Forum Pakistan

Dard, Khwaja Mir (1721-85)
Poet. A *Sufi poet and preacher, known as one of the 'four pillars' of *Urdu poetry, Mir Dard wrote in Urdu and Persian. A *Naqshbandi Sufi, he was a follower of his father, Muhammad Nasir Andalib, who preached Tariqa-i-Muhammadiya ('The Way of Muhammad' (PBUH», demanding complete annihilation of the mystic's being in devotion to the Prophet (Fana ji. alRasul). Dard wrote two Sufi compositions in Persian:

Ilm al-Kitab ('Knowledge of the Book') and Chahar Risala ('Four Treatises') and made his name with a small *diwan of his Urdu poems. He was the first to introduce the practice of singing Urdu *ghazals at poetic symposia. Dard enjoyed great popularity among the followers of the Urdu tradition.
WORKS: 'Mir Dard, Chahar Risala', Delhi (undated); 'Intikhab-i-Kalam-i-Dard' (Selected Works), Patna (undated); 'Dewan-i-Dard', Delhi, n.d.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Schimmel, 'Pain and Grace', Leiden, 1976.