Author: Shah Abdul Latif
Translator(s): Anju Makhija / Hari Dilgir
Publisher: Katha
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 283
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8189020544
Description
Seeking the beloved presents selected verse from the Shah Jo Risalo of Shah Abdul Latif of Bhitai, the celebrated sixteenth century sufi poet. This is the first comprehensive translation to appear in English from India.
Latif’s unique treatment and allegorical interpretations of common folk tales, like Sasui-Punhonn, are truly relevant tin today’s atmosphere of religious strife. The Sufis, as is known, were great integrators and Latif’s poetry draws freely from both Islamic and Vedanti traditions.
Latif’s verse, which is heard frequently in the voices of well-known singers, finds renewed creative energy in this translation. This volume includes an introduction by the renowned sufi scholar Padmashree Dr Motilal Jotwani.
Why search everywhere? Nearer than your breath is he just remove the screen between you and him.
Known as one of the greatest sufi works in history, Shah Abdul Latif’s Shah Jo Risalo is a prayer, a cry for the beloved. Written more than 250 years ago, Latif’s poetry is deeply rooted in the human experience of searching for the self-a self that is one with the nirakaar, the omnipresent, centered within yet diffuse as attar. Katha proudly presents the first ever English translation of the Risalo in India.
REVIEW
By the end of the 17th century, there appeared the greatest Sufi poet of Sindh, Shah Abdul Latif, who infused new life into the desert.
-The Indian Express
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
SHAH ABDUL LATIF (1689-1752) has been aptly called the people’s poet, revered alike by the elite and the common folk. He remains one of the greatest sufi poets in history along with Rumi (1207-1273)and Mir Dard (1721-1785). Often changed in spiritual séances, Latif’s poems have an immediate emotional appeal. They are about love for humanity and depict the seeker’s direct relationship with the Supreme instead of a particular religious group looking for scriptural instructions and injunctions.