Pakistan people have great affection for Iran: Pak scholar

In an interview with IRNA, Iftikhar Arif said Iran and Pakistan have so much in common that no other countries in the world have.

“I lived in Iran for four years as president of the Economic Cultural Institute (ECI) of Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) and I never felt myself as stranger even for one day,” he said.

He strongly believed there are bright chances of friendship between the two countries and said that governments in the world keep on changing their stances on different issues but the people of Iran are very close to the hearts of Pakistani people and will remain so.

The renowned poet said that there is no doubt that Mohammad Iqbal Lahori was one of the greatest poets of Islamic world of the 20th century.

He said most poetry of Iqbal Lahori is in the Persian language adding 'We will have to learn Persian language if we want to know about our history and civilization.'

Iftikhar Arif went on to say the Founder of Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeni while referring to contemporary thinkers of Islam had always held Iqbal in high esteem. “It would be correct to say that Iqbal was the founding members of the Islamic Revolution.'

'Few months back when I presented Persian translation of my book to Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, he said that Iqbal was one of the top poets of the Islamic world.'

The scholar noted that Ibqal belongs to all Muslims as the basis of his poetry can be found in the teachings of Holy Quran and the sayings of Prophet Mohammad. “Iqbal had written a lot about the top personalities of Islam more than any poet of Islamic world.'

He also said Iqbal is the poet of new ages as he had full knowledge of western society as he stayed in Europe for many years.

'Unfortunately the colonial powers in the Indian subcontinent had replaced Persian language with English language and as a result we forget the works of wisdom written in Persian language,' he lamented.

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