KARACHI, July 17: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday underlined the need for getting the new generation to become acquainted with the poetry and philosophy of Allama Iqbal.

The seminar, titled Allama Iqbal: in the eyes of Iranian thinkers, was jointly organized by the Khana Farhang Jamhoori Islam Iran, Karachi, Pakistan Academy of Letters and the Persian department of the University of Karachi.

They also stressed the importance of popularizing the Persian language, which reigned supreme in pre-Partition days in the subcontinent.

Noted man of letters Sahar Ansari spoke about the translation of Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei’s book, Iqbal mushriq ka buland sitara hey. He added that in Khamanei, Plato’s suggestion of a philosopher-king had come true.

He said he had some respectful reservations about Khamenei’s criticism of the role played by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. He also spoke about the works of other Iranian thinkers on Allama Iqbal.

The chairperson of the Persian department, Dr Rehana Afsar, said that the scholars of Iran had always enjoyed reading Allama Iqbal’s poetry. She said Iqbal had written in English and Urdu, but he had chosen Persian to express his philosophical thoughts.

Prof Abdullah Zakir, a scholar of Iqbaliyat, said that Iqbal had neither learnt the Persian language nor was he familiar with Persian idiom, yet he wrote the language with such proficiency that he earned the approbation of the native speakers.

He quoted Khamanei as saying that Iqbal would have been delighted to see present-day Iran which embodied his political ideals about a Muslim state.

Prof Sajidullah Tafhimi shed light on Khudi which was one of the key concepts in Iqbal’s poetry. He spoke about Israr-i-Khudi and Ramooz-i-beykhudi wherein Iqbal spelled out his concept of Khudi.

The Iranian consul-general, Syed Moosa Hussaini, said that Iqbal was not only the national poet of Pakistan but he was also the national poet of Iran. He said Iqbal had influenced the people of Iran in a very profound manner.

The director of Khana Farhang Iran, Prof Mohammad Mehdi, also spoke.