KARACHI: A carefully curated coffee-table book celebrating the enduring legacy of Hakim Mohammed Said was launched at a ceremony held at the Pearl Continental Hotel on Wednesday.
The book — A Legacy of Wisdom: Bait al-Hikmah, a City of Learning and Culture — tells the remarkable story of Hakim Said without being grandiose.
Speaking as the chief guest at the ceremony, former federal minister and ex-senator Javed Jabbar said the book was a labour of love, just as Madinat al-Hikmah was an endeavour of love.
“This is a feast, not an ordinary coffee-table book,” he said.
Addressing the audience as a special guest, former federal minister Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rehman pointed out that great universities are not made by buildings but by research work. “Today the countries that have forged ahead are the ones that excel in knowledge and understanding.”
He also mentioned some extraordinary facets of new technologies that make everyone realise that reality is really stranger than fiction.
Incumbent Hamdard University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Imran Amin said, “Hakim Said created an oasis in the desert; Madinat al-Hikmah now boasts no less than 10,000 trees. That’s not all, as the total number of students studying there at any time tops 10,000”.
“However, what Hakim Said created should not just be chronicled but also taken forward,” said Prof Amin. “That’s why we are today striving to ensure that legacy meets technology.”
In her vote of thanks, Hamdard Foundation President and Hamdard University Chancellor Sadia Rashid pointed out that former VC Prof Dr Shabeeb-ul-Hasan had come up with the idea of the book launched.
She also recalled the assistance and support that her mother had extended to her father.
Designer of books Tannaz Minwalla thanked Ms Rashid for affording her the opportunity to design the coffee-table book. She mentioned by name all the persons who helped complete the project, including Prof Malahat Kaleem Sherwani who carried out the initial research work.
Former VC Hakim Abdul Hannan quoted pieces written by Hakim Said himself which revealed that he got the idea of establishing a city of learning and knowledge when he was praying and meditating in front of the Holy Kaaba.
Featuring a beautifully crafted narrative and equally striking photographs in a variety of formats and sizes, the book traces the journey from the establishment of Hamdard Dawakhana in Delhi to the opening of Hamdard Matabs in Karachi, and from the opening of each of the seven faculties of Hamdard University at Madinat al-Hikmah to the establishment of an Eastern Medicine hospital and two schools in its vicinity.
Former education secretary Mehtab Akbar Rashdi, former senior bureaucrat Shafiqur Rehman Paracha and Dr Naveed-uz-Zafar of the Hamdard Group of Organisations also spoke at the ceremony.
Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2026
