Men of letters: ‘Sufis transformed poetry’

Series of conferences on sufi poets concludes

LAHORE: Khushal Khan Khattak was a warrior-poet while Sachal Sarmast was the ecstatic saint of truth, World Punjabi Congress chairman Fakhar Zaman said on Wednesday.

Zaman made the remarks at a conference on the two at the Pakistan Academy of Letters. He said Khattak had rebelled against the tyranny of Aurangzeb who had incarcerated him for five years in Gwalior and Delhi. Zaman said the Mughal emperor had killed his son while he was detained in the Deccan.

The WPC chairman said Sarmad’s work was attuned to various surs and he had a penchant for dancing in ecstasy. Zaman said Sarmad and Khattak’s work converged on the common themes of love, tolerance, brotherhood and humanism.

He said Khattak had espoused the cause of Pashtun nationalism and gave a new direction to Pashto. Zaman said he had suffered immensely at the hands of Aurangzeb due to the machinations of rivals. He said Khattak had strived to unite warring tribes but the handiwork of evildoers had brought his efforts to naught.

The WPC chairman said Allama Iqbal had also acknowledged the lofty stature of the warrior-poet. Zaman said Khattak was the only sufi poet who held the pen in one hand and a sword in the other to foil the conspiracies of Aurazgzeb’s lackeys.

He said Sarmast was born in 1739 when the Punjab was pillaged by Nadir Shah. Zaman said he was a contemporary of poet Waris Shah. He said Sarmast was a polygot who had a command over Sindhi, Punjabi, Seraiki, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Arabic. Zaman said his work was replete with the concepts of visaal and birha. He said his poetry drew from Sindhi metaphors and similes.

Zaman said the holding of the conference brought a series of 12 conferences on sufi poets to a conclusion. He said this had no precedent in national history. Zaman said an international conference on peace and sufism would be organised in the third week of December in the city. He said 100 delegates from 40 countries would participate in the event. Zaman said a series of conferences would also be organised on folklore and cultural heroes of the nation.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2015.