Qazi Barkat Ali ------ Shajr-e-Saaya Daar

It was Sunday on the 1st of September, 2019. In the very start of

September, the intensity of the hotness of weather had begun to
decrease, and the people had taken a sigh of relief at this pleasant turn.
The small patches of clouds floating few and far between were
forecasting a pleasant weather in a few days. It was about 11:00 in the
morning; I was trying to write something when, all of a sudden, my
mobile phone rang. It was from Prof, Faqir Muhammad Kaifi, one of the
most reverend friends of mine. He is a famous and very popular
Government officer and is holding a high office. He asked me to
accompany him to the Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore in about one and half an
hour to attend the ‘Chehlam Ceremony’ of his friend’s father. He further
told that there would be the recitation of the Holy Quran in a very serene
atmosphere and that we would be back by 4:00 in the evening.
“But, I’m not familiar with your friend, nor have I been invited
to this ceremony! How can I go with you?” I said.
He said, “Dr. sb. It’s not a marriage or walima ceremony. It’s only the
recitation of the Holy Quran and prayer afterward. Qazi Naeem Anjum is
a very close friend of mine. He is an educationist and above all, I want to
introduce you to him.” Hearing the word ‘Educationist’ I, without any
further hesitation, agreed to accompany him.
As I myself belong to a religious family, I never felt reluctant to attend
such meetings if time allows me; but, the arrangement of ‘Rasm-e-
Chehlam’ at such a large scale in a hotel was really surprising for me.
However, when we both, being a bit late, entered the Royal Grand Hall,
the ceremony was about to be closed. Nevertheless, I recited half of a
Chapter from the Holy Quran and raised hands to join the prayer for the
departed soul. In the meantime, beautiful copies of “Panj Surah” were
distributed among all the participants. After the prayer was over, Qazi

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Naeem Anjum, paying exclusive thanks to some of the guests,
approached us. When my friend wanted to introduce me to him,
I was pleasantly surprised to hear Qazi Naeem Anjum blurt out the
following words:
“Please, don’t introduce him. I’m his humble student. I have
been his student at college for two years: from 1985 to
1987.”
Then, addressing himself to me, he said, “Sir, Please, do visit my office
someday. We will discuss some points regarding Urdu Curriculum and
also have some informal talks.”
It is pertinent to mention here that, about four years back, I, after a
laborious work and in the light of my long life teaching experience, wrote
“Qawaid-o-Insha-e Urdu” for the students of Middle and Matric classes. I
hope when the teachers of well-reputed schools juxtapose my work with
the so-called popular and traditional books of the day, they will hanker
after it.
I would also like to mention here that, during the same period, I, from the
platform of Forman Christian College, University (FCCU), also wrote a
biography “Sarnawisht” of Chaudhery Ahmed Saeed (1941-2018) who
was a great lover, benefactor and donor of that ancient institution and
also the Chief Executive of Servis Industries Limited. I also got its
English Version prepared from my close friend, Prof. Rana Muhammad
Yousaf. It was, no doubt, a Herculean task, but he did it very nicely.
I thought my meeting with Qazi Naeem Anjum would be another great
opportunity and I, carrying both these books, called on him.
It is an admitted fact that the students who respect their teachers and
honor them like their ‘father’ are always successful both in this world and
the world hereafter. Many years back, I asked two Japanese students,
who had come to the Punjab University Oriental College to learn Urdu
and were so much respectful to their teachers that they always remained
‘awed’, as to what the reason was for their unusual behavior. They said:
“In Japan, people prefer teachers to their parents, because
they believe that parents bring them down from the heavens
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 to earth and the teachers elevate them to heavens again;
and that ascending is always much more difficult than
descending.”
In short, I was, in fact, reminded of the Japanese’ episode when Qazi
Naeem Anjum gave me a respectful warm welcome at his office. We had
an exchange of thoughts on many important issues. On that very day, it
was decided that I would write a biography of his father, Qazi Barkat Ali.
He also assured me of his fullest cooperation in this regard.
This is but instinctive to me that whenever I take up some assignment,
especially when it is something of writing, I am so much obsessed by it
that I think about it all the time. When I started writing this biography, I
had little contents to jot down; however, many facts about Qazi Barkat
Ali were lying scattered here and there and his memories were still alive
in the hearts of his friends. It was necessary to accumulate them.
In this connection, Qazi Khalid Iqbal, Air Commodore (Retd.), the eldest
son of Qazi Barkat Ali supported me a lot. We both visited those places
which were fragrant with his memories. I openly admit that I could not
have accomplished this task, had Qazi Khalid Iqbal not extended his
cooperation.
It is very appropriate to mention here that, before I started writing “Shajr-
e-Saaya-Daar”, I had already developed a vague picture of Qazi Barkat
Ali in some farthest corner of my mind. It was, perhaps, the end of 1987
or the start of 1988, when I was posted at Govt. College of Science,
Wahdat Road, Lahore. I was the incharge of the college magazine
“Dabistan”, and I had to compose a documentary about the SOS Village
and get it published in the Magazine. Its foundation stone was laid down
by the then President of Pakistan, Fazal Elahi Chaudhery on the 2 nd of
January, 1978 and was a very popular institution in those days. In this
regard, I along with one of my friends, Prof. Umar Faizi visited the SOS
Village situated on the Ferozpur Road from where I got some authentic
data and important information. There, I glanced at an elderly teacher
who was teaching Mathematics to his students with rapt attention. On
asking, I was told that his name was Qazi Barkat Ali and that, while he
was the Head Master of Second Shift at City District Govt. Middle
School, Qainchi Amar Sadhu, he would daily visit the SOS Village with a
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view to teaching the orphan children free of charges for two hours i.e.
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Although he had got retired from service six
months ago, he still came there without fail from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Seeing him, I reassured myself that there still exist in the world such
people as are the salt of the Earth, and they, quite oblivious of their
surroundings, keep themselves busy like a bee to strengthen the
foundations of their nation. Khwaja Altaf Hussain has, perhaps, very
aptly said about such people:

