রবিবার, অক্টোবর ২২, ২০১৭

Ghausi's Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar

Ghausi's Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Ghausi's Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar is an encyclopaedic compendium of biographies of mystics and learned men of the Indian Sub-continent [citation needed]. The writer Ghausi's full name is 'Muhammad Ghausi ibn Hasan ibn Musa Shattari' [citation needed]. 

The Original text

Gulzar-e-Abrar is originally written in Persian. Aditya Behl and Simon Weightman (2001), who edited ‘Manjhan’s Madhumalati: An Indian Sufi Romance’, indicated in the bibliography of the English translation of that book that the Persian manuscript of Ghausi’s Gulzar-e-Abrar, or perhaps a copy of it, is located at the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Kolkata, India. The entry in the bibliography runs as follow: "Ghausi Shattari, Muhammad, 'Gulzar-i Abrar', Persian MS 259 (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal)"[1]. It is not revealed through our research so far if this is the original manuscripts, or if it is a copy if other copies exist elsewhere.

Ananda Bhattacharya (2013) provided a reference of a Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar which is an “Asiatic Society Collection No. 259”[2]. The reference is as follow: "Gulzar I Abrar, (in Persian) Asiatic Society Collection.No.259"[3]. No further details are given in this reference. Both of these two references stated above speak of a Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar in the Asiatic Society Collection, and both references state that the item is numbered as Asiatic Society Collection No.  259. This similarity indicates that the Asiatic Society.

“Concise Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the Collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1947)[4].

“259.

GULZAR-I-ABRAR, D 262

A rare hagiological compilation dealing with lives of the Sufic Shaykhs of India and especially of Gujrat, who flourished in the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth centuries AH (XIII-XVIc AD). Although written in an extremely bombastic and inflated style, it is very interesting and valuable because of its exactitude in dates, richness in details, and its abundant information about a great many persons otherwise unknown, but especially for its large number of references to the history of Gujrat and India in general. It sheds much light upon the spiritual life of Muhammadan India outside the Chishti affiliation on which the Indian hagiologists usually concentrate their attention. The author, who calls himself Muhammad GhuthI b Hasan b Musa Shattari, contemplated the composition of this book in 998/1590 but various circumstances compelled him to postpone the beginning till after 1010/1602. In fact the greater part of his book was written between 1020/1611 (cf f 29v) and 1022/1613 (cf ft 172v 182v, 184v etc.). Only once he mentions 1008/1599 as current (f 65). The work is dedicated to Jahangir (f iv). It is divided into five chamans the first dealing with the saints of the VIlc AH the second with those of the VIII, the third — of the IX, the fourth — of the Xc , and the beginning of the XIc AH. The fifth is devoted to the Shaykhs of the Shattari order. In all there are 575 biographical notes (the last one is devoted to the author’s father).

The work is very rare only a short extract from it is mentioned in B 1041. The copy referred to in St No 101 on p 30 is piobably identical with the piesent one Its contents form an
important addition to the lists of biographies found in other lare
works givmi in the catalogues of the India Office and the Bodleian
libraries Therefore it mav be useful to give heie a complete li'^t
of the persons whose biographies aie dealt with In the majority
of them exact dates of death, etc , are found In otheis they maj’’
be leconstiuoted from the references to vaiious historical events
01 then connection with the lives of othei persons (only precise
dates are quoted in the list)”.

Translations

We have so far identified translations of the text of Ghausi’s Gulzar-i-Abrar Urdu, Arabic and English languages.

English Translation

An English translation was done in 2017. Ishrat Husain Ansari[5], Hamid Afaq Qureshi al-Taimi al-Siddiqi[6] translated the text to English which has been published by 'Idarah-i-Adabiyat-i', Delhi, India in 2017. The full reference to this English translation of Gulzar-e-Abrar is: "Ghausi's Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar (Biographies of Mysties and learned men), Ishrat Husain Ansari, Hamid Afaq Qureshi & al-Taimi al-Siddiqi (Trs), ISBN 10: 8190563076 / ISBN 13: 9788190563079, Published by Idarah-i-Adabiyat-i, Delhi, India, 2017"[7]. The on-line library catalogue 'WorldCat' entry for this edition is as follow: “Ghausi's Persian Gulzar-i-abrar: biographies of mystics & learned men, Author: Muḥammad G̲h̲ausī Shat̤t̤ārī; Ishrat Husain Ansari; H A Qureshi, Publisher:   Delhi, India: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli, 2017. Series: IAD religio-philosophy (original) series, no. 52. Edition/Format: Print book: Biography: English”[8].

Book seller dkagencies.com page for this English edition.

