Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai

HAZRAT SHAH ABDUL LATIF BHITAI (GREAT MYSTIC SUFI SAINT OF SINDH) (1690-1752 AD) was one of the greatest sufi scholars and poet-philosophers of 18th century Sindh. He preached against feudalism and religious exploitation, and revolutionised Sindhi society along the sophistic lines of love, tolerance and peaceful co-existence. He was a nationalist with an international outlook. He did not only pray for plenty in Sindh but wished the entire world to be prosperous.

But Shah Latif was much more than a sufi saint. Scholars who have studied his poetry find home-spun knowledge interwoven with spiritual connotations in his superb and scholarly renditions.

His Life: Shah Latif was born to Shah Habib in village Sui- Qandar a few miles to the east of the present town of Bhit Shah (named after him), on Safar 14, 1102 AH ie November 18, 1690 AD. He died at Bhit Shah on Safar 14, 1165 AH, ie January 3, 1752 AD.

His mother was descended from a Sindhi tribe Deera and his father was a descendent of Syed Hyder Hirati, whose son Syed Mir Ali was born in Sindh in 802 AH, ie 1399-1400 AD. The family came to be known as the Syeds of Matiari.

Shah Latif received his early education in the maktab of Akhund Noor Muhammad in basic Persian and Sindhi. He also learned the Holy Quran. His correspondence in Persian with contemporary scholar Makhdoom Moinuddin Thattavi, as contained in the Risala-i-Owaisi, bears witness to his scholastic competence.

Besides, Shah Latif’s poetry contains Quranic verses, Ahadis and Arabic adages. He has described the history, geography, society and economy of Sindh in depth, proving that he was the greatest poet-scholar Sindh has ever had. He was a research scholar. He personally visited the places and met the people that he has described in his poetry.

Shah Latif can rightly be called the pioneer of the modern Sindhi language, culture and society. He is the spiritual fountain-head for the people of Sindh. His message of patience, endeavour, patriotism and universal love has transcended centuries of political upheaval and aggression. And the people of Sindh have faced this exploitation with forbearance, non-violence and adherence to the faith, values and principle taught by him.

His Message: Shah Latif calls for a sustained endeavour for the realisation of the objective of communion with God by remaining perfectly loyal to the ideal of the unity and oneness of Allah and His creatures, humans above all. He exhorts each one of us to toil through thick and thin. He says:

March in the hot and cold (weather)
There is no time to sit down
Lest there should be darkness
And you don’t find the
footprints of your beloved

The shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, the patron saint of Sindh, is located in Bhit Shah which is a small town in the province of Sindh, Pakistan.

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