Khwaja Ghulam Farid

Khawaja Ghulam Farid Koreja (خواجہ غُلام فرید کُوریجہ) or Khawaja Farid (1845–1901) was a 19th-century Sufi poet of Punjab.[2] He was a member of the Chishti Nizami Sufi order. His literary output has been claimed by both the Punjabi and the Saraiki language movements.

Khawaja Ghulam Farid Koreeja
Darbaar-e-Hazrat Khawaja Ghulam Farid Koreja
Native name
خواجہ غُلام فرید کُوریجہ
Born1845 (1845)[1]
Chachran, Bahawalpur State, British India (now Punjab, Pakistan)
Died24 July 1901 (1901-07-25) (aged 56)[1]
Chachran, Bahawalpur State, British India (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Resting placeMithankot, Punjab, Pakistan
Notable workDeewan-e-Farid

"Manaqabe Mehboobia" (Persian prose)

"Fawaid Faridia" (Persian prose)

Early life

His mother died when he was four years old and he was orphaned around the age of twelve when his father, Khawaja Khuda Bakhsh, died. He was then brought up by his elder brother, Khawaja Fakhr-ud-Din aka Khawaja Fakhr Jehan Sain, and grew up to become a scholar and writer. He mastered Saraiki, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sindhi, and Braj Bhasha, and also wrote kafi poems in the Saraiki, Urdu, Sindhi, Persian, and Braj Bhasha languages.

Nawab Sadeq Mohammad Khan V of Bahawalpur took Khawaja Ghulam Farid Koreja to his palace at Ahmadpur Sharqia for his religious education by a scholar, when he was 8 years old. His elder brother Khawaja Fakhr-ud-Din Koreja who had brought him up after his parents' deaths, also died when Khawaja Ghulam Farid Koreja was 28 years old. Khawaja Ghulam Farid then left the Cholistan Desert (also known as Rohi) and lived there for 18 years.

Khawaja Ghulam Farid Koreja performed Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, in 1876.

Works

His most significant works include:

  • Deewan-e-Farid
  • Manaqabe Mehboobia (in Persian prose)
  • Fawaid Faridia (in Persian prose)

In his poetry, he frequently uses the symbolism of a desert. Namely, he discusses how beautiful the desert is and how it attracted him to stay there for 18 years and how he believed that made him feel close to Muhammad. Sometimes he touched the topic of political affairs, opposing the British rule in Bahawalpur state writing a letter to the Nawab of Bahawalpur and also mentioning it in some of his poetry.

Legacy

  • The 20th century saw the development of an entire branch of literary studies on the life and work of Khwaja Ghulam Farid Koreja, called faridiyat.
  • Today, many religious and educational institutions in Pakistan and India are named after him (e.g., Government Khawaja Farid College in Rahimyar Khan, Pakistan) as are streets and town living quarters.
  • A literary award named after him, Khwaja Ghulam Farid Award is awarded yearly by the Pakistan Academy of Letters in literature, its recipients including Ismail Ahmedani (in 2013) and Irshad Taunsvi (in 2007) among others.[3][4]
  • In 2001, on Khwaja Ghulam Farid's 100th death anniversary (urs), Pakistan Post issued a memorial stamp to honor him in its 'Poets of Pakistan' series[1]
  • The public school built by Nawab Sadeq Mohammad Khan V in Bahawalpur has a house named after Khwaja Ghulam Farid, called Farid House
  • Also one of the gates surrounding the inner city of Bahawalpur was named “Bab-e-Farid” also known as “Farid Gate” after Khawaja Ghulam Farid
  • The Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology is named after him.

See also

References

  1. Profile of Khwaja Ghulam Farid on Paknetmag website Retrieved 15 April 2020
  2. Suvorova, Anna (22 July 2004). "Muslim Saints of South Asia: The Eleventh to Fifteenth Centuries (Islamic calendar)". Routledge via Google Books.
  3. Amir Jalil Bobra (19 December 2013). "Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) confers awards on literary figures". The Nation (newspaper). Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  4. PAL announces National Literary Awards Academy of the Punjab in North America website, Published 10 August 2007, Retrieved 15 April 2020
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