“Niki lagat mohe apne pia ki,Aankh rasili laaj bhari re…” Farid Ayaz Saab used to recite this kalam with “aankh rasili, aur jadu bhari re.” I had corrected him once over a WhatsApp call, and at the age of 73, he was a curious learner, had accepted it in absolute humility.Incidentally, today is the 100th… continue reading
I wish always to live in longing for You. May I become dust, dwelling under your Feet. My goal freed of both worlds is only You. I die for you, just as I live for You. Baba Farid It was sometime around 1264, young Nizamuddin Auliya wandered into a desert in the depths of depression…. continue reading
भारतवर्ष में संत-महात्माओं की संख्या जिस प्रकार अत्यंत अधिक रही है, उसी प्रकार उन के द्वारा स्थापित सम्प्रदायों की भी संख्या बहुत ही अधिक है। समग्र भारत के संप्रदायों के संक्षिप्त वर्णन के लिए कितने ही बड़े बड़े ग्रंथों की जरूरत पड़ेगी। वह भी किसी एक विद्वान् के मान की बात नहीं। इस लेख में… continue reading
हिन्दी जाननेवालों को फ़ारसी-किवता के रसास्वादन के लिए पहले दो-एक मोटी मोटी बातों की हृदयस्थ कर लेना चाहिए। फ़ारस या ईरान में मुसलमानों के आगमन से पहले आमोद-प्रमोद को सामग्री में शराब का विशेष स्थान था। जगह जगह बड़े-बड़े शराबखाने खुले हुए थे, जिनको मैक़दा वा ख़राबात, उनके अध्यक्ष को पीरेमुग़ाँ, और उनमें काम करनेवाले… continue reading
More than 700 years ago, this khanqah bustled with activity. The troubled would be given solace and the poor would be fed. Nizamuddin Auliya knew poverty well. He had gone hungry too. He wouldn’t be able to sleep at night because someone had gone hungry somewhere. The khanqah was the home of faith. The nobleman… continue reading
It was 1253, Saifuddin Shamsi, a Turk, was celebrating the birth of his second son in Patiali. Saifuddin lived next to a man with a gift for prophecy. The man glanced at the baby and said: “You have brought someone who will be two steps ahead of the poet Khaqani.” Abul Hassan Yameen Al Deen… continue reading