I saluted his dignity from a distance, to which he nodded with a smiling

face but, displaying total indifference to every admiration or appreciation,
went on with his work.
Wise people say that time and tide wait for none. It has been about
thirty-two years since this incident took place. I got retired from Science
College in 2001 and started teaching at FCC, University. I again got
retired from there and busied myself in writing books. Meanwhile, I
happened to participate in the ‘Rasm-e-Chehlam’ of Qazi Barkat Ali.
I have a firm faith that no incident can take place unless there is a series
of coincidences behind it desired by Allah Almighty. I, sometimes, think
which supernatural force had taken me to the holy ceremony of ‘Rasm-e-
Chehlam’ of Qazi Barkat Ali. My participation in that function, my
introduction to Qazi Naeem Anjum, his turning out to be my old student
and the subsequent meetings with him, our mutual decision to write a
biography “Shajr-e-Saaya-Daar” of Qazi Barkat Ali, and the noble
gesture of Qazi Khalid Iqbal, Air Commodore (Retd.) to help me in this

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regard are the main episodes which have a miraculous sequence to
contrive the whole story.
The more I got familiarized with the contents about “Shajr-e-Saaya-
Daar”, the more astounded I felt to know of the man who, without any
discrimination of the young and the old, ruled everybody’s heart for
about quarter to a century. He rendered his duties as a highly dutiful
person does. Whatever I heard from the people about Qazi Barkat Ali,
converged at a single point that he was an angelic personality who had
never shrank back from giving the due rights to Allah and His creatures.
He was very pious and piteous; rather he strengthened all the five pillars
of Islam on which the great edifice of Islam stands. He not only preached
but also practiced whatever he said. He was a beacon house in real
sense of the word. In the process of gathering material, I, in the
company of Qazi Khalid Iqbal, visited Dev Kalan village, Charrar village,
Ali Razabad, Walton, Farooqabad and all other places where Qazi
Barkat Ali had stayed in his life time. I met those people who had
remained in either direct or indirect close contact with Qazi Barkat Ali. In
Dev Kalan village, an old man, Baba Yousaf highly impressed me. He
had been a pupil of Qazi Barkat Ali at Minhala before the partition of the
sub-continent. He narrated to us his eye-witnessed social circumstances
prevailing at Minhala (Patti, Amratsar) and some thrilling stories of his
time before partition. A brief description of them has been included in
“Shajr-e-Saaya-Daar”. In short, Baba Yousaf, who was about 82, was
proud to be one of Qazi Barkat Ali’s favourite students. Qazi Barkat Ali
also had the same feelings about Baba Yousaf:
“I have taught about Three Hundred Thousand students, but,
Yousaf, you are the senior most of them.”
Mr. Javed Iqbal Chaudhery is another senior student of Qazi Barkat Ali.
He retired as Director Industries, Punjab twelve years ago, but he has an
exceptionally sharp memory. In a meeting, he, as a spokesman of Qazi
Barkat Ali, very confidently told me in the presence of four other senior
students of Qazi Barkat Ali: Hakim Ali Bhatti (Ex. M.P.A.), Muhammad
Suba Rehmani, Muhammad Boota and Muhammad Siddique (Sui Gas)
that Qazi Barkat Ali was an embodiment of selflessness, integrity and
