"You Are a Puzzle-lock": A Heideggerian Analysis of Perplexity in Nāz Khayālawī's Sufi Poem

Abstract: This article is a phenomenological analysis of the Urdu poem Tum ek gōrakh dhandā hō by the Pakistani Sufi poet Nāz Khayālawī (d. 2010). It approaches the poet's engagement with perplexity ( ḥayrah ), as an ontological feature of reality, through the lens of Heidegger's understanding of truth where concealment ( lēthe ) is central to the event of unconcealment ( alētheia ). The article demonstrates how a Heideggerianphenomenological exploration enables us to uncover the dynamic of un/concealment (or un/veiling) in the Sufi tradition's understanding of Being and intelligibility. The rich possibilities of interpretative pluralism and polysemy—through the explorative nonfinality evoked by Being as ḥayrah —are explored as well. The article's argument not only allows for fresh extensions of Heidegger's phenomenological approach to unexplored cultural and historical territory, but also adds to Heidegger scholarship's recent tentative attempts at bringing together Heidegger and Sufi poetry.