Pakistan has a rich and diverse tradition of poetry that includes Urdu poetry, English poetry, Sindhi poetry, Pashto poetry, Punjabi poetry, Saraiki poetry, Baluchi poetry, and Kashmiri poetry. Sufi poetry has a strong tradition in Pakistan and the poetry of popular Sufi poets is often recited and sung.
Persian poetry is still common in Pakistan as a literary vehicle because of the centuries of Persian influence on the region. Many sufi poets wrote their Kalam in Persian. Pakistan's national poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal also wrote many volumes of poetry in Persian.
Poetry is widely read across Pakistan. Gatherings for the recitations of poetry known as Mushaira frequently take place. Verses of popular poets are also used as political slogans by political activists. The national poet of Pakistan is Muhammad Iqbal.
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“The science of Humboldt is one thing, poetry is another thing. The poet to-day, notwithstanding all the discoveries of science, and the accumulated learning of mankind, enjoys no advantage over Homer.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)