Date:03/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/03/stories/2008120350440200.htm

Kerala - Kozhikode

A poem of love in Arabic-Malayalam

Staff Reporter

The 400-year-old poem is believed to be written by Mohammed, a former Khazi of Kozhikode.

KOZHIKODE: Speakers at a symposium on ‘Muhyiddin Mala’ organised here by the Kendra Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, stressed the contributions made by the 400-year-old poem to Malayalam literature. The Arabic-Malayalam poem is believed to be written by Mohammed, a former Khazi of Kozhikode.

Critic Sukumar Azhikode said that right from the beginning, the poem had an internal feel of Kerala. The poem had influenced many a heart and it was an antidote to the mutual hatred that existed among the people now. “The work teaches us to love intensively.”

T.K. Hamza, MP, who inaugurated the symposium, noted that the work struck like an arrow in the minds of even the not-so-educated. “Malapattukkal’ (which also includes Muhyiddin Mala) had devotion in it.

People even now ignored the secular thoughts that were so explicitly mentioned in ‘Muhyiddin Mala.’ There was some similarity between the folk style of ‘Adhyathma Ramayanam’ by Ezhuthachan and ‘Muhyiddin Mala,’ he noted.

M. Thomas Mathew, convener, advisory board for Malayalam, Kendra Sahitya Akademi, presided over the function. S. Jithendra Nath, officer-in-charge, Sahitya Akademi; Abdussamad Samadani, MP, and writer M.N. Karassery were among those who spoke.

Various papers on ‘Muhyiddin Mala’ were presented at the symposium.

A rare collection of the poem in the possession of the late researcher K.K. Muhammed Abdul Kareem was showcased as part of the programme.