Scholar · Translator · Teacher

Prof. Saeed Ahmad

پروفیسر سعید احمد

For more than three decades, Prof. Saeed Ahmad has carried the Sufi poets of Punjab to new readers — translating Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah and Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, and reading Saif-ul-Malook, line by line, with anyone who would sit with him.

13+: books written and edited
14: titles in the Great Sufi Wisdom series
6+: languages of translation
150+: weekly Sangat sessions

A life in two disciplines

Saeed Ahmad holds master’s degrees in both Punjabi and Economics, and spent his career teaching economics at the Government College of Commerce, Rawalpindi. But it is Punjabi literature — and above all the Sufi poets — that became his life’s work.

His Great Sufi Wisdom series presents the great poets of Punjab in their own words: each verse in Shahmukhi, with a Roman transliteration, an English rendering and a short explanation, so that readers who cannot read the script — or who never learned the old vocabulary — can still meet the poets face to face. The books have travelled far beyond Punjab, translated into French, Russian, Romanian, Kikongo and other languages.

He is also the author of Folk Wisdom, a study of village proverbs written to show that rural wisdom is as deep as anything found in the city, and has been commissioned by the Institute of Folk Heritage, Islamabad, to compile a Folklore Encyclopedia of the Punjab of more than a thousand pages.

“Simplicity: a major lesson of our Sufi poets.”
— from his lecture on Punjabi Sufi philosophy

Milestones

Timeline سفر

Early years
A scholar of two disciplines
Saeed Ahmad earns master’s degrees in both Punjabi and Economics, and goes on to teach economics at the Government College of Commerce, Rawalpindi — while Punjabi literature becomes his life’s work.
1988
Punjabi Zubaan Nahin Maregi
An early work of advocacy for the Punjabi language, published under the pen name Saeed Farani.
2000s
The Great Sufi Wisdom series
He begins publishing selections of the great Punjabi Sufi poets — Baba Farid, Shah Hussain, Waris Shah, Sultan Bahu, Mian Muhammad Bakhsh and Bulleh Shah — each with transliteration, English rendering and explanation.
2000s
Translated around the world
The series is translated into French, Russian, Romanian, Kikongo and other languages, carrying Punjabi Sufi poetry to readers who had never met it.
2000s
Founding the Punjabi Sufi Sangat
In the tradition of the Punjabi Sangat of Lahore, he founds a weekly reading circle in Rawalpindi and Islamabad to read and understand Saif-ul-Malook page by page.
Milestone
100th and 150th sessions
The Sangat celebrates its 100th session, and later its 150th at the National Press Club, Islamabad.
Ongoing
Folklore Encyclopedia of the Punjab
Commissioned by the Institute of Folk Heritage, Islamabad: a 1,000-page-plus encyclopedia of folk tales, music, customs, festivals, crafts and traditions of the Punjab.
Today
Indus Wisdom, Lok Virsa
His books are kept in circulation at the Indus Wisdom counter, Shop #13 of the Lok Virsa Heritage Museum in Islamabad — in Punjabi, Urdu, English and Esperanto.
Today
Punjabi Wisdom
Lectures and readings shared with a new generation on YouTube — and now this archive, preserving a lifetime of work.

Every week, for years

The Punjabi Sufi Sangat

پنجابی صوفی سنگت

In the tradition of the Punjabi Sangat of Lahore, Prof. Saeed Ahmad founded a weekly circle in Rawalpindi and Islamabad to read Saif-ul-Malook together. He brings a few corrected pages each week; each participant reads aloud, and he explains the outer and inner meanings of every couplet. The circle has passed its 150th session — and its readings now continue online.

Watch the sessions

Saif-ul-Malook Sessions

Indus Wisdom, Shop #13, Lok Virsa Heritage Museum, Islamabad

Tuesday–Sunday, 10am–8pm (break for Friday prayers) — museum hours; please call ahead

Get directions

Recognition

Awards

بلھے شاہ ایوارڈ
Bulleh Shah Award
For service to Punjabi Sufi literature.
میاں محمد بخش ایوارڈ
Mian Muhammad Bakhsh Award
For his work on Saif-ul-Malook and its readers.
ہاشم شاہ ایوارڈ
Hashim Shah Award
For contributions to Punjabi letters.
مسعود کھدرپوش ایوارڈ
Masood Khaddarposh Award
For contributions to the Punjabi language.