Waqar Naseem Wamiq
RIYADH — Pakistan Embassy in collaboration of Bazm-e-Riaz arranged a grand event at the chancery hall on the birth anniversary of the great poet and philosopher Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The theme of the event was “Payam e Javeda’n” to pay homage to the national poet of Pakistan Allama Iqbal and the legendary regional poets Mian Muhammad Baksh, Baba Bulleh Shah, Rahman Baba and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai.
Pakistan Ambassador Manzoor ul Haq was the chief guest. DHM Hassan Wazir and Dr. Khalid Abbas a noted writer from Madinah Al Munawarah was the guest of honors. The program was presided by Riaz Rathore and conducted ably by Tassaduq Gilani.
Speaking on the occasion Ambassaor Haq highlighted the philosophical thoughts of Allama Iqbal and focused on his unique message of “Khudi”. He said most of the works done on Allama Iqbal in the Arab world were done by the Egyptian writers, scholars and poets. Abdul Wahab Azzam was the first who introduced Iqbal to the Arab world, and Azzam was also the first Egyptian Ambassador to Pakistan. Azzam translated Allama’s poetry into Arabic, and he also translated the Allama’s historic speech of 1931.
“Abulhassan Nadwi published Iqbal’s works from Beirut, Muhammad Hassan Al Azmi and Sheikh Saawi Al Sha’alan later published some more works of Iqbal, this further boosted Iqbal’s popularity in the Arab world,” Haq added.
“Iqbal’s two most famous poems “Shikwah” and “Jawab-e-Shikwah” translated into Arabic and gained much popularity, were sung by the most famous Arabian singer Umm-e-Kalthoom,” Haq continued.
The envoy elaborated that in Damascus Poet Abdul Moeen Al Maloukhi, writer & critic Zaheer Zaza, in Yemen former Minister Mahmoud Al Zubairi made remarkable efforts to introduce Iqbal into their respective regions and published his translated poetry and books whereas in Egypt many prominent Egyptian writers including Taha Hussain, Farooq Shosha, Dr.Mujeeb Al Masri, Dr. Ahmed Al Maoud, Taufiq Al Hakeem, Dr. Ibrahim Muhammad Ibrahim, Dr. Jamaluddin, Dr. Ahmed Saeed, Dr. Hana Abdulfatah, Dr. Abdul Wadood Shibli, Dr. Atif Al Iraqi, Muhammad Kamal Jaffar and Dr. Muhammad Shibli wrote articles and books on Iqbal.
He mentioned that Mahmoud Abbas translated a book of Iqbal, which was highly praised by two prominent professors of Al Azhar University — Abdul Aziz Al Marai and Abdul Hakeem Mahmoud.
The guest of honor Dr. Khalid Abbas, the eminent speaker of the evening, said, “Iqbal was a great seeker of the unification of the Muslims and his message attracted millions of peoples across the world. Iqbal has given hope to the Muslims of subcontinent and they found their answer in the shape of Pakistan.”
Dr. Khalid recalled many of his journeys in the Arab world in search of the great Arab researchers of Iqbal and met with many of the poets and scholars who translated and highlighted the works of Iqbal’s poetry. Dr. Khalid also praised the efforts of Ambassador Haq for the promotion of Iqbaliyat during his tenure in Egypt.
Earlier, the program began with the recitation of verses from Holy Qur’an by Qari Naimatullah. Tassaduq Gilani presented some couplets of a Naat and Waqar Naseem Wamiq paid rich tribute to Allama Iqbal in his poetry.
Prof. Dr. Asif Qureshi and Hesham Syed presented their articles on Iqbal respectively. Their articles widely covered the life, achievements, philosophy and poetry of Iqbal.
Sarhan Mustafa and Tanveer Mian presented Iqbal’s poem “Khudi Ka ser e niha’n La illa ha il lallah” and received a big round of applause from the audience, they were supported by musicians Muhammad Ashfaq on harmonium, Manoha Fazil on tabla and Muhammad Wahab on guitar.
Dr. Erum Qalbani narrated the life story and significant message of great poet of Sindh Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in a masterly compiled format which was highly praised by the audience. “We can find the universal message of love in Bhittai’s ‘Shah-jo-Risalo’ (the message of Shah) and it provides a proper remedy to our social and moral ills.”
Sadaf Rasheed a Sindhi native ,presented a song of Sachal Sir Mast in her melodious voice.
Javid Akhtar Javid presented his article on Mian Muhammad Bakhsh a noble poet of Punjab especially the Potohar region, “The creator of great poetic masterpiece (Saif-ul-Malook) Mian Baksh was born in 1830. He studied Fikah, Hadith and Tafseer, he was fluent in Arabic, Persian and regional Gojri & Kashmiri languages. “Be patient, patience will be rewarded, so the Holy Book informs us, Patience unlocks all the doors of difficulties,” was the couplet of Mian’s poetry.
Dr. Saeed Ahmed Waince captivated the audience by presenting the poetry of Mian Muhammad Baksh in his classical voice, Rana Khadim Hussain and Jamil Khan also presented their poetry in Punjabi and Pashto respectively.
Sadeeq Akbar talked about the legendary Pashto poet Rahman Baba in his article, “Abdulrehman aka Rahman Baba was born in 1671 in a village near Peshawar, and his collection of poetry consists of nearly 8,000 couplets. His poetry was later translated in English by James and Robert Watson,” he said.
Akbar further elaborated the message of Rahman Baba, “If you attach yourself to this world, you tend to lose the next world, you are likely to lose the Master, the real Lord of all the worlds but if you attach yourself to the Master, you are likely to get the best of both the worlds.”
Tanveer Mian presented his article on Baba Bulleh Shah one of the greatest poets of Punjab. His article was a nice combination of English, Urdu and Punjabi languages. “Bulleh Shah was born in 1680, he was equally popular among all communities and scholars, and from his poetry works we can find Islamic thoughts and literature, his pure living and divine writings spread his fame far and wide.” Tanveer than presented a famous Punjabi poem of Baba Bulleh Shah “Bulha ki Jana mein kon” in his rich and soulful voice.
Bazm-e-Riaz awarded one of his senior member Tanveer Mian for his exemplary services for the Bazm, and Ambassador Haq presented him the shield.
Riaz Rathore in his vote of thanks stated that it is one of the most memorable program held at the embassy and this credit goes to the ambassador, the team of Bazm-e-Riaz, participants and the audience.
