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Written by Administrator
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Page 5 of 5
Heer-Ranjha is a qissa, a tale, a romance based on Persian Masnavi. Through the voice of Heer Ranjha, Warris Shah has become the spokesman of the Punjabi mind. It must, however, be remembered that the first Heer in Punjabi was written by a poet called Damodar who had not given it a tragic ending. Even Maqbul, the early 18th century Punjabi poet, followed Damodar who sent the united lovers Heer and Ranjha to a Haj pilgrimmage to Mecca. It is only Warris Shah who gave the epic a tragic ending. Since tragedy appeals more to the human mind, the epic became not merely popular but immortal.
Warris Shah died in 1790, at the age of 60. It was his dream to see Punjab free from foreign invasions. Had he lived another ten years, he would have seen his dream come true when Ranjit Singh chased out Zaman Shah of Kabul beyond Jhelum river, never to return. However, he did come back to India but only as a helpless seeker of asylum which the generous Maharaja granted him in Lahore
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