Nation observes 145th birth anniversary of Allama Iqbal
Pakistan
The federal government has announced November 9 as a public holiday.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – The 145th birth anniversary of national poet Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal is being observed today (Wednesday) all over the country with traditional zeal and enthusiasm.
The federal government has announced November 9 as a public holiday, in connection with the birth anniversary of the country’s national poet and philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
Allama Muhammad Iqbal was born in Sialkot on November 9, 1877. He is also recognised as national poet, and known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan (thinker of Pakistan), Shair-e-Mashriq (poet of the east) and Hakeemul Ummat (doctor of the Muslim ummah) and is credited with sparking the pan-Islamic thought among Muslims of the subcontinent.
Allama Iqbal envisioned the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of subcontinent‚ which led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
He is also considered one of the most important figures in literature with literary works in both Urdu and Persian languages. Asrar-e-Khudi, Payam-i-Mashriq, Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim and Armughan-e-Hijaz were amongst his best works.
The nation is celebrating the day with dedication to pay homage to the great poet philosopher and to highlight his achievements.
Various political‚ social and cultural organizations have arranged special programmes to portray Iqbal’s philosophy‚ life and his contribution to create awareness among the Muslims of South Asia.
Iqbal was a Sufi poet for the modern age who aroused a revolutionary spirit in the nation through his poetry. His poetry has been translated in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, English and several other languages and is considered a great philosopher all over the world.
Unfortunately, he could not see the independence of Pakistan and died on April 21, 1938.
The events of the day include change of guards ceremony at Mazar-e-Iqbal in Lahore.
