ISLAMABAD: Faqir Qadir Bakhsh Bedel had a profound influence on Sufism and was a great thinker and intellectual with command over several languages, the chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) said during an online conference marking the 148th anniversary of the renowned Sindhi Sufi poet.

The event was held by PAL in association with the Bedel Memorial Committee.

Chairman Dr Yousaf Khushk presided over the Bedel Conference, while Hafeez Khan was invited as the chief guest and Dr Nabila Rehman as the guest of honour. Among those who read articles were Dr Khizr Noshahi, Taj Joyo, Dr Adil Soomro, Ayaz Gul, Dr Rashidullah Makhmour Bukhari, Qurban Mangi and Bedel Memorial Committee Sukkur Secretary Akhtar Dargahi. The conference was moderated by Dr Hakim Ali Bardo and Dr Sadia Tahir.

Dr Khushk said that Sindh has been the abode of saints, Sufis and religious leaders. Prominent Sufi poets such as Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and Hazrat Sachal Sarmast taught peace, brotherhood, love and harmony, he said.

“Among these Sufis is the seven-language Sufi poet Faqir Qadir Bakhsh Bedel. He is revered in Sindh as one of the great poets and Sufi saints of his time. His writings are still a beacon for people today. Bedel opened his eyes in the Rohri area of Sukkur. His period spans from 1814 AD to 1872 AD,” he said.

Mr Khan said Bedel has a prominent place among Sufi poets, adding: “He raised awareness of public rights and national awareness in his poetry. He was a scholar of Seraiki and Sindhi as well as Urdu, Arabic and Persian. He has 36 important books, other than three books, they are all in Persian and Arabic. Bedel’s poetry is in 18 selected ragas which directly touch hearts. His poetry is alive in the hearts of the people and not in the books.”

Dr Rehman said that the philosophy of love in Bedel’s poetry is connected to Sufis and has its own distinct identity.

“Bedel’s love is an example of universality in which there is no status of material existence. Bedel describes universality in metaphors of colour and colourlessness. He believes love is the eternal truth and the way of salvation. His poetry of love seems to have settled in him,” she said.

Mr Joyo said Bedel not only maintained the intellectual continuity of his predecessors, especially Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and Sachal Sarmast, but also gave them a twist. A study of the poetry of Faqir Qadir Bakhsh Bedel shows that he was both Sahib-i-Jamal and Sahib-i-Jalal Sufi, he said.

Dr Soomro said that Bedel Faqir was strongly opposed to the capitalist and feudal classes of society, while Mr Gul said Bedel was an important poet, thinker and scholar of his time and was inspired by Sachal Sarmast.

Mr Dargahi said that Faqir Qadir Bedal was the first Urdu poet in Sindh and a contemporary of Ghalib. Historically, he also wrote Suf ikalam and Urdu ghazal and kafiin both Hindi and Rakhta traditions of Urdu poetry.

Dr Noshahi said that Bedel traveled extensively to different places and shrines.

Mansoor Leghari said that after Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Qadir Bakhsh Bedal is one of the great classical poets of Sindh, while Dr Bukhari said that philanthropy and patriotism and love for his land, soil and inhabitants is a colour of Bedal mysticism.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2020