Shah Abdul Karim of Bulri (1536–1623) () famously known as "''Shah Karim''", was an early Sindhi

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 from

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 ...

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# ...

. Shah Abdul Karim Bulri was the great-great-grandfather of the famous poet

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (; 1689/1690 – 21 December 1752), commonly known by the honorifics ''Lakhino Latif'', ''Latif Ghot'', ''Bhittai'', and ''Bhit Jo Shah'', was a Sindhi Sufi mystic and poet from Pakistan, widely considered to be the ...

Early life

He was born in a

Syed Syed may refer to: * Seyd, alternative for Sayyid (name) * Alternative for Sayyid, an honorific title * Ahsan Ali Syed (born 1973), Indian businessman * Ghulam Murtaza Syed (1904-1995), prominent Sindhi politician * Ibrahim Bijli Syed (born 1939) ...

family in

Matiari Matyari or Matiari (, ) is a city located in Sindh, Pakistan. It is north of Hyderabad on N-5 National Highway. Matiari is also the district headquarter of Matiari District. The Dargah of Pir Sayed Sakhi Hashim Shah Badshah, Shah Abdul Latif ...

, presently in eastern Sindh. Since he spent most of his life in Bulri, a village in

Tando Muhammad Khan Tando Muhammad Khan (; ) is a city and headquarter of the Tando Muhammad Khan District located in Sindh, Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and depende ...

, the word Bulri is often appended to his name. His father died when he was young, and he was brought up by his mother and elder brother Syed Jalal. From childhood, he took a keen interest in matters related to God and spirituality and often did not pay attention to the lessons taught at school and instead spent his time immersed in thoughts of God. He frequently went to mystical gatherings where sermons accompanied by rural music were sung. This affected him so much that he gradually started to compose his own poetry. When he was of age, Shah Abdul Karim married as per the wish of his elder brother Syed Jalal Shah. He met a very devout individual in his local mosque named Sultan Ibrahim and, impressed by him, became his disciple. After the death of his elder brother, to take care of his family, he became a laborer as per the advice of Sultan Ibrahim. Shah Abdul Karim imposed a very stringent discipline on himself which few people around him knew of. He used to work in the day with interludes for prayer. In the night, he used to walk around the locality filling any earthen pots he found empty. As he grew older he wrote many spiritual poems in Sindhi and used them as a device to express his love for the Divine. During his old age, he was highly respected by the people and had a number of disciples. His poetry and ''malfuzat'' appeared for the first time in ''Bayan al-Arifin wa Tanbih al-Ghafilin'', a Persian work, written by a disciple he had later in his life named Mir Daryai Tharawi, in 1630, seven years after his death. One of the major poets of Sindhi, Shah Karim Bulri has been called the

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

Sindhi Literature Sindhi literature () is the collection of oral and written literature in the Sindhi language in prose (romantic tales and epic stories) and poetry (''ghazals'' and '' nazm''). The Sindhi language of the province of Sindh in Pakistan is consider ...

References

{{Sindhi Sufis Sufi poets Sindhi writers Sindhi-language poets Sufis of Sindh Mughal Empire Sufis 1623 deaths 1536 births Hashemite people People of Arab descent 16th-century Mughal Empire people

Early life

See also

References