Letter from Zia Mohyeddin

Mohyeddin, Zia. Letter from Zia Mohyeddin. To Rashed, Sheila. Oct. 17, 1975. 2 pp. 1 sheet. 7.5 x 10. Handwritten. Handwritten letter written by Zia Mohyeddin on the 17th of October. The letter is written in blue ink on PIA stationery. It bears the PIA logo at the top of the page. Underneath the logo it reads "Head Office, Karachi Airport." At the top-right of the page, above where the date is written, it reads "24 Bahadarabad Karachi" in blue ink. He writes that he heard news upon returning from a short trip that his "dear friend, mentor, guide, and philosopher is no more." He describes feeling shattered, and that he cannot imagine an intelligent world without him. Zia writes that Rashed had asked him in his last letter to record some of his work on television, which Zia writes that he will do with dedication. He writes that it will be his "tribute to one of the most outstanding poets of the century." He writes that he also plans to write on him, but not just yet. He writes that writing about Rashed right now would make him "too overwrought." He writes, "Words fail me. Rashed was so much more than a poet. He was one of the few thinking men Pakistan provided. Culturally he had been 'produced' before Pakistan but this country should be proud to have given him to the world." He concludes by saying, "I pray, though I am not a praying man, that you and Nazeil have the courage to bear" their loss. English. Box 1. Folder 17: Materials from Sheila. 052. Digitized by Zain Mian. Catalogued by Alainah Aamir. Donated (2015) by Yasmin Rashed Hassan to the Institute of Islamic Studies. Full item here.