Allama Iqbal had great affection for Germany: Envoy

Islamabad: German Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck on Monday said Pakistan’s national poet Allama Muhammmad Iqbal had a great affection for Germany and its culture.

Paying homage to Allama Iqbal on his 143rd birth anniversary, the ambassador said Iqbal had a life long affection with the German writers, poets and culture, as among his wonderful books and writings “Eastern and Western Dewaan” was considered to be his master piece by the Germans.

“In this master piece writing, Iqbal had actually described in the most beautiful manner the inspirations and mutual enrichments between the Western and Eastern Culture,” he said.

Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck said Allama Iqbal had studied in Germany and keeping in view his strong affection with Germany and its culture, a road (Iqbal-Ufer) had been named after him in the country.

Acknowledging his services that he had rendered in the fields of literature and philosophy, he said, “Muhammad Iqbal roughly around century later responded to the German poetry and its poets with his master piece writing-the ‘Message of East’.”

The envoy said: “There was a kind of ongoing dialogue between these two important thoughts of poets. I am very grateful for their inspiration in my life and a wonderful opportunity to see, how different-cultures have different-approaches for solution of societal problems.”

The best way to pay tributes to Allama Iqbal was to understand his message and imbibe his teachings, he added.