SHAH ABDUL LATIF BHITAI, LALON SHAH AND QAZI NAZRUL ISLAM’S CONTRIBUTTION TO SUFISM

Abstract

Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (1688-1752) is undeniably the greatest Sufi poet of Sindhi Language. His nearest Bengali language bards are Lalon Shah and Qazi Nazrul Islam of Bangladesh. Shah Abdul Latif was born in an illustrious family in 1102 Hijri i.e. 1688 A.D. at Bhainpur, a village near Khatian Halla Taluka district Hyderabad, Sindh. His father Syed Habibullah himself was an outstanding Sufi poet. His forefather had migrated to Sindh from Arab peninsula and his descent is traced back to Prophet Mohammad (Peace upon him). In Bangla literature Fakir Lalon Shah (1774-1890) and Qazi Nazrul Islam (1899 1976) are two most popular poets and maestros who have become famous for their respective mystical trends in folklores and modern songs. They made most of the mystic rhymes of their own like Shah Latif Bhitai. Lalon Shah and Qazi
Nazrul Islam shared Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s School of Sufism and search for divine union with Great Self. They allegorically employed heroines from local folk stories in their poetry to expound complicated and abstract ideas of Sufism to the masses. The trio evidently appears to have benefited from the most revered and read mystic poet Maulana Rumi across the globe.