Sadequain (1930-1987) Surah Ya-Sin

Sadequain (1930-1987) Surah Ya-Sin circa 1970s markers on mylar 56 x 1945cm (22 1/16 x 765 3/4in). Footnotes: Provenance Property from a private collection, Illinoi, USA. Acquired from Mrs Ali Imam, wife of Mr Imam, owner of Indus Gallery Karachi. Translation: بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful يسٓ Yasin! Allah alone knows the meaning of this. وَٱلۡقُرۡءَانِ ٱلۡحَكِيمِ Wal-Qur'anil-Vakim By the florious Qur'an of supreme widsom. إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ ٱلۡمُرۡسَلِينَ Innaka laminal mursaleen Surely you (Muhammad) are of the sent-ones. عَلَىٰ صِرَٰطٖ مُّسۡتَقِيمٖ Alaa Siraatim Mustaqeem On a straight path. تَنزِيلَ ٱلۡعَزِيزِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Tanzeelal 'Azeezir Raheem (This Qur'an is) sent down by the Almighty, the Merciful. لِتُنذِرَ قَوۡمٗا مَّآ أُنذِرَ ءَابَآؤُهُمۡ فَهُمۡ غَٰفِلُونَ Litunzira qawmam maaa unzira aabaaa'uhum fahum ghaafiloon That you may warn a nation whose forefathers were not warned (for long), so they are also unaware. لَقَدۡ حَقَّ ٱلۡقَوۡلُ عَلَىٰٓ أَكۡثَرِهِمۡ فَهُمۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ Laqad haqqal qawlu 'alaaa aksarihim fahum laa yu'minoon Surely (because of their persistent disbelief and hatred) the word (decree) has been proved against most of them that they will not believe. إِنَّا جَعَلۡنَا فِيٓ أَعۡنَٰقِهِمۡ أَغۡلَٰلٗا فَهِيَ إِلَى ٱلۡأَذۡقَانِ فَهُم مُّقۡمَحُونَ Innaa ja'alnaa feee a'naaqihim aghlaalan fahiya ilal azqaani fahum muqmahoon Surely we have placed on their necks shackles reaching right up to their chins so that their heads are raised up. وَجَعَلۡنَا مِنۢ بَيۡنِ أَيۡدِيهِمۡ سَدّٗا وَمِنۡ خَلۡفِهِمۡ سَدّٗا فَأَغۡشَيۡنَٰهُمۡ فَهُمۡ لَا يُبۡصِرُونَ Wa ja'alnaa mim baini aydeehim saddanw-wa min khalfihim saddan fa aghshai naahum fahum laa yubsiroon And we have set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them and case a veil over their eyes, so they see nothing. وَسَوَآءٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ ءَأَنذَرۡتَهُمۡ أَمۡ لَمۡ تُنذِرۡهُمۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ Wa sawaaa'un 'alaihim 'a-anzartahum am lam tunzirhum laa yu'minoon And it is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them – they will not believe. إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ مَنِ ٱتَّبَعَ ٱلذِّكۡرَ وَخَشِيَ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنَ بِٱلۡغَيۡبِۖ فَبَشِّرۡهُ بِمَغۡفِرَةٖ وَأَجۡرٖ كَرِيمٍ Innamaa tunziru manit taba 'az-Zikra wa khashiyar Rahmaana bilghaib, fabashshirhu bimaghfiratinw-wa ajrin kareem You can only warn one who follows the message and fears the Most Merciful unseen. So give him good tidings of forgiveness and noble reward. إِنَّا نَحۡنُ نُحۡيِ ٱلۡمَوۡتَىٰ وَنَكۡتُبُ مَا قَدَّمُواْ وَءَاثَٰرَهُمۡۚ وَكُلَّ شَيۡءٍ أَحۡصَيۡنَٰهُ فِيٓ إِمَامٖ مُّبِينٖ Innaa Nahnu nuhyil mawtaa wa naktubu maa qaddamoo wa aasaarahum; wa kulla shai'in ahsainaahu feee Imaamim Mubeen Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life and record what they have put forth and what they left behind, and all things We have enumerated in a clear register. وَٱضۡرِبۡ لَهُم مَّثَلًا أَصۡحَٰبَ ٱلۡقَرۡيَةِ إِذۡ جَآءَهَا ٱلۡمُرۡسَلُونَ Wadrib lahum masalan Ashaabal Qaryatih; iz jaaa'ahal mursaloon And present to them an example: the people of the city, when the messengers came to it – إِذۡ أَرۡسَلۡنَآ إِلَيۡهِمُ ٱثۡنَيۡنِ فَكَذَّبُوهُمَا فَعَزَّزۡنَا بِثَالِثٖ فَقَالُوٓاْ إِنَّآ إِلَيۡكُم مُّرۡسَلُونَ Iz arsalnaaa ilaihimusnaini fakazzaboohumaa fa'azzaznaa bisaalisin faqaalooo innaaa ilaikum mursaloon When We sent to them two but they denied them, so We strengthened them with a third, and they said, 'Indeed, we are messengers to you.' قَالُواْ مَآ أَنتُمۡ إِلَّا بَشَرٞ مِّثۡلُنَا وَمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ مِن شَيۡءٍ إِنۡ أَنتُمۡ إِلَّ تَكۡذِبُونَ Qaaloo maaa antum illaa basharum mislunaa wa maaa anzalar Rahmaanu min shai'in in antum illaa takziboon They said, 'You are not but human beings like us, and the Most