LAHORE’S Bazm-i-Iqbal — a literary organisation working under the aegis of the Punjab government for the promotion of Allama Iqbal’s poetry and philosophy — is to be merged with another literary body, as per the information making the rounds in literary circles. This simply is a plan to kill an esteemed organisation that has been working for a national cause for over 75 years.

It shows how little importance our bureaucracy attaches to a body that was established especially for promoting our national ideology based on Iqbal’s thought. The decision could not have come at a worse time as Bazm-i-Iqbal seems to have received a shot in the arm ever since Prof Dr Tehseen Firaqi took over as its director. Under Prof Firaqi’s directorship, Bazm-i-Iqbal has not only published a large number of new books on Iqbal but has also been holding symposia, lectures and introductory classes on Iqbal, not to mention its research journal named Iqbal. Its treasured library is open for students of research, especially ones seeking rare books on Iqbal.

Bazm-i-Iqbal has recently launched a series of books on Iqbal for children and a special focus is now on spreading Iqbal’s thought among young students. These are just a few of the ideas that Prof Firaqi has been putting to work. Prof Firaqi, a well-known researcher and Iqbal scholar, has served as head of Punjab University’s Urdu department. Aside from over 60 books and scores of research papers — many of them on Iqbal and his philosophy — Firaqi has also taught at Tehran University’s Urdu department. But instead of properly decorating Prof Firaqi with an award for his contributions to Urdu and Iqbal Studies as well as Bazm-i-Iqbal, it has been decided to fold up an organisation that he has been serving with love and dedication.

While the Punjab government has been carrying out some remarkably good work for the general public and its projects are being appreciated widely, it is surprising to note that some officers of the Punjab government are bent upon destroying this image with closing down a literary body despite the fact that some of the ongoing projects of Bazm-i-Iqbal need just a little more time to complete. It may be noted that Bazm-i-Iqbal does not require huge funds as it does not have any large set up. The Bazm-i-Iqbal team working diligently on a modest budget needs support and does not deserve culling. In fact, all other academic, literary and cultural organisations, too, whether at Lahore or Karachi or elsewhere, must be supported by the federal and the relevant provincial governments as they present a soft image of Pakistan to the world.

Bazm-i-Iqbal has recently published two more books on Allama Iqbal. Though our bureaucracy may be least interested in them, these books need serious attention. The first one is Talkhees-i-Khutbaat-i-Iqbal. This is an abridgement of Iqbal’s famous lectures titled ‘The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam’ and has been published under Bazm-i-Iqbal’s series on teaching guides for the new generations.

Abridging a book is always difficult and abridging a work on philosophic thought is even more so. This collection of the lectures, originally in English, has been translated into Urdu by some scholars, notably Syed Nazeer Nizai and Waheed Ishrat, and several commentaries on it, too, have been published. But making the contents of the collection easy to read and understand in a compact form was the real task, which only a scholar like Khalifa Abdul Hakeem (1893-1959) could do with ease — as he has done in this book. Theme of each of Iqbal’s lectures has been explained briefly and wherever deemed necessary a logical explanation of the idea is also given, notes Dr Khizr Yaseen in his blurb.

The other book, just published by Bazm-i-Iqbal, is titled Iqbal Ke Sanaa’e Badaa’e, or the rhetorical devices used by Iqbal. The book succinctly captures the essence of Iqbal’s art and poetic mastery over the use of embellishing techniques in poetry. Penned by Prof Nazeer Ahmed, it was first published in 1966 and had been out of print for long. This new edition has been annotated by Prof Firaqi. While referring to Iqbal’s rhetorical devices in proper terms, Prof Nazeer Ahmed cites some couplets from classical Urdu poetry first as examples and then proffers Iqbal’s couplets that present similar techniques.

One sincerely hopes that the government of Punjab will take up the issue and will let flourish a literary body that has been working on Pakistan’s national poet in a befitting manner.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2026