FROM SURREAL TO THE REAL: SAIF-UL-MALOOK AS A SPIRITUAL TRAVELOGUEv

Abstract

Saif-ul-Malook is the folklore epic of love in regional literature of Punjab inviting the readers to unfold the inspirational mystic ideology of Divine love as a bond between man, God and universe. Apparently the work describes the story of love between Prince Saif-ul-Malook and Badi-ul-Jamal (the queen of fairies). The thematic under-current, however, is not so apparent; it is engrossed in various mystical and metaphysical dimensions. This very aspect of the epic enhances its scope to be acknowledged universally as it is not less than the works of Rumi and other universally acknowledged mystic poets. The subtitle of the book, “Safar-ul-Ishq (journey of divine love)” contextualizes the protagonist’s spiritual journey from physical to the metaphysical status; from surreal to the real. The work symbolically describes man’s spiritual pursuit in search of a Divine Beloved which Allama Iqbal terms as “Infinite Reality”. The journey of the hero to find out and get united with the fairy in this tale is not merely a pursuit of earthly love rather it is the journey of human soul in search of “Divine Reality” which is destined to experience a series of trials. The hero is judged on various corporeal as well as spiritual levels before his union with the “Divine Beloved”. The present paper explores the journey of the hero in search of the fairy (Infinite Reality/Divine Beloved), in the epic Saif-ul-Malook as a spiritual travelogue.