Literature and philosophy

Literature and philosophy

Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan’s national poet who conceived the idea of Pakistan.

Pakistan has literature in Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Baluchi, Persian, English and many other languages. The Pakistan Academy of Letters is a large literary community that promotes literature and poetry in Pakistan and abroad. The National Library publishes and promotes literature in the country. Before the 19th century, literature consisted mainly of lyric and religious poetry, mystical and folkloric works. During the colonial age, the native literary figures were influenced by western literary realism and took up increasingly varied topics and narrative forms. Prose fiction is now very popular.

Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is part of Pakistan’s sufi heritage.

The national poet of Pakistan, Muhammad Iqbal, wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian. He was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation and encouraged Muslims binding all over the world to bring about successful revolution. Well-known representatives of contemporary Pakistani Urdu literature include Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Sadequain is known for his calligraphy and paintings. Sufi poets Shah Abdul Latif, Bulleh Shah, Mian Muhammad Bakhsh and Khawaja Farid are very popular in Pakistan. Mirza Kalich Beg has been termed the father of modern Sindhi prose. Historically, philosophical development in the country was dominated by Muhammad Iqbal, Sir Syed, Muhammad Asad, Maududi, and Ali Johar.

Ideas from British and American philosophy greatly shaped philosophical development in Pakistan. Analysts such as M.M. Sharif and Zafar Hassan established the first major Pakistani philosophical movement in 1947. After the 1971 war, philosophers such as Jalaludin Abdur Rahim, Gianchandani, and Malik Khalid incorporated Marxism into Pakistan’s philosophical development. Influential work by Manzoor Ahmad, Jon Elia, Hasan Askari Rizvi, and Abdul Khaliq brought mainstream social, political, and analytical philosophy to the fore of Pakistani philosophical academia. Global works by Noam Chomsky have influenced philosophical ideas in various fields of social and political philosophy.