Merciful has not revealed a thing. You are only telling lies.' قَالُواْ رَبُّنَا يَعۡلَمُ إِنَّآ إِلَيۡكُمۡ لَمُرۡسَلُونَ Qaaloo Rabbunaa ya'lamu innaaa ilaikum lamursaloon They said, 'Our Lord knows that we are messengers to you, وَمَا عَلَيۡنَآ إِلَّا ٱلۡبَلَٰغُ ٱلۡمُبِينُ Wa maa 'alainaaa illal balaaghul mubeen And we are not responsible except for clear notification.' قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّا تَطَيَّرۡنَا بِكُمۡۖ لَئِن لَّمۡ تَنتَهُواْ لَنَرۡجُمَنَّكُمۡ وَلَيَمَسَّنَّكُم مِّنَّا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٞ Qaaloo innaa tataiyarnaa bikum la'il-lam tantahoo lanar jumannakum wa la-yamassan nakum minnaa 'azaabun aleem They said, 'Indeed, we consider you a bad omen. If you do not desist, we will surely stone you, and there will surely touch you, from us, a painful punishment.' قَالُواْ طَـٰٓئِرُكُم مَّعَكُمۡ أَئِن ذُكِّرۡتُمۚ بَلۡ أَنتُمۡ قَوۡمٞ مُّسۡرِفُونَ Qaaloo taaa'irukum ma'akum; a'in zukkirtum; bal antum qawmum musrifoon They said, 'Your omen is with yourselves. Is it because you were reminded? Rather, you are a transgressing people.' وَجَآءَ مِنۡ أَقۡصَا ٱلۡمَدِينَةِ رَجُلٞ يَسۡعَىٰ قَالَ يَٰقَوۡمِ ٱتَّبِعُواْ ٱلۡمُرۡسَلِينَ Wa jaaa'a min aqsal madeenati rajuluny yas'aa qaala yaa qawmit tabi'ul mursaleen And there came from the farthest end of the city a man, running. He said, 'O my people, follow the messengers. Sadequain - The Faqir by Salima Hashmi Sadequain (1930-1987) caught the imagination of the Pakistani public like no other painter of his time and validated the notion of a Bohemian searching for enlightenment. Born in 1930 in Amroha, India, into an educated, cultured family where both poetry and khushkhati (calligraphy) were an intrinsic part of daily life, Sadequain's talent for both was evident from an early age. His flair for poetry, specifically the rubaiyat (quatrain) form, was honed by his job as a calligrapher/copyist in All India Radio in 1944 where he copied classical poetry as well as the contemporary work of poets like Akhter Shirani and Josh Malihabadi. He taught drawing in Amroha in 1946 before he graduated from Agra University in 1948. Sadequain was spared the traumatic exodus of millions of others from across the border by moving to Karachi a year after Partition. But he lamented later that most of his poetry and art works were left behind, the paintings that had adorned his school, 'Imam ul Madaras', in Amroha never seen again. Little is known of much of his work preceding 1955. He continued working as a copyist in Radio Pakistan alongside his art practice, and had his first solo exhibition in 1954 in Quetta. The following year he exhibited a number of his works at the residence of the Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suharwardy, a patron of the arts. Major public commissions like the PIA airport terminal in Karachi followed. He was also commissioned for a mural at the Jinnah Hospital, Karachi, where coincidentally he was admitted for treatment for his ill health. He set up a studio in an ante-room in the hospital and set to work. Wandering further inland to Gadani in Balochistan with friends, the artist chanced upon the local vegetation—giant cacti. Their linear, thorny shapes embodied a harshness and resilience in nature that he found compelling and they became a recurring symbol in his drawings and paintings. Perhaps it was also significant that the cacti paralleled calligraphic forms, in particular the first letter of the alphabet, alif: vertical, imposing and forceful. Sensing the correspondence between these towering plant forms and the human body, Sadequain set up a studio amid the cacti in 1958. His art began to reflect the tortuous shapes of the cacti—fingers, hair, body, even inanimate objects, metamorphosed into these thorn-like entanglements. Sadequain went to Paris for the first time in 1960 on the invitation of the French Committee of the International Association of Plastic Arts. He was already well on his way to becoming recog For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing