Mujahid Syed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Majlis-e-Iqbal, a subsidiary of Aalami Urdu Markaz, Jeddah, organized a program that shed light on the life works and philosophy of the one of the greatest Urdu poets and thinker Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The program was attended by poets and intellectuals from Indian and Pakistani community. Niyaz Ahmad was the chief guest, who, in his informative paper gave glimpses of the life, poetry and thought of Allama Iqbal. "Allama Iqbal was deeply influenced by the Holy Qur'an and he got inspiration from its divine guidance. In the last days of his life, Allama Iqbal had kept only the Holy Book on his side and always took guidance from it in each and every matter. In his poetry the message of high courage, love and faith was in fact derived from the Holy Qur'an," Niyaz Ahmad said. "Iqbal's poetry and his philosophy were admired by intellectuals and contemporary philosophers. He was a trendsetter who had knowledge of many languages, Oriental and Western philosophies and religions. Since Urdu language, poetry and literature grew in the time of Indian Muslims' political and moral decadence, Iqbal wanted to cure it from the malady of frustration and melancholy. Iqbal showed the man the way of introspection by coining the word "Khudi" in his poetry. His prose, lectures and poetry infused a new life in the Muslim Ummah worldwide," he added. Concluding his article Niyaz Ahmad gave reference to a Bengali poem from "Gitanjali", the collection of poems of the Nobel laureate Ravindranath Tagore. "Iqbal's contemporary poet Tagore too, has emphasized on introspection in this poem," he added. Athar Abbasi, president of the Aalami Urdu Markaz, recited Iqbal's poem "Wataniyat". In its explanation, he highlighted that Iqbal had advised the reader to refrain from extreme nationalism that paves the way for tyranny from powerful nations on the poor and the weak. "Iqbal's message is universal and it will be great disservice if we confine it to a nation or country only, said Amir Khurshid who chaired the event. Mohsin Alavi, a Jeddah-based poet paid tribute to Iqbal in the form of his ghazal. Pakistan International School Jeddah's student Ahmad Bin Zubair recited Iqbal's famous poem "Khudi ka sirre nihan La Ilaha Illallah in a melodious voice. Famous naat singer Sher Afzal recited a naat. The program began with the recitation of some verses from the Holy Qur'an by Qari Muhammad Asif. Hamid Islam Khan was master of the ceremony. The event concluded with the supplication of Khalid Kidwai, who especially prayed for the soul of famous young naat singer Muhammad Jamil, who had passed away last week in Jeddah and the fast recovery of Aziz, who is keeping ill health.
