Salute to a scholar
By Subhash Parihar

GULWANT SINGH died on December 8. One of the greatest Indian scholars of Persian, he devoted his entire life to the pursuit of knowledge.

A titanic figure of Punjabi University, Patiala, he was honoured with President’s Certificate of Honour in 1990. In 1999, he was declared Baba-i Parsi (The Grand Old Scholar of Persian). Recently, he was conferred with the Millennium Award by Punjabi University.

A true scholar who never coveted a high post, Gulwant Singh always talked slowly, as if he was in no haste for anything. His erudite talks, without becoming heavy, could engage a courious listener for hours. One could spend hours in his company, feeling quite enriched at the end. He had become a legendary figure during his lifetime.

I had an opportunity to meet Gulwant Singh a number of times. I always touched his feet but he would embrace me. Some time back I decided to write an article about him. With this purpose, I met him in the first week of October and recorded our conversation. But due to some other engagements, I could not complete the write-up immediately. Unfortunately, today he is not alive to see the article.

Gulwant Singh’s life is the story of a rural boy rising to the top of the scholarly world by the sheer dint of hard work and intelligence. Born in 1925 in a small village named Daulatpura Neecha in Moga district, he belonged to a poor family but completed his school education on scholarship.

alking about how he got interested in Persian, he said, "A friend of my grandfather often used to say, ‘Brother, there is no education without Persian.’ He repeated the sentence so many times that it got stuck in my mind. Soon, I borrowed Shaikh Sa’di’s Gulistan and Bustan from the father of one of my friends and read them. Really, I left mesmerised by the beauty of thought and the language. This was the start of my life-long passion with Persian literature." He passed M.A. in Persian from Lahore, in first division.

It was not easy to get a job even in those days. His first job was as a lecturer in Persian at Khalsa College, Amritsar. But after Partition, the number of students opting for Persian as a subject began to decrease. Punjabi was about to be introduced as a regular subject at degree level, so Gulwant Singh also passed Giani and M.A. (Punjabi).

When Professor Teja Singh became Principal of Government Mahindra College, Patiala, he wished to introduce M.A. (Punjabi) classes in the college. He asked Gulwant Singh to apply for the post of PES class II in Punjabi, advertised by the Pepsu Public Service Commission. Gulwant was selected but he did not enjoy his work in the college. After a shortwhile he left this jobto join the post of senior editor in the Publication Bureau of Panjab University. Here too, he did not feel satisfied with the work. He again returned to teaching and joined Government College, Ludhiana, where he spent 14 years in teaching. During this period, he studied a lot.

Gulwant Singh joined Punjabi University as the founder head of the Department of Persian sometime in 1966-67 and spent the rest of his life there. After his retirement, he was given life-fellowship in the university. And it was there, in his flat situated opposite the university library that he breathed his last.

For a scholar who had thoroughly studied Persian classics like Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi’s Masnawi, Diwan of Hafiz, Gulistan and Bustan of Shaikh Sa’di, it was natural for him to cherish the ideals of Sufism. To have a deeper knowledge of the subject, Gulwant Singh translated the Arabic classic Awarif al-Ma’arif (also called Awarif al-Haga’iq) of Shaikh Shihabuddin Umar Suhrawardi (1145-1234). This work is a closely studied text on Sufism.

His studies in Sufism crystallised into a book on the subject, entitled Islam ate Sufivad (Islam and Sufism) (1986). In Punjabi, this book is considered the most authentic work on the subject. He also penned a number of articles on the subject which were compiled and published in 1997, in the form of a book, Sufivad (Sufism). But Gulwant Singh disassociated himself from this work as he said these articles were written long ago and hence needed a thorough revision.

He wrote a booklet on Jalaluddin Rumi and compiled the Punjabi-Persian Dictionary (1998).

He also co-authored a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms in Punjabi titled Prayay and Viprayay Kosh (published, circa 1967-68), the only work of its kind in the language.

A devout Sikh, Gulwant wrote a number of articles on Gurbani. Recently, he compiled them in the form of a book entitled Gurmat Sahit Chintan (Studies in Gurbani Literature), edited by his friend Dr Gurmukh Singh.

He also translated a few Punjabi religious texts into Persian.

He undertook the translation of many English works also. He translated some essays of American-English poet, playwright and literary critic T.S. Elliot (1888-1965). These included writings: What is a Classic, Tradition and Individual Talent.

Gulwant Singh strongly believed that Islam was an integral part of the Indian culture, particularly Punjabi culture, history and language.

He planned to write a book on Islamic allusions in Punjabi poetry. During the conversation, he told me that he had already completed about two-thirds of it. A real tribute to the scholar will be to get his last book completed by some competent scholar.

This was our Gulwant Singh whom his scholar friend Professor Jit Singh Seetal considered " an ocean of knowledge".