Baba Farid- The Pioneer Of Punjabi Poetry

Selected and Edited by Imran Khan (the student of  Punjabi resistance literature)  from ‘Resistance Themes in Punjabi Literature’ by Shafqat Tanveer Mirza

      It is a known fact that literature originated in the form of folk literature. Since ages it was transmitted from generation to generation in oral form, that's why the most ancient form of literature was folk poetry.  This poetry was not composed by a single poet but by the masses according to the need of the time. Like all other languages in Punjabi we also find folk poetry. This folk poetry was later on replaced by folk stories. About the original Punjabi poetry there are different opinions among the scholars. Most of the scholars agree that Baba Farid is the  first authentic poet of modern day punjabi. People regarding Multani are Seraiki as a Language different from Punjabis claimed that Baba Farid was the founding father of Saraiki poetry. The Chandigarh Punjab University has established a chair in the name of Baba Farid. The prominent Sufis of the Subcontinent including Khawaja Nizamddin Aulia and Sabir of Klyar had duly recognized the greatness of the Chishti saint.

With all these claims and the big following that the saint has, not a single comprehensive biography of Baba Farid has been produced. His own, ‘Favadul-Salekin’ and about him “Rahat-ul-Qulub” and “Israr ul Aulia'' are in Persian and are not easily available. The same was the case with his Punjabi poetry. Whatever he wrote in the twelfth century was recorded by chance in the sixteenth century by Baba Nanak who visited his shrine in the Pak Pattan and had a meeting with custodian of the shrine, Ibrahim Farid. Baba Nanak acquired the “dohas' ' or “ashloks'' (couplets) of Baba Farid from Sheikh Ibrahim Farid which were Later on included in the “Granth Saheb; the sacred book of the Sikhs. The total number of these couplets is 130. Soviet scholar Serebryakov says: “Of Farid’s poetry, one hundred and twenty-three so called Salokas have come down to us i.e, couplets in diverse meters as well as the Nasihatnama, a poem of about forty lines written in Multani – the literary language of the medieval Punjab.”

Some scholars are of the view that the 130 couplets in the Granth includes a few by Baba Nanak (four), Guru Arjan (eight), Guru Ram Das (two) and Guru Amar Das (Four). This means that only 112 of Farid’s couplets have come down to us through the Grants Saheb.

Another controversy was raised by McAuliffe In his book, “Sikh Religion”. He attributes these couplets to one of the descendants of Baba Farid known as Sheikh Ibrahim Farid Sani and with whom Baba Nanak met in Ajodhan (Pakpattan). Macaullife had no sound arguments in offer and, therefore, except for Lajwanti Rama Krishna none of the non scholars agreed with him.  It is beyond doubt that Baba Farid also wrote poetry in Persian.

Local languages have been criminally ignored. This neglect can be traced back to the period when Muslims invaded this part of the subcontinent. Persian was the official language.  Therefore, whosoever expressed himself in local dialects or languages was totally blacked out from official records. All Sufi poets, Baba Farid, Shah Hussain, and Ali Haider included suffered accordingly.

Baba Farid was recognized as a great Sufi by Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia (“Rahat ul Quloob”) and in “Israr-ul-Aulia” by Maulana Badar Ishaque. In both these books, no mention is made of his Punjabi poetry. Anyhow, it was recorded in the Granth Saheb in the Gurmukhi script from where it was transliterated into the Persian script and first published when the printing press came to India late in the 19th century. In pre-partition Punjab, Hindus wanted Hindi in the Dewangari script, the Muslims adopted Urdu in the Persian script and the Sikhs declared Punjabi as their religious Language in the Gurmuki script which thus became sacred.

Fundamental differences between the Persian and Gurmukhi scripts created some problems and the original texts were often mutilated in the process of transliteration. After independence the Muslims of west Punjab started taking interest in their cultural heritage which included the Punjabi Language. Though the ruling elite and fundamentalist groups tried their best to convince the people that they should sever their centuries old relationship with the soil , they did not entirely succeed and interest in local cultures, languages, literatures and histories increased somewhat. The first-ever history of Punjabi literature in Punjabi (Persian script) was written during his period. Some research work has since been done. Original literary work is also being produced. This interest led to the reproduction of Baba Farid's Punjabi poetry in original as well as its translation in English and Urdu. 

   Abdul Majeed Bhatti translated Baba Farid into Urdu while Maqbool Elahi translated him into English. Another translation in Sindhi has been attempted by Agha Khaled Saleem.

 So far reproduction of Punjabi classics has been the work of three Government-aided bodies -- the Punjabi Adabi Academy, Lok Virsa of Islamabad and Punjabi Adabi Board of Lahore which have published three collections of couplets of Baba Farid which were edited by Dr. Faqir Mohammad, Prof Shareef Kunjahi and Prof Mohammad Asif Khan respectively. There is nothing special about the Lok Virsa and Academy efforts. But the Boards Book, edited by Mohmmad Asif Khan, is most probably the first serious attempt to ascertain the authenticity of and evaluate the Farid couplets in the perspective of history, language and literature. The 140 Page forward of the book and annotation of almost all the couplets encompasses all that has so far been done about Baba Farid's Punjabi poetry. But all that Asif Khan had done is in Persian script. What was needed was that scholars should be able to read Baba Farid's poetry in Persian and Gurmukhi scripts simultaneously. That is the only logical starting point for further historical and linguistic research on Farid’s Punjabi poetry and his life.

 This much-needed and keenly-awaited work has now been accomplished by Dr.Nazir Ahmad, the former Principal of the Government College, Dr.Nazir, with  the help of The Packages Ltd, has already reprinted the Punjabi poetry of Shah Hussain, Bulleh Shah and Sultan Bahu. “Kalam-i-Baba Farid” is the fourth in line. The Packages Ltd, have already made a name for themselves in book production. The Book is a magnificent continuation of a proud tradition .

    “Kalam-i-Baba Farid '', never before printed so beautifully, also carries the couplets in the Gurmukhi. The book has four parts, the first a foreword in Urdu by  Dr. Nazir, the second, the couplets in the Nastaliq Persian script, the third carries couplets in the Naskh script and Gurmukhi plus their meanings in Urdu and the fourth includes 76 couplets attributed to Baba Farid but not found in the Granth Saheb. Thus, the book includes 188 couplets, two Shabads (poems ) and eighteen couplets of the Sikh Gurus.

   The Granth Sahib is basically not in the Punjabi language. Its compilers either belonged to the outer eastern belt of East Punjab or to the areas across the Jamuna. Its basic structure is essentially Hindi mixed with Local dialects of western U.P. So, we should not expect any Special linguistic justice to the dohas of Baba Farid, who belonged to the south-western part of the Punjab with the Lehnda dialect of Punjabi language. This created a baffling confusion which Dr. Nazir has tried to remove.

Another difficulty with the language of Baba Farid is that it is almost eight hundred years old. No writing of the pre-Farid period is available for research workers to assess the evolution of Punjabi over the centuries. Between Farid and the next Punjabi poet of note, Shah Hussain (1539-93), there is a gap of four hundred years. That is why Farid is mostly very difficult to follow. The many special historical, poetic and cultural references that Farid makes cannot be deciphered and are thus a virtually insurmountable obstacle to further research. Dr. Nazir has tried his best to unfold every knot. Even where he fails he provides further impetus to the serious reader to apply his knowledge and mind to solve the literary, historical and linguistic riddles Farid’s couplets present.