A change of guards’ ceremony was held at the mausoleum of the Poet of the East, thinker and philosopher Allama Dr Muhammad Iqbal here on Thursday morning to mark his 146th birth anniversary.

Pakistan Navy’s Lahore station commander Commodore Sajid Hussain was the chief guest of the ceremony. He offered Fateha at the grave and recorded his views in the guest book.

A contingent of Pakistan Navy took over guards' duties at the mausoleum.

Meanwhile, the birth anniversary is being observed today (Thursday) with traditional zeal and enthusiasm. The federal government has announced a public holiday today.

Iqbal was born in Sialkot on November 9, 1877. He is also recognised as national poet, and known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan (thinker of Pakistan), Shair-e-Mashriq (poet of the east) and Hakeemul Ummat and is credited with sparking the pan-Islamic thought among Muslims of the subcontinent.

He envisioned the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent‚ which led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

He is also considered one of the most important figures in literature with literary works in both Urdu and Persian languages. Asrar-e-Khudi, Payam-i-Mashriq, Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i Kalim and Armughan-e-Hijaz were amongst his best works.

Political‚ social and cultural organisations have arranged special programmes to highlight Iqbal’s philosophy‚ life and his contribution to create awareness among the Muslims of South Asia.

Iqbal was a Sufi poet for the modern age who awakened the Muslims through his poetry and instilled a revolutionary spirit  in them which won it freedom from the yoke of slavery. His poetry has been translated in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, English and several other languages.

Unfortunately, he could not see the creation of Pakistan and died on April 21, 1938.