. Once your love is restricted to a specific person, you cannot love others. So, to love more, you've to keep shifting and moving on. It's like, "Main Tamaam Rishton Ko Ghar Pe Chhod Aayaa Tha / Phir Uske Baad Mujhe Koi Ajnabi Na Mila" (I left behind all relations and associations/ After that, I didn't find any stranger or outsider). Attachment to any object, person, place or space impedes our vision and doesn't let it widen. Those who travel a lot, especially, those who're globe-trotters, agree that once you go beyond your country and see the world, the juvenile sentiments and foolish assertions like nationalism, patriotism and provincialism dissipate. Only when you constantly move on in the realm of attachment/s, can you relate to more and more people sans personal biases and prejudices. Love longs for newness to augment its scope. No one individual can ever fully define your idea of love. All are broken pieces in the whole jigsaw of love and life. You're also a mere piece for someone and vice versa. This is not an objectification or a commodification of love. This is a realization that the search goes on and must continue till the end. It doesn't end with one person or place. Remember the immortal lines of Nida Fazli, "Badla Na Apne-Aap Ko Jo Thay Wahi Rahe/ Milte Rahe Sabhi Se Magar Ajnabi Rahe/ Apni Tarah Sabhi Ko Kisi Ki Talaash Thi/ Hum Jiske Bhi Qareeb Rahe Door Hi Rahe" (I never changed myself and remained unchanged/ I met all but as a stranger/ Like me, everyone was in search of someone (special)/ I, therefore, kept a distance from those I loved). So, all are in search of that 'ever-elusive' one; an emotional Holy Grail; a will-o'-the-wisp 'soulmate'. This never-ending search sustains you and keeps you alive. Yours truly loved everyone half-heartedly to love the world wholeheartedly. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/valentine-destiny-love-goodbye/d/131715 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism