The history goes that just before his passing away; he threw the manuscripts of his
work into the Karar Lake, adjacent to his abode at the Bhit (sand dune). He did this,
fearing that people may not be able to understand the main theme and purpose of his
message in the verses and they may misunderstand him. By this action, his disciples were
disappointed and extremely grieved. With deep love for his people and being kind at
heart, considerate and benevolent, he could not see his disciples in sorrow. Therefore, he
allowed them to prepare another manuscript from the manuscripts that were in possession
of some of his disciples. The main contributor to this collection was a lady by the name
of Mai (lady) Niamat, a devoted disciple of his, who had memorised most of his verses.
As she sang the verses, in different surs, his disciples recorded them into manuscripts.
A copy of the recorded collection of his verses known as "Ganj" was retained at
the mausoleum. The original copy disappeared sometime in 1854. It was in 1866, 114
years after the poet's death, that Ernest Trumpp, a German scholar who knew Sindhi as
well as many other languages of India, compiled the "Risalo" and got it printed from
Germany.
Characteristics of His Poetry
Shah was a missionary and believed in practical learning. It is through his
journeys that he acquired the background for most of his poems with many unique
characteristics such as:
a) He received scanty formal education only, but he had the sound knowledge and
command and was well versed in Sindhi, Sanskrit, Seraiki, Arabic, and Persian
languages. Besides, the books like Holy Qur'an, the Hadith, the Masnawi of
Maulana Jalaluddin Roomi, were always his constant companions where from
the references in verbatim numbering 113 have been made at different places in
his poetry.
b) The verses of his poetry have a unique beauty, they are lyrical, spiritual
descriptive and historical, The language is rich and picturesque.