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The greatest poet of Sindhi; author of Shah Jo Risalo
Shah Abdul Latif was born into a family of Syeds near Hala in Sindh, during the late Mughal period. His great-great-grandfather, Shah Abdul Karim of Bulri, was himself a respected Sufi poet. He received a traditional education and knew the Quran, Persian poetry and especially Maulana Rumi's Masnavi well.
As a young man he spent about three years travelling with wandering ascetics (jogis) across Sindh, Balochistan and beyond, visiting places such as Hinglaj and the deserts of Thar. These journeys gave him close knowledge of the land and its people that runs through his poetry.
He later settled on a sand mound (bhit) near Hala, where his followers built a village, today Bhit Shah. He lived there simply, composing and singing his verses with his disciples, until his death in 1752.
Divine love, the search for truth, loyalty to one's homeland and people, compassion for the poor, and the unity of existence. He uses the beauty and hardship of Sindh's deserts, rivers, fishermen, weavers and herders to express spiritual ideas, in short verse forms called bait and wa'i.
Shah Latif is the national poet of Sindh and a symbol of Sindhi identity. Every night at his shrine, fakirs sing his verses to the tambooro, a stringed instrument he is credited with developing. His urs at Bhit Shah draws huge crowds, and his couplets are part of everyday Sindhi speech.