DAUD KAMAL

The common man of Pakistan thinks sub-standardly. To explain a society like this that is
combating social issues is a major task. Daud Kamal became a mouthpiece of the
society. None knew this craft better than Daud Kamal. He is one of the finest poets of
Pakistan who wrote in English; little do we know the reason of why Kamal’s name
remains alien to many.

DAUD KAMAL’S SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Daud Kamal was born in Abbottabad on January 4th, 1935. His initial inspiration came
from his school named Burn Hall, Cambridge School. This school was located in
Srinagar, Kashmir where Kamal studied for seven years. Kamal was traumatized by the
chaos after the war of independence. According to his wife for Kamal his school was his
safe haven which was taken away from him and many other boys.

“It was that picturesque landscape which haunted him for the rest of his life”

That is the source of his visual and graphic images in his poetry. Kamal went back to
Abbottabad in 1947 after the war of independence and continued his education at Burn
Hall Abbottabad. After completing his primary education Kamal enrolled at Islamia
College Peshawar.

Daud Kamal completed his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the English
Department of University of Peshawar with a distinction. For higher studies Kamal went
to the University of Cambridge to complete the Tripos. After completing that he
returned to his homeland and resided in Peshawar. He took up the profession of
teaching English in the University of Peshawar, a profession with which he was
associated for 29 years of his life.

Kamal began writing poetry in his early twenties but all for his own desk and never
published. This shows Kamal’s personality being a perfectionist. His wife Parveen stated
in an interview that “Every time I told him to write, he would say ‘it impedes the tempo
of my thought.’”
The first poem produced by Daud Kamal dates back to August 1, 1965; an anagram
where the first word of each line spells out ‘Ayesha’, the name of his first daughter.

Daud Kamal is the epitome of brilliance and excellence. He brought pride to our
country b winning awards and medals. Kamal won three gold medals and two
certificates of recognition in the international poetry competition in the United States of
America. The Faiz award in the year 1987 and a posthumous Pride of Performance
award in 1990.

Daud Kamal passed away on 5th of December, 1987. He is buried in the graveyard of
the same university where he was once a student and later taught as well.

DAUD KAMAL’S WRITING STYLE

His works convey a sense of loss and spiritual displacement in the face of violence and
cultural erasure. Kamal writes beautifully, little fragments of beauty like a pearl
necklace. He plays with the idea of brutal injustice of kings or common men. The main
themes discussed by Daud Kamal are rural and rustic. His deep observation of small
things reflects through his poems in a vast manner. Strands of Sufism are also visible in
Daud Kamal’s poetry.

Kamal showcases graceful images of nature. He talks innocently of the great Himalayas,
starry sky, sparkling waters and trees. He allows his readers to look deeply the sort of
connection his soul has with the universe. He showcases his struggle towards self-
discovery. Kamal took up on the notion of mystic philosophy i.e. “Know thy self” that
evokes his readers to first understand themselves in order to understand the nature
around them. Kamal is deeply affected by the changing world around him. He
showcases this sensitivity in his poetry. The cultural transition and alteration of the
changing worlds is prominent in his poetry.

Daud Kamal’s writing style is deeply influenced by the European imagists. His
inspirations include great names like William Butler Yeats and Ezra Pound. His poetry
has a unique sense of history. Kamal was a man of compassion, and wanted to serve
the humanity. He was not ignorant of what was happening around him. He could sense
and feel the unjust society we lived in.

His poetry has a distinctive sense of the forgotten times of the past and the need of an
artist. Kamal knew that an artist should produce art to help the humanity and not for
art’s sake only. The need to connect to the culture and traditions of the past is evident
in his poetry. He puts forth a graphic imagery of the changing history referring to a new
kind of destructive strategy that was set in. Kamal underwent the changes and deeply
felt those which occurred due to the independence.

The common man faced the consequences of this new set in destruction and became a
mouth piece of those thousands of commoners. Kamal wanted his readers to
understand that independence played a vital role in uplifting of the society as well as
crippling it.

The need to connect to the ethos of the forefathers can also be felt in his poetry. He
allows his reader to understand the importance of knowing your roots. He believes that
in order to thrive as a Nation we shouldn’t detach ourselves from our origins. Holding
onto the legacy is what makes a Nation great. The imagery of monasteries, miniature
paintings, bullock wagons and vintage are recurrent themes in Daud Kamal’s poetry.

Despite being inspired by the European poets Kamal does not let go of his ‘Pakistani’
identity. He felt pride in being a Pakistani and owned his nationality with dignity. Kamal
was equally inspired by Faiz’s poetry. He translated Faiz’s poetry in English which is
recognized all over the World. Kamal set a benchmark b translating Urdu Literature in
English.

Another inspiration for Daud Kamal was Mirza Ghalib’s poetry. The sensitive nerve in
Kamal was touched by such poets and their works. He translated Ghalib’s poetry in
English named Ghalib: Reverberations in the year 1970. These translations by Kamal
are till date considered being one of the best translations of Faiz and Ghalib in English
language. Dr. Nasir Jamal, Vice Chancellor of Kohat University, praises the writing style
of Daud Kamal stating “The translation of poetry is like a half open window, borrowed
smiles can never enchant…but Kamal is an exception to this rule”

Fill the cups and drink to the lees

The bitter wine of loneliness

Lock up your slumber less doors, dear heart!

For, now no one will ever come again

(Loneliness, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, translated by Daud Kamal)

Kamal talks of poor men and their hardships in a simple manner. In his poem “An
Ancient Indian Coin” he talks about the tyranny of kings upon poor men. He says “The
king’s hunting-dogs are better fed than most of his subjects”
Kamal’s poems talk about a betrayed society not only by their kings, but by the
hypocrite priests, nature as well as b themselves. Kamal through his poetry emphasizes
on the notion of being true to oneself and accepting whatever comes in their way. This
betrayal is not only a physical one. It is a moral betrayal which wounds the soul.

Daud Kamal stayed under covers as a poet and a literary figure. He has always been on
the margins. For Kamal more than fame the voice of the commoners mattered. He
helped them reach to the surface to make the people aware of the atrocities of post-
independence. Kamal acquired fame after his death but not the sort he deserved. Being
a lover of literature Kamal had a library of his own from which he donated eight
thousand books to the Central Library of Peshawar University.