July 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 26, 1429

ISLAMABAD, July 29: Mystic poet Waris Shah’s thoughts can enlighten us to find solutions of many problems of our age, said Shafqat Tanveer Mirza in his presidential remarks at a literary conference on Waris Shah, one of the greatest Punjabi Sufi poets, organised by the Pakistan Academy of Letters here on Tuesday.

Shafqat Tanveer Mirza said that Barrister Aziz has discovered a new dimension of Waris Shah’s personality, writings and has provided us an opportunity to extend our research.

Syed Waris Shah (1706 – 1798), who was born into a reputed Syed family in the village of Jandiala Sher Khan, Sheikhupura District, was one of the greatest Sufi poets of Punjab.

He has touched the harsh realities with sincerity. His poetry bears the characteristics of restlessness and tumult. The reason of his popularity is his public tone. He highlighted the social problems in a way that is uncommon. He urged the young generation to do research on his poetry and life.

Iftikhar Arif, Chairman, Pakistan Academy of Letters, Dr Shaista Nuzhat and Veer Sipahi shed light on the life and work of the poet.

Taimoor Afghani and Waseem Abbas paid poetic tributes to Waris Shah. Prof Sajjad Sheikh rendered English translation of Waris Shah’s poetry.

Iftikhar Arif said that Waris Shah is not only the great poet of Punjab but also of Pakistan. It is our tragedy that though we know about the poets of foreign countries but we have very little knowledge of the major poets of our own languages. Our national literature remains incomplete unless we include the literature of other languages in our national steam.

Dr Shaista Nuzhat said that Waris Shah has done public regional and universal poetry at the same time. He beautifully included common rituals and vernacular in his poetry. His work Heer Ranjha, based on the folk tale of Heer and her lover Ranjha is the perfect reflection of our society. Heer Ranjha is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature.