KARACHI, May 31: The finer points of Sufi poet Hazrat Sachal Sarmast’s Urdu poetry were discussed by Prof Altaf Aseem in his lecture organised by the Sindhi department of the Federal Urdu University at the university’s Abdul Haq Complex on Tuesday.

Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof Dr Mohammad Qaiser presided over the talk.

Prof Aseem, a former director of Sachal Chair at Shah Latif University, interspersed his short lecture with a few audio clippings of Sachal Sarmast’s poetry sung at or outside Sufi shrines. He began his speech by giving a brief biographical sketch of the poet.

“He was born in 1735 at Daraza Sharif, a few kilometers from Ranipur. The poet’s father passed away when he was very young, after which his uncle (father’s younger brother) looked after him and played a major role in his upbringing.”

Prof Aseem said Sachal Sarmast was fond of solitude even when he was a child. Sachal was a multilingual man who composed poems in four languages (Sindhi, Saraeki, Persian and Urdu) though there was a debate regarding him being well-versed in seven languages because of which he was dubbed ‘haft zaban’.

He said the history of Urdu poetry in Sindh could be divided into three periods: 1700-1747, 1747-1843 and 1843-1900. He said Sachal Sarmast belonged to the second phase (1747-1843). He said the poet was known for his moral rectitude and uprightness, as a result of which he was called Sachal. His real name was Abdul Wahab.

Prof Aseem said there’s no evidence that Sachal Sarmast had any connection with those centres where Urdu was blossoming (Lucknow etc) in his time. In fact in the 90 years of his life he hadn’t even travelled beyond Larkana, he told the discerning gathering. It was a historic miracle (tareekhi maujaza) that Sachal Sarmast was able to write in the Urdu language.

He said the marked feature of the poet’s art was his spiritual leanings. He then quoted a poem, Mujh ko tera jadu laga, na sabr na araam hai, and then played its audio recording. He pointed out that at the heart of his poetry lay the concept of ishq (consuming love) and wahdatul wujood (one in all, all in one). He said God had created man as His best creature and was preferred to angels because man could indulge in ishq. Angels couldn’t experience ishq, which was why the phrase ahsan-i-taqweem was associated with human beings alone. Talking about the technical aspect of Sachal Sarmast’s Urdu poetry, he said it was fluid and meaningful.

Prof Aseem said in today’s troubled times it’s Sachal Sarmast’s message of peace and love that could prove to be a panacea, since he had often written that tafreeq (discord) was not the destination of man. The real quest was ‘to know thyself’, to know your real identity. God was Rabul Aalameen, not Rabul Muslimeen.

He rounded off his lecture by requesting the audience that we must remember the message that Sufi saints or faqeers tried to propagate.

After the talk a book, Sindhi zaban aur adab ki taraqqi: aik tehqiqi jaeza, was launched. The book is a compilation of research papers read out at a conference organised by the Sindhi department in March.

In his presidential address, Prof Dr Mohammad Qaiser lauded the efforts of the department in holding the lecture and publishing the book, and promised that every three to six months a lecture on a Sufi poet would be held at the university. He emphasised that Sachal Sarmast’s message should not only be preached but also practised.

Dr Nawaz Ali Shoq, Seemi Naghmana and Salman D. Mohammad also spoke.