Three Poems by Allama Iqbal beautiful article Ali and a touching poem by Allama Iqbal, Allah have mercy on him, lovely translation too--but where is the rest of the essay? You mentioned 3 poems...

Faiz Ahmad Faiz - A Blameworthy Sufi? Ignoring the fascist laddu, I´d be interested in the sensible opinions of people on Chowk on this poem. I myself was surprised when I came across it whilst browsing my copy of his Collected Poems (entitled Dast e Teh e Sang if I recall correctly)--though delighted! It is a lovely naat.

25 Years On: Remember Faiz A great poet...
yet to call him a 'revolutionary' is a tad too much methinks. He might have shared a philosophy in common with Che and Fidel, but he apparently liked his communism when he didn't have to actually live it himself...

Still, I am a firm believer in Art for Art's Sake and his politics and personal life do not detract one iota from his greatness as the greatest Urdu poet since Iqbal.

As for his alleged atheism, I am skeptical. If you read his collected works - the very last poem is a naat in Farsi beseeching the Prophet of Islam (upon him be peace) for intercession.

Arguably the greatest Pakistani.

A Meeting with Che Guevara Great summary Sardar sahib! Viva Che! Viva Fidel! Viva La Revolucion!

An Hour at Datta Darbar Thanks for this write-up --it brought to mind my own visit to the shrine of the great Saint of Lahore Hazrat Ali Hijwiri -may Allah sanctify his Secret! amen!

The greatness of Data Sahib can be gauged from the esteem his work, Kashf al Mahjub --the Removal of Spiritual Veils--has been been held amongst the Muslims in general and the spiritual elect amongst them--the Sufis--in particular for over 1000 years. It can also be gauged from the statement of the Sultan of the Saints, the Greatest Succour (al-Ghawth al Azam), the Grey Falcon, Sayyidina Shaykh Abd al Qadir al Jilani al-Baghdadi -may his secret be sanctified--who said that, "If I had been alive in the time of Ali Hijwiri I would have been his disciple!"

Allahu Akbar!
Madad Ya Data Sahib!

Hey America, Come Join The Civilized World! despite my miagivings about obama --though i am glad he won--
if he manages to push through some sort of universal healthcare system he will go down as, imho, the greatest president of the USA.

Hey America, Come Join The Civilized World! kulharee you talk BS about healthcare in the EU.

Hey America, Come Join The Civilized World! great article DM sahib. I agree 100%. It astounds me how Americans are unwilling to have a "socialised" system of universal healthcare like every other developed country. The Americans i speak to talk about how they don't want to pay more taxes to foot the bill for someone who is "lazy" but the 50 million or so americans without healthcare would wish otherwise. i live in an EU country and the healthcare is amazing --even though i pay 43% tax.

the funny thing is that my cousin who is a finance lawyer in NYC working for one of the big firms in Manhattan and has gone from the UK is now complaining that though his taxation is about the same as in the UK he gets nothing for his tax money and his healthcare is not 100% covered by the firm either. if this is how a very high earning lawyer feels i can only imagine the plight of the poor average american.

Turkey – Glorious and Surprising Thanks Abroo...oh Istanbul! Reading this has made me pine again for that loveliest of cities...and there is SO much of it I've yet to see.

Bring Back Jagannath Azad’s Pakistan Anthem an interesting article beena but, really, what's wrong with the current anthem anyway?

if we have to have a change then i propose vital sign's "dil dil pakistan"

Our Piñata: The Western Culture kulharee summed it up:
"They want to reap the economic benefits of developed societies without making any effort to assimilate into their adopted countries."

yet...assimilation happens gradually whether you want it to or not--if not the second or third gen then definitely by the fourth. so doesn't it make sense to keep the essentials of your culture or what's important to you--for example your islamic faith--and assimilate in all other areas?

I think we Muslims can learn a great deal from how the Jews have assimilated into the Western countries whereas a few generations ago they were more despised than we are now.

Yet they are still mightily proud of their Jewish heritage.

Our Piñata: The Western Culture a very well argued piece highlighting the rank hypocrisy of desis in the West who, whilst happy to partake of its fruits, are even more eager to criticise it. Yes, constructive criticism is good and healthy but no one is more introspective as a culture than Western European culture.

As I always say, if you don't like it here--leave.

Afia from Karachi Company great piece, P. Really enjoyed it!! (And you ain't written in a while!!)

I live in Frankfurt too! I wonder if I've ever bumped into this "Afia"? :L-)

A Non-Muslim Appraisal of Islamic Sharia Re: Akbar:

Hazrat Aurangzeb farmood: "Pidr e man, Akbar, akbar neest, akfar ast!"

[My (great-great-great-great-grand)father Akbar, was not great [akbar] but a great kafir [akfar]!"

I thought this was a v. interesting article by DM.

10 Best TV Shows in 90\'s how about Aik Muhabbat Sau Afsanay by Ashfaq Ahmad?

When You Love More Than One for in depth anaylsis read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Freud-Was-Wrong-Psychoanalysis/dp/0465091288/ ref=sip_rech_dp_3