Valentine’s Day is celebrated on 14 February as a day of romance, love and friendship all over the world. This is the day of exchanging red roses, greeting cards, romantic letters, love poems between lovers — all in the name of Saint Valentine.
Who was this Valentine? His life story is shrouded in the fog of history, Roman traditions and superstitions.
There are many theories related to his works, activities, and message of love he tried to convey to his people of Rome.
Valentine’s Day definitely excites millions of people in many countries, particularly younger generations who are full of dreams and aspirations, passions and desires, cravings and yearnings, wishes and wants, and arrival of 14th February provides thrill and happiness for them.
Actually, what is love? It is one of the most talked about subjects in the world. It has inspired poets, singers and artists working in various fields since the beginning of time. It is a necessary requirement for the foundation of marriage and family and for the development of human personality.
Love is a multipurpose word. We love our wives, children, parents, country, singers, poets, religion etc and define our religious values in different contexts.
The following definition of love from the Bible (1 Corinthians:13) has touched millions of hearts in the world:
“If I had the gift of being able to speak in other languages without learning them and could speak in every language there is all of heaven and earth, but did not love others, I would only be making noise. If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all about what is going to happen in the future, knew everything about everything, but did not love others, what good it would do?
“If I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, I would still be worth nothing at all without love. If I gave everything I have to poor people, and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel but didn’t love others, it would be of no value whatever.”
The Indian poet, saint Kabir says “A life devoid of love is like a flower, blooming in the wilderness, where nobody is there to enjoy its fragrance.”
The elements of love are always the same whether it is love between husband and wife, lover and his sweetheart, parent and child or man and humanity.
Mother Teresa once commented that: “Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand,” and poet Robert Browning lamented, “If we take away love from life, our earth is a tomb”.
Our saints and sages sang songs of their love with God.
Sufi saints in their lyrics asked questions about the meaning of life and felt the call of love for God. They did not seek guidance from theologians. Instead, they turned to those teachers who were experienced in matters of spiritual values. Many of them reached out to the masses through their poetry.
I had the opportunity of studying some Sufi poets including Bulleh Shah (1680 -1757) who wrote in Punjabi, and of reading English translations of works of a Persian poet, Rumi. His full name was Jalal al-Din Mohammed Balkhi.
Bulleh Shah criticised in his verses all the orthodox religious practices of the Muslim and Hindu communities of those days. Saturated with the love of God, he became the personification of compassion and forgiveness. He began to see the divine in every being:
Ranjha Ranjha kardi ni mein aape Ranjha hoi . . .
Repeating the name of my Beloved
I have become the Beloved myself
Whom shall I call the Beloved now?
The same thought is conveyed by Jesus Christ in the Bible, thus:
All that day ye, shall know
That I am in my Father
And ye in me, and I in you.
The poems of Rumi reflect the deepest longings of the human heart as it searches for the divine. They celebrate love. Exalted yearning, ravishing ecstasy and consuming desire emerge from his lyrics as powerfully today as they did on their creation more than 700 years ago. At one place, he writes:
(i) Oh God! I have discovered love!
How marvellous! How good! How beautiful it is!
My body is warm from the heat of this love. I offer my salutation to the spirit of passion
That aroused and excited this universe
and all it contains.
(ii) Your fragrant breath, like the morning breeze has come to the stillness of the garden; You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
And also your shadow
My soul is screaming in ecstasy
Every fibre of my being is in love with you.
Like a rainbow in the sky, there are many colours and shadows of love. Some time, we follow its only one track, only one conception. We think of it exclusively in terms of sex relationship.
On many occasions, we try to be selfish and possessive but true and unselfish love brings a lot of joy and satisfaction in our lives. Let us follow the advice as given to us in the Bible:
“Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices when — ever truth wins out. If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him. All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end but love goes on forever. . . . There are three things that remain — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is LOVE”.
* Jogindar Singh Kanwal, former Principal of Khalsa College, Ba, has written many books in English and Hindi. He is the first local novelist whose works in English (The Morning) and Hindi (Dharti Meri Mata) have been prescribed as literature text books by the Ministry of Education for use in secondary schools of Fiji.
Email : kanwal@connect.com.fj.