Bulleh Shah Conference at Manchester

by DR. AMJAD PARVEZ

'Carvan-e-Adab' is a progressive literary organization in Manches­ter holding 'Mushairas' and Conferences every year in Summers in Manchester, Eng­land. This year the theme of the Conference was to remember the contributions of Soofi poet Bulleh Shah from Punjab. It comprised a conference with the presentation of literary papers followed by a music session with this scribe and then an interna­tional Mushaira on August 02 in Rochdale. It was a very largely attended function presided by the Mayor of Rochdale.

Before embarking upon the proceedings of the Conference, this scribe would like to say a few words about the life and works of Bulleh Shah. He was a Soofi poet. The era attributed to him is from 1680 to 1758. His ancestral village was Uch Gilaniyan in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. His Shrine is however located in Kasur, the reason being that from Bahawalpur, his family had first shifted to Malakwal, District Multan and then to Pandoke, fourteen miles southeast of Kasur. Bulleh Shah was earlier known as Abdullah Shah only to become famous later as Bulleh Shah because he composed and said poetry in Kaafi form. His contributions, like any other Soofi Saints was to propagate Islam in the subconti­nent, a work that could not be accomplished by the Kings or 'Ulama-e-Ikram'. Bulleh Shah's family background was reli­gious. Bulleh Shah was the disciple of Inayat Shah, a Qadiri Soofi. Incidentally the Urs of Inayat Shah opens in Lahore on August 24 and that of Bulleh Shah in Ksur on August 26.

Bulleh composed a lot of poetry in Seraiki, the language spoken in the southern Punjab. Writing in Kafi format was already an established style with Soofis who had preceded him. The tomb of Bulleh Shah is in

Kasur and he is held in rever­ence by all his followers in Sindh and Punjab. One of his famous Kafi is 'Maati Qadam Karendi Yaar/ Mali Jora, Mati Ghora, Mati Da Aswar/ Mali Noon Mati Dauraey, Mati Da Khrakar'. This scribe is not reproducing the complete original text but its translation is given as hereunder;

The soil is in ferment, O friend Behold the diversity.

The soil is the horse, so is the rider

the soil chases the soil, and we hear the clanging of soil

the soil kills the soil, with weapons of the soil.

That soil with more on it is arrogance

the soil is the garden so is its beauty

the soil admires the soil in all its wondrous forms

after the circle of life is done it returns to the soil

Answer the riddle O Bulleh, and take this burden off my head."

During the two-hour evening session with this scribe the Kafis which were liked by the audi­ence were 'Jo Rang Rangiya Goora Rangia/ Murshid Wali Laali 0! Yar', put to music by Ustad Nazar-e-Hussain', 'Jis Tan Lageya Ishq Kamal' by Mian Sheheryaar, 'Menoo Lagra Ishq Awalra' by Master Rafique Ali and 'Mitran Di Mijmani Khatir' and others by Shah Hussain and Khwaja Farid. The poetry of Mian Muhammad Bukhsh, Warris Shah and Sultan Bahu was also the popular demand with this scribe.

Most of the speakers in the Conference like Anwar Masud, Murtaza Barlas, Dr. Inam ul Haq Javed, Amjad Islam Amjad, Asad Mufti, Dr. Aman Ullah and Syed Iqbal f Hider spoke on Bulleh Shah's view of the world that saw the common underlying reality that lay beneath the mundane and rejoiced in its all pervasiveness. There was a controversy when one speaker saw it to be similar to the monotheistic, omnipresent concept of God that is seen in some of the other religions. Though the concept of 'Wahdat ul Wujood' has no place in Islam but perhaps to lure the worship­pers of idols, this approach was adopted at that time by the Soofis.

At the end of the Conference, the compeering of which was done by Zahid Fakhri, the recommendations to promote Punjabi language, translate Bulleh Shah's poetry in other languages etc., were adopted for presentation to the Government of Pakistan. There exist commonalties found between Bulleh Shah and Shah Abdul Lateef Bhitai, the Soofi poet from Sindh who were contemporaries. They had almost the same experiences of the turbulent period in which they lived. Shah Lateef (1690-1752) and Bulleh Shah (1680-1758) had witnessed the death of Mughul Emperor Aurangzeb.

The main session in the evening had a galaxy of poets from all over the world who presented their poetry from 0730 in the evening to pass midnight. The Mushaira was presided by Murtaza Barlas and the Mayor of Rochdale was the Chief Guest. The others who were asked to sit on the stage were Amjad Islam Amjad, Anwar Masud, Dr. Inam ul Haq Javed, Iftikhar Naseem and Dr. Aman Ullah. The latter is settled in Chicago and hails from Kasur. He presented his poetry in Punjabi. lftikhar Naseem's poetry was received with great applause. One of his popular couplets is 'Too Merey Saath Kahan Tak Chaley Ga Merey Ghazal / Mein Raasta Hun Mujhe Sheher Sey Guzama Hei'. Asad Mufti from Holland presented both his Punjabi and Urdu poetry. Zahid Fakhri received a lot of applause for his poems said on the concept of love of daughter and mother. He says 'Jana Gharan Wich Maan Nahin Hundi/ Unah Dey Wehrey Chaan Nahin Hundi'.

Qayyum Tahir who had flown from Islamabad said 'Too Hamari Tarha Ik Roz Basar Kar To Sahi / Zindigi, Terey Bhi Mathey Peh Pasina Aa Jaye'. Sabir Raza the groom of the function, who had been plan­ning this function for more than a year as the President of the literary organization and is also a popular poet, recited his poetry with gusto. He is famous for his couplet 'Too Bhi Meri Hi Tarha Hei Mein Tujhey Janta Hun/ Dair Tak Too Bhi Wafadar Nahin Reh Sakta'. Dr. Inam was received well with humorous poetry. So were Anwar Masud and Khalid Masud, the latter having flown specially from Mlultan for this function.

Murtaza Barlas and Amjad Islam Amjad were given all the respect by the audience they deserved. One of the couplets of Barlas Sahib is 'Is Bulandi Sey Mujhe Too Ney Nawaza Kyun Tha/ Gir Key Mein Toot Geya Kanch Key Bartan Ki Tarha'. Amjad gave his poem on the theme of self made man.

Many poets from Britain participated in the Mushaira. It is difficult to produce their

complete list. Some of their names are Sughra Sadaf, Yasmin Habib, Sabahat Asim Wasti, Saadia Sethi, ljaz Ahmad Ijaz, Yashab Tamana, Zahid Zafar, the latter also being one of the hosts and the co-compere of the function along with Dr. Shakoor. The function wound up with the commitment to hold conference on the contribu­tions of another Soofi poet the following year. Such functions not only are a forum for the Pakistanis settled abroad to meet and listen to the ideas and poetry of the guests from Pakistan and other countries but also make us commit to the contributions of our literary and religious celebrities of the past.