truthfulness. He was instilled with a passion of sacrificing even his own

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life for the supremacy of Islam and solidarity of Pakistan. He wished his
students to have the same spirit. They all had been his students at the
M.C. Primary School, Village Charrar which was also founded by Qazi
Barkat Ali. They had studied under his kind patronage for five years. This
school was housed in a Gurdwara which covered no less than two acres
of land. In those days, there used to be Peepal and Banyan trees and a
well in the Gurdwara. Both these trees still exist in some form or the
other, but the well has been excavated and the encroachments have
altogether changed the very shape of the Gurdwara. There were almost
one hundred students and two teachers in the school.
The other teacher’s name was Muhammad Ibrahim. He was also very
hard working, man of parts and right hand of Qazi Barkat Ali. Qazi
Barkat Ali had very skilfully made a map of the West Pakistan with mud
on the floor of the upside big room. He had highlighted each of the four
provinces in a different colour. On the front wall of the room, he had
written the following verse of Allama Iqbal:

Besides this, there was also a chart bearing the following two verses:

In addition to that, there also hung on the right side wall the pictures of
Allama Iqbal and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Below them was written a
saying of the Quaid-e-Azam and a poetic verse about him:
“I believe that our salvation lies in following the footprints of
the Holy Prophet, the greatest legislator on this Earth. We

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 should lay the foundations of our democracy on the Islamic
ideas and principles.” (Quaid-e-Azam)

There is also a verse of Sheikh Sa’adi:

This implies that we should consume like a candle in our thirst for
knowledge, because man cannot even recognize his Allah without it.
All this was written in bold letters. Besides this, on the walls of this hall
like room were also written by hand some epigrams regarding the high
norms and values of life. There was also written on a chart a famous

poem of Allama Iqbal “              which they

would, sometimes, recite in the morning assembly, so that the students
might read it; learn it by heart and try to implement it in their practical
lives.
Mr. Pervez Iqbal Chadhery further revealed that Qazi Barkat Ali was a
true and die-hard lover of Allama Iqbal and the Quaid-e-Azam. As he
and all his family had faced the trials and troubles after passing through
which, Pakistan came into being, he knew fully well the importance of
freedom and extremely loved the sacred land of Pakistan. In the big
school courtyard, he would hold a collective prayer early in the morning.
After the prayer, it was usual for him to read out some Quranic verse or
a Hadith along with its brief interpretation. Sometimes, he would make
some student deliver a speech on the achievements of any of the great
Muslim Generals like Hazrat Khalid bin Waleed, Hazrat Umroo bin Al-
aas, Tariq bin Ziad, Muhammad bin Qasim, Salahuddin Ayyubi and
Mahmood Ghaznavi etc. He himself would write these speeches and, in
order to develop confidence among the students, also listen to these
speeches as a rehearsal, so that he could correct their accent, intonation

