A Study of the Life and Poetic Characteristics of Hazrat Abdus Salam Mujaddidi Asim

Abstract

This research paper explores the life and literary legacy of Hazrat Abdus Salam Mujaddidi Asim, a renowned 20th-century Persian poet, Sufi, and spiritual leader of the Naqshbandi order. It examines his biography, migration, poetic style, and thematic concerns, including mysticism, homeland, morality, and Khorasani tradition. The article also situates his poetry within the broader literary landscape of Persian literature in modern Afghanistan, drawing connections to his contemporaries and sociopolitical context. Despite being one of the prominent classical Persian poets of twentieth-century Afghanistan, Abdus Salam Mujaddidi Asim remains largely unknown to Urdu-speaking audiences in Pakistan and beyond. His collected works (Kulliyat-e-Asim) were published in Lahore in 2008, and he spent his final years in Pakistan, where he passed away and was buried in Lahore. However, no prior scholarly article or literary introduction in the Urdu language exists about his life and poetry. This paper is thus a pioneering effort to introduce Hazrat Asim to the Urdu readership, drawing attention to his poetic depth, spiritual vision, and literary significance within the Persianate tradition.

Keywords: Abdus Salam Asim, Mujaddidi, Persian poetry, Afghanistan, Sufism, exile, Khorasani style, Naqshbandiya