Staff Reporter
LAHORE:The 87th death anniversary of great philosopher, thinker and Poet of East, Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal is being observed today (Monday) to acknowledge his struggle and services for a separate homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent.Allama Muhammad Iqbal was born in Sialkot on November 9, 1877. He is also recognised as national poet, and known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan (thinker of Pakistan), Shair-e-Mashriq (poet of the east) and Hakeemul Ummat (doctor of the Muslim ummah) and is credited with sparking the pan-Islamic thought among Muslims of the subcontinent.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.Allama Muhammad Iqbal was a true benefactor of the Muslim Ummah, a great intellectual, and a sincere leader of the Muslim subcontinent. With his thoughts and poetry, he taught the Muslim youth the lesson of independence, self-sufficiency and greatness.Various educational‚ political‚ social and cultural organizations will arrange 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.
