A Treasure

By Schezee Zaidi, *World needs ‘sufi’ message of peace to counter extremism* - The News International - Pakistan
Friday, July 31, 2009

Islamabad: The world earnestly needs the message of great Sufi poets like Waris Shah, who promoted the concepts of love, unity, brotherhood and equality among human beings. The challenges of extremism and parochialism can be pushed back with the force of the mystic messages of love and peace of the Sufi poets of this region.

The great Sufi poets of this land always preached humanism and their message should be spread to counter inimical forces, Speakers participating at the Waris Shah National Literary Seminar organised by Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) here on Thursday expressed these views.

Along with literati from the twin metropolis, the delegation of writers and Intellectual from Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan visiting Punjab also participated in the seminar. PAL Chairman Fakhar Zaman presided over the ceremony, while Sarwat Mohyuddin shared views on the mystic messages of Waris Shah and the litro-social importance of his valuable works.

A 15 minutes documentary on Waris Shah produced by Allama Iqbal Open Univeristy was also screened on the occasion.

The verses of Waris Shah are a treasure trove of Punjabi phrases, idioms and sayings. His minute and realistic depiction of each detail of Punjabi life and the political situation in the 1700’s, remains unique. The amazing poetic mould that Waris Shah worked within has not been bettered by any of his successors to date. Waris Shah is not only the great poet of Punjab but also of the entire region.

The manner in which Waris Shah touched the harsh realities with sincerity of narrative is unmatched and his poetry bears the characteristics of protest and furore. It is indeed a tragedy that very little research has been done on our great mystic poets and it is high time that the new generation should research on his poetry and life and highlight its salient features, which would be the precise way to give Waris Shah his poetic right that he deserves.

Waris Shah enjoyed unparalleled glory in Punjab and the subcontinent for his deep perception and knowledge of human nature. His poetry has the elements of seriousness, romance and pathos at the same time. Undoubtedly, Waris was a great poet who has reflected all the aspects of human life in his poetry. His ‘Heer’ is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature that carries the perfect reflection of our society.

Speaking on the occasion PAL chairman said that PAL has been working since long on different projects for promotion of writings of Sufi poets and has translated Sufi poetry into seven different international languages. He underlined the need for more research into the poetry of Sufis to find fresh and new perspectives of their thoughts.

He said that PAL is acting as a bridge between poets and masses and plans to hold a number of programmes to familiarise public with the poetry of Sufis.

[Picture from http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Waris%20Shah]