‘Baidal promoted love for people’
Thinker and intellectual Faqir Qadir Bakhsh Baidal had a great personality. His command over seven regional languages meant that his work had a profound influence on Sufism.
This was stated by Dr Yousaf Khushk, chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) in an online conference to mark the 152nd anniversary of renowned Sindhi Sufi poet and intellectual Baidal. The conference had been organised by PAL in association with the Baidal Memorial Committee of Sindh.
Dr Khushk said that Sindh is the home of saints, Sufis and religious leaders, producing poets such as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai who taught peace, brotherhood, love, and harmony. Among these Sufis is Baidal.
Speaking seven languages including Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi and Hindi, Dr Khushk said that he is revered as one of the greatest poets and Sufis and saints of his time.
His writings are still a beacon for people today, the PAL chairman said.
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Giving a brief overview of Baidal’s life, Dr Khuskh said that Baidal had opened his eyes in Rohri in 1814. In his 58 years on earth, he wrote many books focussing on philanthropy, peace and tolerance.
Dr Khuskh said that Baidal’s poetry can be divided into two broad categories. One is mystical and the other is love - both of which are equally popular.
Literary Hafeez Khan said that Baidal enjoys a prominent place amongst the Sufi poets from Sindh for creating awareness about public rights through his poetry. Even though he wrote 36 books, all but three in Persian and Arabic, Baidal’s poetry continues to not just live on in these manuscripts, but also in the hearts of the people, Hafeez said.
Dr Nabila Rehman said that the philosophy of love in Baidal’s poetry aligned with the teachings of Sufis who preceded the 19th-century poet. Despite that, he crafted his distinct identity by combining local traditions with his philosophy of love and the teachings of scripture. “Baidal’s love is an example of universality in which there is no status for material existence,” Dr Rehman said, adding that the Sufi described universality in metaphors of the coloured and the colourless.
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“He believes love is the eternal truth and the path to salvation. His poetry of love seems to have settled in him,” she added.
Taj Joyo said that Baidal not only maintained the intellectual continuity of his predecessors, especially Bhittai and Sachal Sarmast, he also gave them a new twist.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2020.