Freedom Dawn?
It is 14th August today. My country is fifty nine years old. It is much stronger than it was in 1947. It is still…
Water weight of this growing abyss
A new poem by Ayesha Salman. The images are stark and the colours surreal. Please do comment so AS gets some feedback from the…
Khushwant Singh and Fahmida Riaz
Writing in the Hindustan Times on July 29, Khushwant Singh yet again infused some sanity into the popular Indian discourse on the recent Mumbai…
Facebook: Marketers Are Your ‘Friends’
Facebook cannot be all that benign. There is a privacy issue – I am not an expert and would like to know if the…
Gaarder’s World – hazards of speaking out!
Jostein Gaarder, the renowned author of the Sophie’s World has spoken and rather boldly on the current crisis in Lebanaon particulalry on the underpinnings…
I found Roses in Konya…
I have been wanting to write about my recent trip to Konya. Words have failed me. This was my second trip to Konya –…
What was said to the Rose…
“What was said to the rose that made it open, Was said to me, here in my chest.” I was struck by this image…
Peace to Beirut with all my heart…
Thanks to Aman Azhar for contributing this post and introducing Robert Fisk’s recent piece on the misery of Lebanon – “Fairouz, the most popular…
This world without Dr Schimmel…
Recently, I came across a Charles Homer Haskins lecture that Dr Annemarie Schimmel delivered in 1993. Aside from the amazing events and milestones of…
The Universalism of Kabir
Troubled by the ongoing middle east crisis, the destruction of Lebanon and the acrimony generated by the tragic Mumbai blasts, I am reminded of…
By: Syed Mohammad Ali
Greetings Raza, I must commend you on this lovely space you have created and the perfect and balanced choice of writings chosen for the…
Perfection of my Companion II
Further to my earlier post “Perfection of my Companion” on Saadi’s beautiful poetry, Isa Daudpota from Islamabad has sent me the Urdu translation. I…
Perfection of my companion…
Read Ammar Qureshi’s improvised translation of Sa’adi. Profound and delicate! A sweet-smelling piece of clay, one day in the bath, Came from the hand…
Amrita Pritam: 1919-2005
Amrita Pritam never woke up on the afternoon of October 31, 2005 and the world is emptier without her musings. She embodied the fullness…
Bulleh Shah and Rumi
The works of Bulleh Shah and Rumi echo the emotions of a growing global audience We are the mirror as well as the face…
Dispatches: Lahore
A friend of mine sent me this piece on Lahore from S. Abbas Raza’s blog. I absolutely love it. Source -> Dispatches: Lahore Lahore…
Writers in Anguish
I was touched by this letter dated July 19, 2006, its stark language and passion searching for “what was once called justice”. This lament…
A Tribute: Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi (1916-2006)
Ab aik baar to qudrat javaabdeh thehre hazaar baar ham insaan aazmaaye gaye Now Nature must be held accountable at least once; We humans…
Sachal Sarmast’s sufi kalaam – live recording
Cross posted from here I recorded a few bits of performances of sufi siant Hazrat Sachal Sarmast’s kalaam (poetry) at his tomb in Daraza…
“Behind the Clichs, a Modern Pakistan”
I was sent the captioned article by a friend. Thankfully, not a pessimistic perspective on contemporary Pakistan. The author, Shuja Nawaz, a former international…