Rahman Baba Aur Dr Muhammad Iqbal​By Syedul Amin Ahsan Kheshgi​Pashto Adabi Tolana Kheshgi, NowsheraISBN: 978-627-7788-14-8368pp. ​

The literary, intellectual and cultural landscape of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has always been deeply rooted in a profound spiritual consciousness and an enduring tradition of poetic expression. When examining this region’s extensive intellectual heritage and that of the wider Subcontinent, two towering figures consistently emerge as structural anchors of Eastern thought: the celebrated 17th-century Pashto Sufi poet Rahman Baba and the 20th-century philosopher-poet of the East, Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

While these two great thinkers are separated by centuries, vastly different geopolitical environments and distinct literary languages, their creative expressions undeniably spring from exactly the same spiritual reservoir. Both of them look at the chaotic human condition and prescribe a remedy rooted in Divine love, moral elevation and inner transformation.

To fully appreciate the impressive, multi-layered academic depth and structural integrity of Rahman Baba Aur Dr Muhammad Iqbal, one must first understand the unique intellectual trajectory and scholastic stature of the researcher behind it. The author, Syedul Amin Ahsan Kheshgi, is a scholar of remarkable linguistic facility, possessing an enviable, comprehensive command over Pashto, Urdu, Arabic, Persian and English. This multilingual competence serves as an essential toolkit that lets the reader engage with primary texts in their original syntax, bypassing the diluted interpretations of secondary translations.

In this expansive volume, the study consciously avoids standard academic traps that often weaken comparative literature. Rather than dwelling extensively on well-documented biographical details, tired historical anecdotes or the familiar public personalities of the two poets, the focus is squarely on their core ideas, philosophical outlooks and essential poetic visions.

What connects a 17th-century Pashto Sufi poet with a 20th-century Urdu philosopher-poet? A new, immensely researched book in Urdu by a scholar traces the common spiritual and intellectual currents that can be found in the works of Allama Iqbal and Rehman Baba

What........

© Dawn (Magazines)