PESHAWAR: Rahman Baba Adabi Jirga started the three-day annual Urs celebrations of Sufi poet Rahman Baba in Hazar Khwani here on Friday to mark the 358th death anniversary of the 17th century bard.

Delegates from parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including tribal districts, Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Afghanistan attended the event held at Rahman Baba Complex. Earlier, they arranged Quran Khwani at the shrine and delivered speeches on teachings of Rahman Baba. A large number of people from different walks of life visited the shrine and paid their respects to the Sufi poet.

Peshawar district nazim Mohammad Asim Khan laid a floral wreath at the shrine of Rahman Baba and took a round of various parts of the complex, including library and mushaira hall. He said that one room adjacent to the mushaira hall would be handed over to the members of the Adabi Jirga and also issued directives to the relevant officials to ensure availability of reading facilities at Rahman Baba Public Library. He directed the duty staff to ensure security and cleanliness around the shrine.

Talking to members of the Adabi Jirga, Mr Khan said that the mushaira hall would be soon available for literary activities after completion of renovation work. He said that literary services of Rahman Baba for spreading peace would always be remembered.

“Sufi thoughts of Rahman Baba are still fresh and more relevant today than ever before. An emblem of spiritualism, humility and universal brotherhood, Rahman Baba shall remain a perpetual fountain of inspiration for people,” the nazim said.

Gulmast Khan Malang, a staunch devotee of the Sufi poet from Tirah valley, said that he had been regularly paying respects to the poet for the last 40 years and every year returned to his village with a renewed spirit of spiritual solace.

Pashto poet Yousaf Ali Dilsoz, chief of the Adabi Jirga, told this scribe that the organisation would soon start holding regular meetings regarding literary activities after taking charge of an office close to the mushaira hall. He said that a seminar on Saturday (today) and a Pashto mushaira on Sunday at the Baba’s shrine were part of the celebrations.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2019