AOn the occasion of the Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony for Dr. Shehzad Saleem ll praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. And blessings and peace be upon Muhammad, the trustworthy. I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Ladies and gentlemen!
My initial interest in the field of knowledge and literature has always been in the realm of literature, and within literature, there are dozens of genres in which people experiment with their creative expression. I, too, have had the opportunity to listen, read, and subsequently express my thoughts in both poetry and prose, and I have also expressed my views in some of these genres. However, there are two genres that I have never been able to approach; one is ‘Qaseedah’ (panegyric), and the other is ‘Hijv’’ (satire or invective). By nature, I am not a person inclined toward praise and flattery, nor have I ever acquired the art of fault-finding.
Nevertheless, in fifty years of public life, I have participated in many such congregations where people speak about their companions, their teachers, and their elders in the same manner as I have heard today. Whenever I participated in such a gathering, I generally rose with the feeling that it had been a mutual admiration society. But today, for the first time, I feel that regarding the personality who is being discussed here, even after so much has been said, much remains unsaid.
In both poetry and prose, what our companions have already expressed—if that were to be doubled or even tripled— it would still perhaps fall short.
It is an undeniable fact that the services rendered by Dr. Shehzad Saleem in advancing this intellectual tradition are truly exceptional. Consider them from every angle: he has produced translations and, by doing so, conveyed to people—in the English language—the intellectual legacy of nearly the past century. The new insights that have emerged from this perspective, he has elucidated and clarified—both through his pen and through his speech. One only needs to glance at this contribution to recognize its worth.
In addition, he has rendered administrative services to our institution—services which were carried out during highly delicate and testing periods—and this too constitutes a luminous chapter of history. Indeed, if one were merely to recount the story of those ten to fifteen years, it would take the whole night, and even then, the morning would break while the tale remained unfinished.
Along with this, the character and conduct that Allah Almighty bestowed upon him are also extraordinary. Sincerity in the call towards the Lord, a true relationship with that Lord, living in this world with the consciousness of the Hereafter—these are not ordinary attributes. It is a fact that when I reflect upon the assets of my entire life, I wonder what I will present when I stand before the court of the Lord. The only source of courage I find is in the thought that I may present Dr. Shehzad Saleem. It is also my own wish that when his work is acknowledged in the presence of Allah Almighty, if a small portion of that recognition reaches this humble person as well, then perhaps, following behind him, I too may be granted the opportunity to attain the pleasure of that Divine Presence.
I state this with complete honesty before you that his hard work, his sincerity, his relationship with Allah Almighty, and his character and conduct have always been a source of admiration for me, and I thank Allah that I was granted his companionship.
At this point in my life, I am at a stage where nothing can be said for certain about when the message from that Lord might arrive and I may be summoned to His presence. In such moments, it is the desire of every individual that if they have conceived any thought, undertaken any intellectual work, or left behind any tradition, then its custodians may uphold that tradition after them. I can say with complete confidence that if I have made an effort to produce even a few petals of a rose, then I have handed them over into their care, and I am fully content:
کہ گل بدستِ تو از شاخ تازہ تر مانند That the flower in your hand appears fresher than the one on the branch
It is a fact that the struggle of the past thirty to thirty-five years in our context — if expressed in the style of metaphor — contains both moments of battle and moments of celebration. And it can be said about Dr. Shehzad Saleem, without fear of refutation, that:
رزم ہو یا بزم ہو، پاک دل و پاک باز Whether it is the battlefield or the gathering, (he is always) pure of heart and pure of action.
اللّٰهم أَرِنَا الحَقَّ حقًّا وَارْزُقْنَا اتِِّبَاعَهُ وَأَرِنَا البَاطِلَ بَاطِالً وَارْزُقْنَا اجْتِنَابَه (O Allah, show us the truth as truth and grant us the ability to follow it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and grant us the ability to avoid it.)