KARACHI, Nov 10: Speakers at a function on Saturday highlighted the various aspects of Iqbal’s poetry and personality.

The function, jointly organized by the Khana-i-Farhang Iran and the Academy of Letters, saw speakers reciting the works of Iqbal.

The president of Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu, Aftab Ahmed Khan, said Urdu literature had two poets of international stature: Ghalib and Iqbal. Their imaginations had been extremely high and they had used extremely fine language, he added.

He observed that there were four eminent poets of the Persian language: Firdousi, Rumi, Saadi and Hafiz. “It cannot be gainsaid that Iqbal is the fifth greatest poet of the Persian language.”

“Since Iqbal’s poetry bears a message, he added to our awareness of life through his poetry,” he said.

While Ghalib had raised some questions, Iqbal had come up with a comprehensive system of life and politics, he said.

Scholar Qazi Nabi Bukhsh said that two women had impressed Iqbal immensely. They were: Attiya Faizy and Iqbal’s German teacher. “Later in life Iqbal turned to more profound themes,” he observed.

The director general of the Khana-i-Farhang, Raza Zainlee, told the audience that Iqbal’s ideas had been very mature even in his youth. “Iqbal’s poetry prevented two nations — in Iran and in the subcontinent — from becoming intellectually impoverished,” he said.

Stressing the need for keeping Persian alive in Pakistan, he said: “I recently read an issue of Hamdard Naunehal which had a small dictionary. Out of the 100 words written in the dictionary, 80 were Persian,” he said.

The deputy director of the Khana-i-Farhang, Agha Jamshed Khalqi said: “Iqbal had drawn on the Sufi tradition of Persian literature extensively. His poetry reflects the thoughts of Attar, Rumi and Hafiz,” he said.