Lalon Shah The Great Sufi Baul of The East

As I complete writing of this book, I gratefully acknowledge the

Lord of my Life, the Man of the Heart, Allah – the Supreme and

the Sovereign being, the Creator of the universe and everything

that the earth and sky possess. It is God who helped me

complete the present book, ‘Lalon Shah: The Great Sufi Baul of

the East’. It is my final work on Lalon and his songs. Lalon died in

1890.

In this connection, I express my gratitude to the Google Network

for all support proving me with necessary information as and

when required for research. It worked as a moving library.

Initially, it was my Principal Professor Mazharuddin Bhuiyan

(M.U.Bhuiyan) and the Vice Principal. Professor Ambica Das

Chakravarty who once studied at the Visva-Bharati of Tagore in

West Bengal, India helped me greatly encouraging me to

undertake such kind of research. They used to read my articles

as these came out in the literary page of the Daily Ittefaq. Here I

express my gratitude to the Editor of the Ittefaq literary page for

publishing my articles in those days. It was the beginning of my

literary career. Later I also received encouragement from the

News Editor, Thee Ittefaq, Sirajuddin Hussain, who knew me

from my childhood.

Here I take the privilege to express my heartfelt gratitude to Mr.

Qazi Golam Ahad who was the Deputy Commissioner, Kushtia

(1961—1964) and was the President of the Kushtia College

Governing Body and a Sufi by heart, when I was a teacher at the

Kushtia College. He, in fact, came to know of me as I was

introduced to him by the Principal, Kushtia College, my teacher,

Mr. M.U. Bhuiyn and read my articles published in the News

Papers. Here I remember Mr. Rafiqullah Chowdhury, a CSP and a

senior friend to me when I was a resident student at Fazlul

Haque Muslim Hall in the late 50s. It was he who talked to the

Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Qazi Golam Ahad about me and

requested him to do all his best for me. To be very specific, it

was Mr. Qazi Gulam Ahad who came forward to help me as I

organized the Bauls, the followers of Lalon Shah at Seuria in his

9Akhra. He arranged fund from various sources and formed a

comm with the Government pleader A.Z. Rezawanul Haque to

undertake the construction work. In 1963 the work was

complete. It was a time when my book on Lalon Shah, the first

book during the Pakistani period on Lalon under the name Baul

Kabi Lalon Shah was published. The Deputy Commissioner, Qazi

Golam Ahad invited the then Governor of East Pakistan for

inauguration of the Lalon Loke Shahitya Centre and presented a

copy of my book to him. He congratulated me for writing the

book. In 1975, I renamed the Lalon Loke Shahitya Centre to Lalon

Academy by one of my Classmate at Dhaka University and the

the Deputy Commissioner, Kushtia, Poet Abul Hasnat Mufazzal

Karim. I remember with gratitude Professor Dr. Abdul Hai. the

Head of the department of Bangla, Dhaka University, He was the

first to write on me in a book, named ‘Katipoi Jivan’ in Bengali

and published by the Government of East Pakistan, Ministry of

Education and Culture, congratulating me for writing a book on

Lalon for the first time in East Pakistan. I gratefully remember

Professor Dr. Syed Sajjad Hussain, Head, English Department,

Dhaka University who also encouraged me after he enjoyed my

writings when I was his student. Poet Golam Mostafa, my

father’s friend, came forward as I met him in Dhaka. He was very

happy as he went through my manu and published a

series of articles on Lalon in the Journal, Lekhak Sangha Patrika.

He was then the Editor of the Journal along with Poet Sufia

Kamal. He introduced me to poet Abdul Qadir, the Editor,

Mahenau. He published a review of my book in his journal.

Today, I remember Professor M. Mansuruddin, Professor Dr.

Ashraf Siddique and Poet Jasimuddin for their support and

encouragement as long as they lived. In this connection, I also

recall my moments with Professor Dr. Mazharul Islam, the Head,

Bangla, Rajshahi University who wrote the Preface of my book,

‘Baul Kabi Lalon Shah’, the second enlarged edition when he was

at Harvard University. There are many more persons from home

and abroad who encouraged me in my research on Lalon and the

Bauls. I remember Professor Dr. Mortaza Sharaf and his wife

Professor Mahdekha Sharaf who worked as the Visiting

Professors at the Dhaka University after liberation of Bangladesh.

10Professor Dr. Mortaza Sharaf was a son in law to Professor Dr.

Muhammad Moin of Tehran University who discovered the word

‘Baul’ as a Persian word for the first time. Professor Morteza

Sharaf visited me at Kushtia.

Here, I gratefully acknowledge the contribution made to me by

Dr. Phil Parshall, the Harvard and the Yale fellow and also to his

wife, Julie Parshall, John and Jane Thorpe, James and Diana

Jennings. They all lived in Bangladesh and became almost a part

of my family. Phil helped in my joining at the Divinity School,

Harvard in 1985.I also gratefully remember Professor Jane Smith,

Dean of the Faculty, and Divinity School, Harvard University for

her initiative in inviting me to joining the Divinity School, the

Harvard University. I owe my deep sense of gratitude to

Professor Dr. Annemarie Schimmel, the Head, Oriental Studies

who liked me and asked me to continue my stay at Harvard.

I express my gratitude to Professor Tone Bleie, the Norwegian

Professor who came to Bangladesh recently for going through

my manu and encouraged me to complete it. I also

gratefully acknowledge the contribution made to me by

Professor Dr. Abu Yousuf Abdullah, the Director, IBA, Dhaka

University and Chairman, Northern University Bangladesh.

During my 16 year service to the Northern University Bangladesh

both in Khulna and also in Dhaka, he extended his unqualified

support to me. At the age of 88, I still have been working for

Northern University as a Professor of English and Dean, Faculty

of Humanities and Social Science for him. I also acknowledge

with all my love and gratitude, the contribution made to me by

my loving parents and my wife, Professor Syeda Amena Karim

during the period they lived. It were they who allowed me to

spend time with the Bauls and to share experiences with them

for days together to explore the unknown facts about them.

Many a time my wife had to cook for the Bauls when I brought

them home on odd hours. I pray for their Jannath.

I also acknowledge the support extended to me by my daughter,

Sultana Afroz, MPA, Harvard and the former Secretary to the

Government, and also to my son in law, Shams al Mujaddid, the

former Joint Secretary to the Government for their love

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and support as I worked on my book. I also thank Mustafiz

Karigar for a wonderful cover page for my book, Lalon Shah the

Great Sufi Baul of the East. The portrait of Lalon Shah was

actually a pencil sketch made by Jyotirindranath Tagore,

Rabindranath’s elder brother in 1989 at Shelaidah and was kept

at Rabindra Sadan, Visva-Bharati. It was collected for me by

Professor Sanat Kumar Mitra and Professor Tushar Chatterji, the

two of my friends in India for the first time in 1975. I thank them

from the core of my heart.I also thank Mr. Golam Kibria of

Karubak publication for doing best for r in this regard. Lastly, I

acknowledge the sincere services extended to me by Md.

Mizanur Rahman, the Admin. Assistant at the Northern

University Bangladesh for helping me in preparing my book.