Peacocks passed away; no single swan remains, Native land is home; to conceited crows

Sounds familiar? Nay, it’s not from a modern poet. It is a verse from the poetic works of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (1689-1752), the mystic poet of Sindh, and he composed it some two-and-a-half centuries ago.

What is enticing about the Sufi poetry, generally, is that it transcends geographical boundaries and eras. Secondly, it reflects the eternal love of God through a metaphor that is seemingly worldly. As a result, it has a universal appeal and becomes timeless.

Another aspect that has lent timelessness to Shah’s poetry is his depiction of the common people of Sindh, their culture, language and their everyday life. Shah Latif has talked of the working classes of Sindh and their lives. He sings of sailors, fishermen, travellers, weavers, farmers, fakirs and their aspirations. He successfully used the symbols of Sindh’s cultural life to express his spiritual philosophy. His philosophy was indeed didactic and moral, but he speaks for the whole humanity and his message is basically a message of love, which is meant to reach beyond the geographical and linguistic borders. This has made Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai a truly universal poet and that’s why Dr T. H. Sorley, his translator, wrote: “He is the real jewel of the Kalhora age. He has written poetry that deserves a wider public than it has yet attracted. His life is an epitome of the age in which he lived and of the rural circumstances of the people amongst whom he dwelt. The fact that since his poetry was composed, it has retained its universal appeal proves that the spontaneity of his message lies deep in the hearts of all classes of Sind[h].”

Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s Sufi poetry had been very popular among the natives of Sindh even in his lifetime, but it got internationally acknowledged and crossed the geographical borders when German missionary Earnst Trumpp translated some parts of Shah jo risalo into the German language and published it from Leipzig in 1866. He also compiled, with the help of Sindhi scholars, a selection of Shah’s original verses and got it published from Leipzig in 1866. Elsa Qazi, the German wife of Allama I. I. Qazi, affectionately known as ‘Mother Elsa’ among the people of Sindh, rendered this selection into English prose.

English scholar Dr T. H. Sorley translated portions of Shah jo risalo into English. Other more recently published English translations of Shah jo risalo include the ones by Agha Muhammad Yaqoob, Ameena Khameesani and Agha Saleem.

A new English translation of Shah jo risalo has just been published. Rendered into English by Mushtaq Ali Shah, a career diplomat, it includes over 3,000 verses with the original Sindhi version. A detailed intro and a Sindhi-English glossary of terms used by Shah have increased the book’s worth. The large size, 567-page book, titled Message of Shah, is published by Roshni Publications, Kandiaro, Sindh. As Shah’s poetry is composed in conformity with classical ragas and Mushtaq Ali Shah has been careful not to miss that aspect of Shah’s poetry, the book is a boon for the lovers of Sufi poetry and music.

Another book on Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai that has just appeared is titled Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. The unique feature of the book, penned by renowned scholar Prof Dr Ghulam Ali Allana, is that it includes the research articles on Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, his poetry and his philosophy in three different languages: Sindhi, English and Urdu. Karachi University’s Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Chair has published the book. The chair has been rendering invaluable services for the promotion of Shah’s poetry and his philosophy. In addition to facilitating the research on Shah and his poetry, the chair has published over 30 books in Urdu, English and Sindhi.

Prof Muhammad Saleem Memon, the director of the chair, while paying tributes to Prof Allana for his tireless research work spread over six decades, says in the preface that the chair is working on the compilation of Prof Allana’s research articles written in the three languages.

One feels that the chair and other institutions working for the promotion of Shah’s poetry and thought should get his poetry translated into as many languages as possible, especially other Pakistani languages.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2014

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