COLUMN HEER IN ENGLISH.

One of Punjab's most revered folktales, the love story of Heer and Ranjha, turned into a great epic when, in the 18th century, the master poet Waris Shah decided to retell it in verse.

Although the story has been told over centuries in Punjabi, Persian, Sindhi, Hindi and Urdu by many poets and prose writers, such as Hari Das Harya, Gang Bhatt, Damodar Das and Ahmad Yar Khan Yakta among others, it is Waris Shah's Heer that remains incomparable.

Like all such tales from the pre-printing press era, many verses continued to be included in the main text by poets and singers who would read and recite the long poem. Eminent scholar Sharif Sabir is credited with the latest and most authentic version of Heer Waris Shah, made available to us as recently as 1986.

Poet Syed Waris Shah (1722-1798) spiritually subscribed to the Chishti order of Sufism and was a student of Makhdoom Hafiz Ghulam Murtaza in Kasur. He rendered the tale of Heer Ranjha in his own unique way, where he used the story to define the feelings of separation and belonging, love and longing, pathos and ecstasy and satisfaction and guilt.

Full of drama, loaded dialogue, insightful depictions of the human psyche and inherent social behaviour towards each other in a community, Heer Waris Shah presents the social history of the tumultuous 18th century agrarian Punjab.

Through his characters, Shah time and again challenges the hypocrisy and fake religiosity of the mullah [cleric] and qazi [judge]. His depiction of the two lovers, Heer and Ranjha, celebrates nonconformity and purity of heart. All his other characters, such as Kaidu, Sehti, Ajju Khehra, etc are somewhat universal characters in human society.

Poet Najm Hossein Syed once wrote: 'Written commentaries on Heer are rare, and critical introductions rarer. It does not form part of any regular curricula. But despite these disadvantages - perhaps because of them - Waris Shah's long poetic drama is certain of its audiences for generations.'

Sarwat Mohiuddin has applied her command over both Punjabi and English languages to give us select stanzas of Heer Waris Shah in English, published under the Literary Heritage Series of the Oxford University Press, Pakistan.

In order to attract a younger readership, the language of the translation is simplified to some extent. The volume, illustrated with watercolour paintings depicting the tale's main characters and also Punjab's rural 18th century landscape, has just come out and was launched at...