Waris Shah Poetry: Preserving Punjab’s Cultural Heritage

Staff Report

The message of Sufi Poet Waris Shah must be spread among the society for harmony, create awareness and root out social evils by connecting the people with our rich values, spiritualism and peace.

It was stated by Punjab Higher Education Commission Chairperson Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan while addressing Waris Shah Conference arranged under the auspices of Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Agriculture Faisalabad.

UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali, Faisalabad Medical University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zafar Ch, GC Women University Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Kanwal Amin, Deep Singh from Oxford University, Dean Faculty of Art and Humanities UAF Prof Dr Shazia Ramzan, FAST University Faisalabad Director Shahzad Sarfraz, Dr Jamil Ahmad and other notable also spoke on the occasion.

Waris Shah Poetry and Its Cultural Value

Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad said that the entire poetry of Waris Shah was an album of colourful and enchanting pictures of life in Punjab, of varied views and was deeply absorbing. Terming the Waris Shah as Shakespeare, he said that Waris Shah master ‘Heer Ranja is a treasure-trove of Punjabi phrases and idioms and deep understanding of the humanity and character of the people.”

He said that realistic depiction of details of life and the political situation in the 18th century remains unique. He added his entire poetry was an album of colourful and enchanting pictures of life in Punjab, of varied views and was deeply absorbing.

He said, “Waris Shah was folk culture like ‘Heer Ranja’ is a treasure-trove of Punjabi phrases and idioms.”

Lessons for the Younger Generation

Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali urged the younger generation to learn from the pearls of wisdom and lessons of morality from thoughts of the great Sufi poet. He said that the UAF is housing the independent Waris Shah Academic Chair in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.”

He said that Waris Shah Chair is responsible for the promotion of Punjabi literature, language, culture, multilingual research based on language experiments (comparative studies) on the contributions, personality, literature and poetry of the sufi poet.

Promoting Peace and Brotherhood Through Poetry

Deep Singh said that instead of war, we have to develop a culture of peace and harmony and brotherhood and work collectivity for the promotion of the Saint Poet message.

Dr Shazia Ramzan said that moot is meant to highlight the philosophical, literary, and cultural aspects of Waris Shah. She said that his work is considered an encyclopedia of Punjabi culture which is documenting language, idioms, and social life of 18th-century Punjab.

She called for connecting the young generation with our rich culture. She said that they were making all out efforts to produce the skilled manpower enriched with our cultural values.

Preserving Cultural Values for Future Generations

Dr Jamil Ahmad said the nation who forgets their culture, diminish from the map of the world and we have to make collaborative efforts to live our cultural values among the coming generation.

Author Profile

Mohsin Ali: Mohsin Ali is a joung journalist and policy analyst with a focus on governance, land management, and economic affairs in Pakistan.

He loves to report on state land policies, urban development and provincial government initiatives, providing in-depth coverage of issues that impact both public administration and the national economy.