In our part of the world, the life of books is too short. It’s a small mercy if a book manages to live for four or five years, but it is heartening to note that prominent Marxist intellectual Syed Sibte Hasan’s book Mazi Ke Mazar (Tombs of Times Past), which celebrates its golden jubilee on August 21, has now gone into its 19th reprin. This proves that there is still a spark of life remaining in this fable, and the connoisseurs of taste are still in pursuit of it.Sibte Hasan (1916-1986) was a very well-read man. He had not only studied classic and modern literature of Urdu, Farsi and English but also had deep insight over economics, sociology and political science. He had indeed been trained in political science and had obtained an MA degree in this subject from Columbia University in New York in the US (it was known as International Relations at Columbia).Another branch which opened up new vistas of perception in his writings is anthropology. Unlike in the developed nations of the world, the subject of cultural anthropology is unpopular and underdeveloped in Pakistan. Sibte was especially enthusiastic about anthropology. The subject of Mazi Ke Mazar indeed is anthropology. It is one of his most important books, and like his other books, the effects of Marxist thought – the key position in Sibte’s ideological system – are clearly evident here as well.Sibte HassanMazi Ke MazarThe book sees the ancient Iraqi civilisation – also known as the civilisation of the Valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates – in the light of Marxist principles. The subject of this book is those beliefs about the creation of the universe which were prevalent, especially in Iraq and generally among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Aryans and Canaanites. One way of studying beliefs and thoughts is to imagine them to be fixed in their essence and to deem the material conditions and particulars of society to be the result and manifestation of the same.But Marxism presents an entirely different ideology as opposed to this idea-worship. In the history of thought, the ideology of Marx and Engels carries the status of a revolutionary turn in its place that the consciousness of an individual is neither the result of his social existence nor its reason. In other words, life is not determined by consciousness, rather consciousness is determined by life. In the light of this totality, human history is really neither determined by the ideologies of philosophers and sages or by the ideas of a few people in a society – whether they be afflicted by pessimism or the bearers of respect towards a rival sect – nor its journey is dependent upon it. Human history is really the history of social relations and social relations themselves are determined by productive forces.Mazi Ke Mazar is an ocean of knowledge and wisdom. Its importance can be gauged from the fact that precious little had been written on such a topic in Urdu prior to its publication. Even if it was written, it was in a sketchy and pedagogic manner, or for the fulfilment of the needs of that time. It is perhaps the first book on anthropology in Urdu in which the tale of civilisational evolution has been told era by era, from the social life of ancient man to the Tigris valley, the Indus valley, Syria and Iran, Central Asia, Egypt, the Arabian peninsula. It describes how beliefs, moral values, social customs, cultural manifestations, government, institutions were formed, and have changed and deteriorated; how values of a matriarchal social system became different in meanings from a patriarchal society. A brief extract from the first chapter of Mazi Ke Mazar follows:‘Nations disappear, but their effect remains on the way of society, industry and craft. The manner of thinking and the character of literature and art; languages become dead but their words, proverbs, symbols and metaphors enter new languages to become a part of them; the divinity of old beliefs comes to an end, but old idols remain in the sleeve of every new religion and every fold of the turban and tiara; civilisations vanish but the palaces of a new civilisation keep dazzling with their marks and decorationsFive thousand years ago such a civilisation arose in the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates and before the eyes, it spread across the entire East. This civilisation established its authority for 2500 years from the Mediterranean to the Arabia Sea.Then the chants of the worshippers of Zoroaster arose in the fire temples of Persia, and the Achaemenid rulers raised the buildings of Iranian civilization over the rubble of Babylon and Nineveh. The civilisational current of the Tigris and the Euphrates mixed with the Iranian civilisation and neither the religion of the land between the two rivers remained nor the language; but we cannot forget the favour which the inhabitants there have bestowed on the world by introducing man to the knowledge and arts for the first time.The world’s oldest villages have been found in this same land between the two rivers; cultivation became a custom there for the first time indeed; the potter’s wheel was first invented there; the remains of the most ancient cities were found there; city-states were established for the first time