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and stress pattern. Mr. Pervez Iqbal Chadhery recalled the time when he
had delivered a speech on “Tariq bin Ziad” making gestures with his
clenched fists after cramming it for three days. His performance was
highly applauded by the audience. He said that he still remembered a
verse of Allama Iqbal which he had cited in his speech:

This verse refers to Tariq bin Ziad when he smiled; took his sword and
said,
“Every country is our possession, because it belongs to our
Allah.”
In short, Qazi Barkat Ali exercised every technique that would influence
his students in building their character. That’s why, almost all of his
students, though they have attained old age now, have very clear
memories of their beloved teacher.
While replying to my question as to what else did Qazi Barkat Ali use to
do for his students’ character building at other than school timings, Mr.
Pervez Iqbal Chadhery’s eyes gained some peculiar shine. He said that
Qazi Barkat Ali had some unique qualities. It was his long life routine that
he would take his students off and on to the historical buildings or such
places of Lahore as would make wonderful addition to their knowledge. It
would broaden their vision and provide them with the first-hand
information. They would witness and enjoy the beauty of the Shalamar
Garden, the tombs of Jahangir, Malika Noor Jahan and Asif Jaah, Masjid
Wazir Khan, Sunehri Masjid, Badshahi Masjid and its adjacent Shahi
Qala, and Allama Iqbal’s tomb about which they had only heard of or
read in their books. Keeping in view the economic factor, he would hire
two or three donkey carts instead of ‘Tangas’, so that more students
could be accommodated. On the way, he would also buy some fruit for
the students. Mr. Pervez Iqbal Chadhery also remembered once going to
the Shahi Qala, Badshahi Masjid, Allama Iqbal’s tomb and Minto Park.
He said that Qazi Barkat Ali would also explain to them the historical
importance of these places and also told some interesting stories. Once,
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during their visit to the Shahi Qala, Qazi Barkat Ali told them that the
Lahore Fort was founded by Ayyaz, a very wise and sagacious slave of
Sultan Mehmood Ghaznavi. Mehmood Ghaznavi had appointed him
Governor of Lahore. The tomb of Ayyaz situated beside the main road
near Shah Alam Market is the oldest building, yet survives in a good
condition. He is the same Ayyaz about whom Allama Iqbal has said in
his world-famous poem “Shikwah”:

Later, the Mughal emperors especially Babar, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah

Jahan and Aurangzeb Alamgir made remarkable additions to it. He also
told them that, in ancient times, the river Ravi was equal to the Indus in
width, and it flowed along the walls of the fort. He also showed them the
place where Jahangir, a Mughal Emperor had installed the
‘Zanjeer-e-Adal’, and he would sit on his throne to do justice to the
public. After that, he took them to Minto Park (now Iqbal Park) and
showed them the place where a grand stage had been constructed for
the Quaid-e-Azam to deliver his speech on the 23 rd of March, 1940. At
that time, Qazi Barkat Ali, along with his close friends, had come from
his village, Minhala to Lahore, and they had very enthusiastically
supported the Resolution.
The number of Qazi Barkat Ali’s students is so large that they cannot be
enlisted together. But one thing is common among them: they all are
great admirers of Qazi Barkat Ali. For instance, one of his senior
students who is currently serving in Grade-20 and is near his retirement,
while talking to me, said,
“I belong to Gujjar family. There was a time when our family
had no interest in education. Once, I played a truant but was
caught. Qazi Barkat Ali gave me a counseling lecture and
took my word that I would never make such a mistake again
and that I would work hard. But, as I grew mature, I
developed interest in studies. I am, perhaps, the first
educated person in my Gujjar family. Then, I motivated my

