The South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have produced some of the world’s greatest artists, writers, and poets.
This region was home to a magnificent Islamic civilization for twelve centuries. The legendary Taj Mahal, the mosques, palaces, gardens as well as the paintings are a few of the many achievements of this region. This civilization has nurtured several of the world’s greatest rulers, artists, and poets whose writings have endured as literary masterpieces.
Amir Khusrau (d. 1325), the greatest Persian poet of medieval Muslim India, was the first to incorporate Indian stories into his Persian epic poems, and composed verse in the local language, Hindwa (Hindi). His songs are still recited today at shrines of Sufi masters. A well known composer of Urdu poetry and prose is Mirza Ghalib (d. 1869). Shah Wali Allah (d. 1762), had an impact on later reformist writers. He translated the Holy Quran into Persian, paving the way for his two sons to translate the Persian version into Urdu. In subsequent decades, the Holy Quran was translated into several Indian languages. The most famous of several authors whose writings have impacted the modern Muslim community is Sir Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1938), who combined Western and Eastern literary tools to interpret and express Islamic concepts.
Source: Ali Asani “Muslim Literature in South Asia” The Muslim Almanac (Detroit: Gale Research Inc. 1996)
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