in the same valley; and the first code of law was compiled on this very land.But the greatest feat of the ancient inhabitants is the invention of the art of writing. The first schools were also opened on the coasts of the Tigris and the Euphrates. The oldest libraries have also been available there and the oldest epics are also the creation of this area.’Also Read: Politics, Poetics and Partition: Revisiting Abdullah Hussein’s ‘The Weary Generations’This extract is from the initial pages of Mazi Ke Mazar. Just from this, the width and span of the book can be estimated. So much information has indeed been put together, information which throw light on various aspects of life in a special era and area; the potter’s wheel, the remains of ancient cities, the advent of the first city-states, the compilation of the first code of law, the invention of the art of writing, the style of libraries and schools are references which accompany the reader. The style of narration is so light and flowing that the subject opens up, sentence by sentence, line by line. There is neither a difficult word anywhere nor an unfamiliar term, and then the mention of the display of contemporary life has made the expression attractive to attention.The story of evolutionThis is not a discussion of the inconceivable events of the past. Rather, the accessories of contemporary life have been discovered, so that the story of evolution comes forward, completely; the same manner is present from the beginning to the end. The paths to reason open up before the reader with the help of analyses and explanations of the various ideologies of creation and evolution drawn up in mutual opposition; a story of the effects which economic and social changes have on beliefs, thoughts and values from era to era is also present.The manner in which lost links have been discovered between the remains of a bygone age; as well as how an attempt has been made to understand the collective mood and conditions of that age in relation to the literature and arts of different eras, areas and generations, creates further width and depth in Sibte’s style. The wish to understand the social situation of a particular era in the mirror of ancient epics or the method of discovering collective hopes became a particular quality of Sibte Hasan’s writing. This style imparted a freshness to the manner, otherwise the pessimism which a topic comprising thousands of years contains within might have been suspect to creating a colourless expression.For example, Sibte translated the versified epic of Gilgamesh with extraordinary cleverness. Indeed this – the world’s first epic, of ancient Iraq of 3000 BC – is both long and versified. Sibte Hasan writes that in the semi-mythical and semi-historical era of Iraq, heroes were never given the status of gods unlike other civilisations. Indeed Gilgamesh could merely become a ‘two-thirds god’ and eventually he too had to drink the goblet of death in that: ‘Eternal life is indeed only the lot of gods.’A tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/ Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) CC BY-SA 4.0So Urdu literature gained an extremely important, interesting and respectable book on a new topic in the shape of Mazi Ke Mazar. The great progressive poet Josh Malihabadi was indeed right when he said that when men of vision look at Mazi Ke Mazar, they find hundreds of cities of life emerging out of every tomb.In Mazi Ke Mazar, Sibte Hasan discovered the system of beliefs and thoughts of the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates in the perspective of material conditions of the region. So he writes, ‘At the time of reviewing the beliefs and thoughts of an old nation it is very essential to keep in mind its social and societal conditions otherwise we cannot comprehend the real dynamics of these beliefs and thoughts.’In ancient societies, two concepts originated in regard to the advent of the universe and human life, i.e. the lumbar concept and the competitive concept, about which Sibte Hasan writes:‘Two concepts are found in old civilisations regarding the creation of the universe. One lumbar, the other competitive. The lumbar concept is more ancient; because the first Man had a consciousness of the act of creation from his own birth and the birth of animals. He was indeed not aware of human procreation although by experience and observation he did find out that a child is born from the belly of a woman.“Like a woman, the bellies of cow, cattle, deer, bear, all their females expand and after the appointed time, alive and awake birth issues from a particular place in their bodies. Perhaps this process would have appeared very strange to people in the beginning. But then they would have become used to it. Gradually woman became the fountain-head of creation and a symbol of the growth of generations in their eyes.