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 siblings and the other members of my family to get
education. I acknowledge that the remarkable prevailing
tendency among the Gujjar families of Lahore and Qasur
towards getting education owes a great deal to Qazi Barkat
Ali. I openly admit that I would have been driving a donkey
cart or selling milk in the streets, had I not been Qazi Barkat
Ali’s student.”
The crux of the views of all the students of Qazi Barkat Ali is that
teaching to children was the be all and end all of Qazi Barkat Ali’s life.
His method of teaching was so good that his students would learn at
once whatever he taught. Moreover, he was a true lover of the Holy
Prophet (PBUH) and followed his suit so strictly that he would consider it
wrong if someone even spat facing the Qibla. He was very regular in
offering his prayers. May he be in a journey or at home, he would
deliberately observe all the rituals before offering his prayers. He often
quoted the 1st verse from the 21st chapter of the Holy Quran:
“Verily, Prayer (Namaz) prohibits us from vulgarity and all
evil deeds.”
Like himself, he also wished his students to offer their prayers regularly,
so that they might shun all evils. If, while teaching during school timings
or taking extra coaching classes afterward, call for ‘Zohr’ or ‘Asr’ prayer
was made, he would immediately leave the class and rush towards the
mosque. He would never intentionally got late for his prayers. In order to
develop a habit of offering prayers regularly, he had devised a novel
method: each of his students was supposed to keep a special performa
in his pocket, and it was mandatory for him to get it signed by some
witness who was a regular worshipper no matter even if he was his own
father.
Qazi Barkat Ali used to say:
“Time is a thing not to be wasted at any cost. We should
value time; it is our worst enemy and the best friend as well.
Enemy in the sense that if man shows even a slight
negligence in his work and does not make the most of his
time, it spoils his whole life; and friend in the sense that if

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 man values time and makes the most of it, it brings him an
enviable success.”
For that very reason, Qazi Barkat Ali would take a special care to know
how his students spent their time at home after the school timings were
over. In those days, kite flying, playing with walnuts and marble balls and
‘Gulli Danda’ were the common games. If he ever came to know that any
of his students had played such a game, he would take him to task in the
morning assembly before all other students and make him promise that
he would not waste his time in such idle pursuits again. The effect of all
these measures was so positive that nobility prevailed everywhere and
the whole society of which children are the lion’s share became highly
useful.
I, as a writer, feel at a loss as to what else I should pen down about Qazi
Barkat Ali. He was a metaphor of humanity and wonderful embodiment
of modesty. In short, Allah had blessed him with exceptional qualities,
and he had polished his talent and faculties by dint of his hard work and
untiring efforts. As long as he remained in Govt. service, he rendered his
duties honestly and with total commitment. He considered his post-
retired life as a great blessing, and he, out of his vast teaching and
administrative experience, would give his wise opinions; extended his
cooperation and provided moral support to his son, Qazi Naeem Anjum
who had been running a school. In this way, he killed two birds with a
single stone: utilized his leisure time best and benefited the school.
In a nut shell, Qazi Barkat Ali was one of the few blessed personalities of
his time who loved Pakistan more than anything. It seemed as if
Pakistan were his beloved sweetheart. But, whenever he saw someone
going astray or falling a prey to waywardness, he would say, “This is not
Iqbal’s Pakistan, nor is it Jinnah’s. Both Iqbal and Jinnah are alien on
this land. The climax where man loses his dignity of humanity is of no
worth.”

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I would end this sketch of Qazi Barkat Ali with the following verse of
Chaudhery Khushi Muhammad Nazir with a little change:

Written by:
Dr. Ali Muhammad Khan
Prof. of Urdu (Retd.),
FCC, University, Lahore.
July 17, 2020

Translated by:
Prof. Rana Muhammad Yousaf
M.A. English, M.A. TESL, M.Phil. TESL
Govt. College of Science, Wahdat Road,
Lahore.
August 07, 2020

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