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LAHORE: The Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) witnessed many thought-provoking sessions on the inaugural day at Alhamra Art Centre on Saturday.
One of the good things about the festival is that it had more bookstalls than food stalls. The Dastango Mobile Library and rickshaw library attracted many visitors who were asking about the books and how to borrow or buy books. The lawns were decorated with buntings but cleanliness needed to be improved, especially on the lawns. The volunteers at the desk initially distributed the wrong schedule to the visitors. The sitting arrangement in the lawn was nice but chairs and other sitting arrangements needed proper adjustment; however, Alhamra staff was not keen on it.
One of the sessions at the festival on Shah Hussain, titled Ni Sayo Asi Naina Day Akhay Lagay, the panelists discussed the life and works of Punjabi classic poet Shah Hussain and how Sufi poets from Punjab had spread the message of peace and tolerance. The panelists were Sofia Baidar, Neelam Ahmed Bashir and Naseer Ahmed. The session was moderated by Khalid Nadeem Shani.
Speaking on the occasion, writer and poet Sofia Baidar said Shah Hussain’s kafis were known world over. She added that Shah Hussain represented women’s woes through his pottery. She said there were seven Sufi poets from Punjab and Shah Hussain was the one who belonged to Lahore. Baidar said Sufi poets had explicitly explained spiritualism through their poetry.
She went on to say that Shah Hussain’s poetry was full of grief as he explained the conditions of the people, especially the women, through his poetry, using rich symbols of charkha and feminine voice. She mentioned her research on Sufi poets of Punjab published under the title, Baba Farid Say Khwaja Farid Tak.
Writer and poet Neelam Ahmed Bashir said Shah Hussain was a rebel. She underlined the need for studying him by the young generation. She wondered how one could forget to read such rich poetry as was written by Shah Hussain.
Poet Naseer Ahmed said the metaphors and symbols Sufi poets used had femininity and charkha symbolised the wheel of life.
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2026
