ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: Pakistan’s renewed interest in the 13th century Persian scholar and Sufi poet Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, as evinced in the celebration of his 800th birth anniversary in the capital city on Tuesday, follows the official endorsement recently given by President Pervez Musharraf for the establishment of the Sufi Society of Pakistan.

In his speech at the function hosted by the Iranian embassy and Khana Farhang, Federal Minister for Culture Dr G.G. Jamal said Maulana Rumi had been looked upon in the West as the Sufi who introduced the concept of tolerance.

The mystic poet asks us to reflect and ponder on our personal lives so that we become accustomed to discovering the hidden beauty in the music of life, he added.

The minister also urged the West, which was fond of waging wars in every theatre of conflict, to follow new approaches of peaceful resolution of life’s quarrel, an approach that Sufis recommended, for the sake of humanity.

Iranian Ambassador Masha Allah Shakeri dwelt on the cultural and spiritual links between his country and Pakistan. Study of kindred poetry of Allama Iqbal and Maulana Rumi strengthen these ties, he added.

Pakistan Academy of Letters Chairman Iftikhar Arif, quoting from the Persian writings of Maulana Rumi, said: “In the journey to unveil the hidden face of his Beloved, we come across a unique kind of poetry that has few parallells in the world of literature.”

Prof Faiza Mirza said though the Maulana wrote high poetry of seriousness, he used words and metaphors that had roots in the language of the people.

These qualities were demonstrated in the torrent of poems recited by Sajjada Nashin Pir Nasiruddin, who recited a number of Persian poetry that he had composed in the same metre of the great saint of Turkey.

Dr Ghazanfar Mehdi, who was conducting the proceedings, came out with a suggestion that the Persian Cultural Institute at Islamabad housing a collection of more than 100,000 valuable Persian books should get a building of its own.