RAHIM YAR KHAN: Sanjarpur town on national highway in tehsil Sadiqabad holds the honour of having about a century old Mubarak Urdu Library, stated to be the first public library of the Bahawalpur division, launched by an individual.

It was established in 1926 at Muhammadabad (erstwhile Pir Da Goth), a small village two kilometers in the south of Sanjarpur. The library was set up by Syed Mubarak Shah Jillani who himself was a poet. He launched a quarterly magazine, Lala-e- Sehra, from the library in 1933 and it was the first public periodical of the Bahawalpur state, according to the library record.

From the main road, a small dirt road leads to the library housed in a red building, having a veranda and courtyard. An inscription in red on the face of the building gives information about the date of the foundation of the library and its founder, claiming that it was the first public library of the division.

A compound having trees and flower plants leads to the building. The veranda has old pictures hung on its walls while its old style furniture gives a glimpse of the days gone by. Inside the library, there are concrete shelves, especially designed to hold books. The books are mounted on one another at places.

Mubarak Shah Jilani’s hobby was to collect rare pieces of writings, books, magazines and other reading materials of famous writers from the country and abroad. There are more than 25000 books of Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Seraiki and Punjabi.

He collected Allama Iqbal’s letters, Diwan-i-Ghalib, Maulana Hasrat Mohani’s writings and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s books for his library. The collection of letters includes those of Jaun Elia, painters Sadequain and Eqbal Mehdi, Mushfiq Khawaja, Naqoosh editor Muhammad Tufail and Siddique Salik.

After the death of Mubarak, his son, Syed Anis Shah Jillani, also maintained the library and increased the number of books. Anis would spend the maximum time of his life in library. Anis passed away in 2017 and his sons took the responsibility of maintaining the library and they are committed to keep the library alive despite being busy in their professions.

Research scholars and students from the country visit the library for their research work.

Rahim Yar Khan Deputy Director Public Relations Shehzad Ahmed says the library was a big achievement of Syed Mubarak Shah Jillani and he established it in the remote area of Punjab.

He terms the library a proof of the Jillani’s love for knowledge and literature of Urdu and Seraiki because he was himself a poet of these languages. He says he would take the steps for preserving the library.

Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Salman Khan has also made a pledge to make arrangements for provision of facilities at the library’s reading hall so that the maximum number of people could get benefits from this historical source of knowledge.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2023