The exalted Master - Sufi Shah Abdul Latif
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Syed I. R. Kazimi
In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilization and Moenjodaro as its capital and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi Saints.
Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi Saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teachings through poetry and music both instruments sublime and commands a very large following not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians.
The Shah, in the words of Abdul Hamid Akhund, is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindhi's culture; his message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh; one of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: Oh God, may ever you on Sindh bestow abundance rare; Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.
The Shah's poetry is his tool for preaching the real Islam - the religion of man's peace, within and without. That is the Sufi thought - divine love. Love; driven by a surge in man's longing for return to his Creator, with qualifications to earn His bounties in the hereafter.
The modern West is familiar with Sindh's Sufi culture and history, largely from the enormous studies written by the late Prof. Dr. Annexarie Schimmel, but that is not the only German connection with our living Sufi heritage. Shah Abdul Latif's poetic works were first compiled and published at Leipzig with the title "The Risalo" by Ernest Trumpp in 1866. Its second edition, of course, was published in Bombay by Kazi Ibrahin.
Since then, The Risalo has been researched and republished by many admiring scholars - Muslims, Hindus and Christians. The Culture Department of the Govet7lment of Si11dh has made commendable contributions to making published material available to an ever-widening readership.
The Shah's teachings, dressed in poetry and music, constitute the real soul of Pakistan. The all pervading theme of his poetry is Divine Love. That, of course, is common with all Sufi Saints, but what singles out and perpetuates The Master's work is the allegorical presentations of his teachings. His diction appealed to all - the literate and the illiterate, the rich and the poor - and he wrote in that Sindhi which was then the language of commoners and Persian was the language of officials and elite. The commoners understood him readily, for he also employed, as characters in his poetry, the peasants, weavers, fishermen, sailors, iron smiths etcetera - all the professions prevalent then in this land. Drawing from the different folklores and ballads popular in his times, the Shah used those stories and the teachings of Islam as warps and whefts, weaving them into exquisite fabrics of thoughts and delivering them in his own music, which attracted and engrossed those who converged around him.
He fascinated and captivated his generation, thus spreading the real Islam far and wide, along the Indus, from Sindh in its south to Punjab and beyond in its north. The large following which the Shah's teachings command, can be gauged from the fact that The Risalo has been translated into several languages including English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic and Bengali.
In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilization and Moenjodaro as its capital and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi Saints.
Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi Saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teachings through poetry and music both instruments sublime and commands a very large following not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians.
The Shah, in the words of Abdul Hamid Akhund, is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindhi's culture; his message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh; one of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: Oh God, may ever you on Sindh bestow abundance rare; Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.
The Shah's poetry is his tool for preaching the real Islam - the religion of man's peace, within and without. That is the Sufi thought - divine love. Love; driven by a surge in man's longing for return to his Creator, with qualifications to earn His bounties in the hereafter.
The modern West is familiar with Sindh's Sufi culture and history, largely from the enormous studies written by the late Prof. Dr. Annexarie Schimmel, but that is not the only German connection with our living Sufi heritage. Shah Abdul Latif's poetic works were first compiled and published at Leipzig with the title "The Risalo" by Ernest Trumpp in 1866. Its second edition, of course, was published in Bombay by Kazi Ibrahin.
Since then, The Risalo has been researched and republished by many admiring scholars - Muslims, Hindus and Christians. The Culture Department of the Govet7lment of Si11dh has made commendable contributions to making published material available to an ever-widening readership.
The Shah's teachings, dressed in poetry and music, constitute the real soul of Pakistan. The all pervading theme of his poetry is Divine Love. That, of course, is common with all Sufi Saints, but what singles out and perpetuates The Master's work is the allegorical presentations of his teachings. His diction appealed to all - the literate and the illiterate, the rich and the poor - and he wrote in that Sindhi which was then the language of commoners and Persian was the language of officials and elite. The commoners understood him readily, for he also employed, as characters in his poetry, the peasants, weavers, fishermen, sailors, iron smiths etcetera - all the professions prevalent then in this land. Drawing from the different folklores and ballads popular in his times, the Shah used those stories and the teachings of Islam as warps and whefts, weaving them into exquisite fabrics of thoughts and delivering them in his own music, which attracted and engrossed those who converged around him.
He fascinated and captivated his generation, thus spreading the real Islam far and wide, along the Indus, from Sindh in its south to Punjab and beyond in its north. The large following which the Shah's teachings command, can be gauged from the fact that The Risalo has been translated into several languages including English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic and Bengali.