Khawaja Ghulam Farid (also

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

as Fareed; /1845 – 24 July 1901) was a 19th-century

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

poet and mystic from

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

belonging to the

Chishti Order The Chishti order () is a Sufi Tariqa, order of Sunni Islam named after the town of Chishti Sharif District, Chisht, Afghanistan where it was initiated by Abu Ishaq Shami. The order was brought to Herat and later spread across South Asia by Mu ...

. Most of his work is in his mother tongue ''Multani'', or what is now known as Saraiki. However, he also contributed to the

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

, Sindhi,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

literature. His writing style is characterized by the integration of themes such as death, passionate worldly and spiritual love, and the grief associated with love.

Life

He was born into a branch of the Koreja family who claimed descent from

Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...

(), the second

Rashidun caliph The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the Muslim community and po ...

through an early migrant to

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. The family was established as saints associated with the Suhrawardī Sufi order. Originally from

Thatta Thatta is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Its construction was ordered by Jam Nizamuddin II in 1495. Thatta's historic signif ...

, the family seat later moved to

Mithankot Mithankot ( Punjabi / ) also known as Kot Mithan, is a city in Rajanpur District in Punjab, Pakistan. Mithankot is located on the west bank of the Indus River, a short distance downstream from its junction with Panjnad River. Most of its inhabita ...

in the early 18th century on the invitation of a disciple and subsequently transferred their allegiance to the Chishtī order. Khawaja Farid was born /1845 at

Chachran Chachran Sharif (), is a town in Khanpur Katora tehsil of the Rahim Yar Khan district, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. History Chacharan Sharif is a historical town of Rahim Yar Khan district, which is attributed with the name of famous 1 ...

. Farid's father died when he was around eight years of age. He was then brought up by his elder brother, Khawaja Fakhr al-Dīn, and grew up to become a scholar and writer. He received a fine formal education at the royal palace of Ṣādiq Muḥammad IV, the

Nawab of Bahawalpur State of Bahawalpur was a state in the Punjab region of South Asia that existed as a sovereign polity from 1748 to 1833 and as a princely state, under subsidiary alliance with British India and later Dominion of Pakistan, from 1833 to 1955 ...

. His brother Fakhr al-Dīn, who had brought him up after their parents' deaths, also died when Farid was 26 years old. Farid performed ''

hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

'' (pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

) in 1875, and then retired to the

Cholistan Desert The Cholistan Desert (; ; Saraiki: ), also locally known as Rohi (), is a desert in the southern part of Pakistani Punjab that forms part of the Greater Thar Desert, which extends to Sindh province and the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is one of ...

(also known as ''Rohi'') for '' chilla'' (retreat) where he spent a total of eighteen years. He died at Chachran on 24 July, 1901, and was buried at Mithankot.

Works

His most significant works include: * '' Dīwān-i Farīd'' * ''Manāqib-i maḥbūbiyya'' (Persian prose) * ''Fawāʾid-i Farīdiyya'' (Persian prose)

Legacy

*A literary award named after Farid the Khwaja Ghulam Farid Award is awarded yearly by the

Pakistan Academy of Letters The Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) () is a national academy with its main focus on Pakistani literature and related fields. It is the largest and the most prestigious learned society of its kind in Pakistan, with activities throughout the nat ...

in literature, its recipients including Ismail Ahmedani (in 2013) and Irshad Taunsvi (in 2007) among others. * Fareed Gate is the name of one of the historic gates surrounding the old city of

named in Farid's honour. *The

Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology The Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology (KFUEIT) is a public university located in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established in 2014 on the initiative of the then Chief Minister of Pun ...

(KFUEIT) in

Rahim Yar Khan District Rahim Yar Khan District (Urdu: ضلع رحیم یار خان, Punjabi: ضلع ریم یار خان) is a Districts of Pakistan#Punjab, district in the province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Its headquarters is the city of Rahim Yar Kha ...

was named after Farid. * Shrine of Khawaja Ghulam Farid in

Rajanpur Rajanpur is a city and the headquarters of Rajanpur District in the far southwestern part of Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab, Pakistan. The district lies entirely west of the Indus River. History Rajanpur was founded by Sheikh Rajan Shah, the Makhdoom ...

, Punjab is among the ''10 most visited shrines in Pakistan''.

References

External links

The complete works of Khwaja Farid in Punjabi on Academy of the Punjab in North America website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farid, Khwaja Ghulam 1841 births 1901 deaths Sufi mystics Sufi poets Punjabi people Poets from British India 19th-century poets People from Rahim Yar Khan District Saraiki-language poets Chishtis Punjabi-language poets Saraiki people

Life

Works

Legacy

See also

References

External links