Javidnama (1932) was described by Iqbal as his life's work. Unlike other works of Iqbal the entire volume comprises of a single story. It is a journey through the spiritual universe in search of immortality under the guidance of Mawlana Rumi. It is arguably the only specimen of higher literature from the twentieth century that attempts to represent diverse religions on their own terms.
The book was specially intended for the youth but since it was in Persian, it has gone unnoticed by most people in Pakistan, especially the youth. Iqbal Academy Pakistan brought out abridged translations in English and Urdu with colorful illustrations a few years ago. With support from the Academy, the English version has now been made available online with additional features, such as embedded videos of Iqbal's poetry (videos of well-known Urdu poems have also been selected to go together with similar themes in Javidnama). It can be visited on The Republic of Rumi Website, the official homepage of Khurram Ali Shafique.
"It is arguably the only specimen of higher literature from the twentieth century that attempts to represent diverse religions on their own terms."
ReplyDeleteFor the above and many other reasons, I am deeply interested in finding ways we can work together world-wide to get this book out! If there are suggestions, let me know...including how to put out the ordering info on various blogsites, websites and list-servs. I have been procrastinating on this for too long now...