Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (1102 AH/1690 AD-1165AH/1752AD), one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language, has some resemblances with Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273): both were sufis who expressed their metaphysical views through poetry, both drew strength from Islamic traditions and used its symbols. And the tradition has it that when they composed poetry in an ecstatic mood, they did not commit it to writing and it was for their disciples to note down the verses and compile them.

Shah Latif’s poetry, compiled as ‘Shah jo risalo’, is the most celebrated of the Sindhi works of poetry. Some scholars have mentioned an interesting event while recounting the history of the compilation of the text of ‘Shah jo risalo’. According to them, the disciples of Shah Latif would note down the verses that Shah sahib uttered in ecstasy. With the passage of time, the number of verses recorded increased and the disciples compiled them in three volumes. Once when Shah sahib was meditating beside the famous Karar Lake, the disciples presented the three volumes before Shah sahib who threw them into the lake, as he was an unassuming sufi in the true spirit of Islamic mysticism. Disciples were greatly disappointed. Shah sahib, looking at their grievance, allowed them to note down and compile the verses. The followers and dervishes began compiling the poetry again. Among them was also a woman named Mai Niamat who knew a large number of Shah’s verses by heart.

As a result, different manuscripts of Shah’s poetry emerged with slightly different texts. Many researchers tried to compile an authentic and authoritative version of Shah’s poetry. Among them was Muhammad Ismail Khahori, who about a hundred years after Shah’s death compiled such a version and named it ‘Ganj’, or treasure. Other scholars who researched and compiled such collections after critical evaluation include Mirza Qaleech Baig, Dr Gurbakhshani, Allama I. I. Qazi, Dr Dawood Pota, Kalyan Advani, Siddiq Memon, Tara Chand Shauqi Ram, Ghulam Mustafa Qasmi, Muhammad Usman Diplai and Ibrahim Nasarpuri. As a result, there are about 50 different versions of ‘risalo’. As we know ‘Shah jo risalo’ is divided into chapters titled ‘sur’, or musical notes. But the number of actual surs has been somewhat controversial among Latif scholars. Dr Nabi Bakhsh Baloch, for instance, did not consider ‘Sur Kedaro’ as Shah’s original work though some scholars include it in ‘risalo’. The opinion is divided on the actual number of surs originally included in ‘risalo’.

Nabi Bakhsh Baloch (1917-2011), a renowned scholar, linguist, academician and lexicographer, worked relentlessly for years to compile an authentic and authoritative version of ‘Shah jo risalo’. Finally he came up with a version based on the research he carried out on all the published versions and about 50 manuscripts of ‘Shah jo risalo’, many of them very rare. Dr Baloch included all 36 surs in his annotated edition. He not only penned a biography of Shah Latif for this edition, but he also wrote explanatory notes and glossary with diacritic marks. Published in 2009, it was well-received and now Karachi’s Sindhica Academy reprinted it this year. It is one of the most comprehensive and authentic versions of ‘Shah jo risalo’.