Saiful Muluk () is a mountainous lake in northern Pakistan, located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley, near the town of Naran in the Saiful Muluk National Park. At an elevation of 3,224 m (10,578 feet) above sea level, the lake is located above the tree line, and is one of the highest lakes in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Location

Saiful Muluk is located in the Mansehra district of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, about north of Naran, in the northern part of Kaghan Valley. Malika Parbat, the highest peak in the valley is near the lake. The lake is accessible from the nearby town of Naran during the summer season but access during winter is limited, as heavy snowfall and landslides threaten to cutoff the lake from other regions.

Physical features

Saiful Muluk was formed by glacial moraines that blocked the water of the stream passing through the valley. The Kaghan Valley was formed in the greater Pleistocene Period dating back almost 300,000 years when the area was covered with ice. Rising temperatures and receding glaciers left a large depression where glaciers once stood. Melting water collected into the lake. Saif-ul-Muluk Complete Panorama in Spring

Saif-ul-Muluk Complete Panorama in Spring

Ecology

The lake has rich eco-diversity and holds many species of blue-green algae. Large brown trout are found in the lake, up to about seven kilograms. About 26 species of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...

exist in the area, with

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

the most commonly found species. Other species commonly found in the region are:

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (, buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family (biology), family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 spec ...

, Compositae, Cruciferae, Gramineae, Apiaceae, Leguminosae, Scrophulariaceae and

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The Botanical name, name is Basionym, based on the genus ''Polygonum'', ...

Folklore

The Lake Saiful Muluk is named after a legendary prince from the tale titled ''Saiful Muluk'', later on put into poem form by the

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 Mian Muhammad Bakhsh. It tells the story of the Egyptian Prince Saiful Malook who fell in love with a fairy princess named Princess Badri-ul-Jamala at the lake. The ''Story of Prince Saiful Maluk'' () is an Arabic fable, a story of love between a prince and a fairy. It is considered a later addition to the '' One Thousand and One Nights'' collection of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

s, and manuscripts of the story are dated to the 17th century. In South Asia, the story was put into Punjabi verse by 19th-century poet and mystic Mian Muhammad Bakhsh. It has also been retold in numerous languages such as Balochi, Bengali, English,

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 ...

and Punjabi. According to the folklore, Saiful Maluk (whose name means 'Sword of the Kings') was a prince of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He had significant wealth which he had inherited from his forefathers. Inscribed on the treasure were two seals; one bearing the image of Saiful Muluk and the other one being that of Badi-ul-Jamala. One night, Prince Saiful Maluk saw in a dream, a lake and a fairy. He got up and went to tell his dream to his father, asking him about the place and the fairy. His father told him that he can't meet the fairy as she isn't human, unlike him. However, the longer the prince recollected his dream, the more he was overwhelmed with love for the fairy.Marzolph, Ulrich; van Leewen, Richard. ''The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia''. Vol. I. California: ABC-Clio. 2004. pp. 362-364. (e-book)

Gallery

Hover the mouse click or tap on the following images to see their captions. File:Lake Saiful Malook naran 05.jpg, Lake Saiful Muluk under clouds File:Saif ul Malook, House of Fairies.jpg, A view of lake in Wortez File:Saif ul malook lake-01.jpg, Lake Saiful Muluk in a sunny day File:Lake-Saiful-Malook.jpg, A full view of Lake Saif-ul-Muluk File:Saif-ul-malook naran valley.jpg, Lake Saif ul Malook in May 2017 File:The Frozen Saif Ul Malook Lake.jpg, The lake freezes over in winter File:Saif Ul Muluk.jpg, alt=Saif Ul Muluk, Lake Saif ul Muluk in December 2012 File:Lake Saif ul Malook, Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa.jpg, Tourist point with Lake File:Boat in Saif ul Maluk Lake.jpg, A boat in Saiful Maluk Lake File:Lake Saif-Ul-Mulook.jpg, Lake Saif-Ul-Mulook, Kaghan Valley, Pakistan File:Saif_ul_Maluk_Lake_Pakistan_(Night_view)_Abdul_Majid.jpg, Lake Saif-Ul-Mulook at night File:Lake Saiful Malook on rainy morning.jpg, Lake Saiful Malook Pakistan

References

External links

About Saiful Malook LakePTDC Official website
{{Authority control Saiful Muluk Pakistani folklore