When a great man dies

For years behind our ken

The light he leaves

Behind him, lies

Upon the paths of men.

These lines by the 19^th Century American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) flitted through my mind when the news of Malik Ghulam Muhammad Noor Rabbani Khar’s demise was broken to me a few hours after his passing from nature to eternity.

It seemed as if Longfellow had written these lines for him. While travelling to Khar Gharabi, in Kot Addu tehsil of Muzaffargarh district, to condole his death, I kept on thinking about the traits and trends that he embodied. It would be pertinent to put down a few sentences about the Khar tribe, which is a shortened version of Kharrals.

The men of the tribe are “known to be taller than average, with marked features and legendary energy and endurance”. Rabbani Khar sahib had all those traits. Tehmina Durrani quotes from some scholar who described Khars as being “wasteful in marriage expenditure, hospitable to travellers, thievish and with little taste for agriculture.”

Rabbani sahib was, of course, very hospitable and drew great pleasure from throwing feasts to entertain his friends and relatives. However, he didn’t have some of the other traits enumerated above. A Persian proverb holds that they are “rebellious and ought to be slain”. That is said because Khars were often far too independent to be reined in by the invading forces.

Now reverting to Malik Mohammad Noor Rabbani Khar, in several of my encounters with him, I found in him an enigmatic figure in whom multiplicity of currents intersected. Stark contradictions found a very convenient synthesis in his persona that distinguished him from the rest of his brothers and peers in politics.

In utter contrast to his swashbuckling brother, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, who once personified glamour in politics, Rabbani Khar was quite contained and relatively down to earth. He led a tasteful life which had a tinge of aristocratic style but his heart pulsated for the poor and the dispossessed.

Free kitchen for the poor, which runs continuously at his village, speaks for his human nature. Every summer, Rabbani Khar arranged a free eye clinic at the local hospital. Thousands of people have benefitted from that facility. People afflicted with ophthalmological ailments congregate at Khar Gharabi from far and wide and are provided food, shelter and medical care for which they don’t have to spend a pittance.

Unlike the unfortunate norm in contemporary politics, which has been reduced to the business of accumulating riches, our protagonist’s politics was embedded in altruism.

It must be mentioned here that his wife, Mrs Nina Khar, and his daughters, run several institutions where poor children get free education. A scion of a feudal family and one of the most successful politicians, Rabbani Khar was a paragon of philanthropy and the decency that stems from our cultural ethos.

That was one way of unravelling his enigmatic personality in which resided variegated currents. Throughout his political career that began in 1985 and lasted until 2018, Rabbani Khar propounded and promoted a creed of politics that eventually became his mark of distinction.

Unlike the unfortunate norm in contemporary politics, which has been reduced to the business of accumulating riches, our protagonist’s politics was embedded in altruism. For a politician, he was unusually straightforward and didn’t believe in mincing words.

Rabbani Khar was a progressive agriculturalist of the district. He was a very methodical grower of sugarcane and other crops. When asked the reason for not venturing into setting up his own sugar mill, he replied with a contented smile that agriculture was providing him enough for his and his family’s sustenance.

Probably one of his brothers had tried his hand at industry and failed. Rabbani sahib was sagacious not to tread that path. He also had an uncanny love for nature that tied him to the land. Rabbani Agricultural Farm at Khar Gharbi symbolises his love for nature and wildlife.

Connected to this aspect was his strict adherence to tradition which he imbibed from his forbears. While not shirking from modern trends, holding on to the ‘tradition’ had blessed him with a balance that was cultivated through him in his children and grandchildren. Strangely enough, many well educated people with a smattering of the modern social norms find it hard to synthesise modernity and tradition in their practical lives as Rabbani sahib had done. Worryingly, such figures are becoming scantier in our society, which consequently is weaning us away from the ‘tradition’ rooted in our history and our geography.

The balance which his personality reflected was coupled with his far-sighted, sagacious and inquisitive nature. An added dimension was his self-confidence that compensated in good measure his lack of formal education. All his children went to the best educational institutions and have significant international exposure but Rabbani sahib’s opinion in familial matters was always respected.

His son Raza Khar is the youngest MNA in the political history of Pakistan. His daughter Hina Rabbani Khar, apart from being highly respected as a modern-day icon for young men and women, has been one of the few diligent and insightful foreign ministers that Pakistan ever had.

Like other Khars, he was also fond of shikar and a passion for well-cooked food. His own culinary expertise was impeccable. Rabbani sahib lived a full life that spanned over 74 years. Probably he didn’t have any regret but one. He must be longing to see Raza Khar stepping up the aisle.

To conclude this tribute to a person who was indeed unique, I have to say I remember him with utmost fondness as an incarnation of humanism and supplicate for his departed soul. May Allah grant him the highest rank in jannah. With Socrates, I recite this for a dear departed:

Be of good cheer about death

And know this as a truth, no evil

Can happen to a good man

Either in life or after death.