“They also gave the earth the status of mother (woman); since water indeed emerged out of earth; trees, plants and vegetations grew from the earth, and indeed waved upon the bosom of the earth. So if they gave the earth the status of Mother Earth, they were not wrong. This is the reason that all the old rituals of the growth of generations and crops in every region and nation revolve around the woman indeed.’The competitive concept of creation was that the universe came into being as a result of war between two persons or forces: for example Ishtar and Ereshkigal, Tiamat and Apsu, Yazdan i.e. light and darkness. Sibte searches for the dynamic of the competitive concept too in the contest and conflict of human society:‘The competitive concept of the creation of the universe is the mental reflection of the contest and conflict which began at a particular period in human society. This competitive concept could not have developed in a classless society; in fact it arose when society divided into classes. Monarchies were established and conflicts between them became a daily occurrence. Wars were fought, settlements destroyed, the blood of innocents was shed along with soldiers, and the winning rival became famous. Epics would be written in his honour and hymns and songs would be sung; so much so that every kind of goodness was attributed to his person and enemies were made into idols of evil.’Also Read: Ahmad Bashir, the Pakistani Writer Who Did Not Compromise His ConscienceLike these concepts of the creation of the universe, the prevalent concepts about growth of generations, fate and life after death among ancient civilisations were also a reflection of the social life and material particulars of that time. No noticeable change occurred in these beliefs and concepts for centuries. Therefore a study of ancient documents reveals that human thoughts and beliefs remained a victim of uniformity for centuries. Sibte once again points out the facts of social life while narrating the cause of this stagnation and uniformity:‘Apparently, it seems very surprising but in this entire period very little changes are actually seen within the thoughts of the people of the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates. It is true that within this duration, political transformations occurred there repeatedly; sometimes the flag of domination of the Babylonian empire rose; sometimes the Kassites and Iranians created an uproar; and sometimes the victories of Assur hastened.But the structure of society remained the same, rather old class relations remained in place, intact. So whether the control of priests of the temple or the principles of law and order; the methods of farming or the manners of industry and crafts, which were there in the period of Esarhaddon and Hammurabi; the same indeed remained prevalent during the time of Ashurbanipal and Nebuchadnezzar.At the most, the place of the Sumerian god Anu was given to Marduk, or Utu became Shamash, otherwise there was no fundamental change in the old rituals and customs and way of life; and it was indeed not possible for a change to happen because transformations in the way of life and style of thought of a society happen when the existence of that society decrees those transformations; and the existence of society indeed demands transformations when the old relations of production begin to become a hurdle in the path of societal progress.Then new and old ideas clash with each other; opposition to outdated relations and ideas begins and new thoughts and ideas are presented. The people of the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates did not feel the need to change the elements of production or productive relations for about 2000 years; the same copper tools of production and weapons of war which were used during the initial period of city-states, were prevalent in the 6th century BC at the time of Iranian dominance; neither the fundamental structure of society changed nor was there a tumult in the world of thoughts and beliefs.This is the reason neither a revolutionary personality like Zoroaster, Mani or Mazdak ever arose from the land of Iraq, nor any social movement was born which would raise a voice of protest against old superstitions and beliefs.’Fifty years on, Sibte Hasan’s Mazi Ke Mazar has attained the status of a cult classic in the Indian subcontinent. It assumes greater significance now, amid the cacophony of war, xenophobia and racism occasioned by Samuel Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis in the 1990s, and amplified by the 9/11 attack.When Sibte Hasan won the Dawood Prize, one of Pakistan’s highest and richest literary prizes for Mazi Ke Mazar back in 1969, he refused to accept it. The award was associated with one of Pakistan’s twenty-two richest families and who at the time were part and parcel of buttressing General Ayub Khan’s oppressive and dictatorial rule in the country. Pakistan’s revolutionary poet Habib Jalib wrote the following lines in praise of his fellow-traveller’s courage of refusal: “The title which would have obliterated you, you returned,You returned the comfort which would have left you disturbed,Full to the brim with the blood of the friends of the nation,You returned that chalice, my heart is full of celebration,What would never have liberated the mind, this vice,It was well that you returned that price,Bravo Sibte Hasan a living writer of the country,You returned the prize of one of the wealthy.”Note: All translations from the Urdu are the author’s own. Raza Naeem is a Pakistani social scientist, book critic and translator based in Lahore. He can be reached at: razanaeem@hotmail.com.