Faisal Khawer Butt
Sialkot
The nation on Monday celebrated the 143rd birth anniversary of Dr Allama Muhammmad Iqbal, the Poet of the East, with national zeal and fervour. Paying tribute to the poet, Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted: “Iqbal’s thoughts continue to inspire & guide. ”
He also shared a short excerpt from Iranian intellectual and author Dr Ali Shariati’s article on Allama Iqbal, which reads: “He [Iqbal] is a great mystic, with a pure spirit, delivered of materiality and, at the same time, a man who respects and honors science, technological progress, and the advancement of human reason in our age.”
Allama Iqbal envisioned the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of subcontinent‚ which led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947. He is also considered one of the most important figures in literature with literary works in both Urdu and Persian languages. Asrar-e-Khudi, Payam-i-Mashriq, Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim and Armughan-e-Hijaz were amongst his best works.
The nation celebrated the day with dedication to pay homage to the great poet philosopher and to highlight his achievements. Various educational‚ political‚ social and cultural organizations have arranged special programmes to portray Iqbal s philosophy‚ life and his contribution to create awareness among the Muslims of South Asia.
Iqbal was a Sufi poet for the modern age who aroused a revolutionary spirit in the nation through his poetry. His poetry has been translated in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, English and several other languages and is considered a great philosopher all over the world. Unfortunately, he could not see the independence of Pakistan and died on April 21, 1938.
Meanwhile 143rd birth anniversary of ‘the poet of the East’, Dr Allama Mouhammad Iqbal, was also celebrated on Monday with traditional national spirit in Sialkot. All the governmental education institutions, offices of the Punjab government and the sessions and civil courts remained closed as the district administration had declared a local holiday in Sialkot district regarding his (Iqbal’s) birth anniversary.