Urdu Translations
A few Urdu translations are available of Ghausi’s Gulzaer-i-Abrar. Here we list the Urdu translations that came in a Google.com search of the web:
1.      "Gulzar-e-Abrar (Urdu) Hardcover – 2016 by M. Ghausi Shittari Mandavi (Author), Product details: Hardcover, Language: Urdu, ISBN-10: 9693467469, ISBN-13: 978-9693467468"[9].
2.      "Ghausi Shattari, Gulzar-i-abrar, (Urdu trans.) Muhammad Fazl Ahmad (Agra, 1326 AH)"[10].
  1. Muhammad Ghausi Shattari Mandavi, Gulzar-i abrar, ed. Muhammad Zaki (Patna: Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, 1994)[11]. A possible variant reference of this edition is “Muhammad Ghausi Shattari, Gulzar-i Abrar, ed. Muhammad Zaki, Patna”[12]. 

Time of Ghausi's Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar
Ghausi's Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar was written in 1014 AH /1605 CE (Maktabah Mujaddidiyah), or 'sometime between 1611 and 1613' (Hasan, 2014).
Ghausi's Persian Gulzar-i-Abrar (1613 AD)



Biographies of mystics & learned men, written in 1613 AD. Muhammad Ghausi ibn Hasan ibn Musa Shattari (d. AD 1617)

‘Chishti and Shattari Saints of Malwa: Relations with the State Syed Bashir Hasan, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Aligarh, U.P., India’[1].



"Another important Shattari sufi in Malwa was Muhammad Ghausi Shattari (b.1554) of Mandu. He had friendly relations with almost all sufis of his time in suba Malwa and other contemporary sufis elsewhere which provided him vast material for his Gulzar-i Abrar.31 He completed this work sometime between 1611 and 1613. Ghausi has dedicated his book to emperor Jahangir both in the preface 32 and at the end.33 While dedicating his work to the emperor, Ghausi praises Jahangir which indicates that Ghausi saw him as a patron in compiling his work. Ghausi maintained good relations with the government officers.34"

"A biographical book of Sufi saints of India, written in the 11th century Hijri. A great source of insight into the Sufi lives of that time. It was written in 1014 AH (1605 CE). By: Muhammad Ghosi Shattari Mandavi, Translated in Urdu by Fazal Ahmad Jeevri, Published by Daar un-Nafa'is, 2006
Pages 667"[6].

"One of the most Important things about the Akhbar-ul-Asfiya is that it ignores legends and the tales of superhuman power attributed to the saints so vividly described by later biographers of sufis. It serves as a link between the Akhbar-ul-Akhyar of Shaikh Abdul Haq Muhaddis Dehlavi and the Ghlzar-i- Abrar of Ghausi Shattari.

This work was written after the Akhbar-ul-Akhyar which was completed in 999 A.H./1591 A.D. which is also a biographical dictionary of the sufis covering almost the same period. Our author refers to Sahikh Abdul Haq but does not seem to acknowledge his debt to his work. But the accounts of more than 127 saints contained in the Akhbarul-Asfiya are practically identical with in the Akhbar-ul-Akhyar.

The Gulzar-i- Abrar contains biographical accounts of about 612 saints covering almost the same period as by Shaikh Abdul Haq Muhaddis Dehlavi and Abdus Samad. The account of a number of saints in all the three works are very similar, perhaps all the three works draw from the same sources. But the Gulzar-i-Abrar is a more comprehensive work and all these three supplement each other."

The present thesis entitled "A Critical Edition of Akhbar-ul-Asfiya with Introduction and Notes" has been divided into three chapters: v”[7].

"A standard hagiography of the Mughal period with considerable material on the Shattaris is Muhammad Ghawthi Mandawi, Adhkar-i abrar, Urdu tarjuma-i gulzar-i abrar, trans. Fadl Ahmad Jewari (Agra: Matba`-i Mufid-i `Amm, 1326/1908; reprint ed., Lahore: Islamic Book Foundation, 1395/1975); the original Persian text has never been printed, and I cite to it according to the Urdu translation except for a few sections for which I had access to manuscripts"[8].


[5] Syed Bashir Hasan, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Aligarh, U.P., India, Chishti and Shattari Saints of Malwa: Relations with the State, Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR) ISSN No: 2319-5614 Volume 3, No.3, March 2014. http://borjournals.com/a/index.php/jbmssr/article/view/325, accessed on 21.10.2017.  
[8] Carl W. Ernst, PERSECUTION AND CIRCUMSPECTION IN SHATTARI SUFISM, In Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Debate and Conflict, ed. Fred De Jong and Berndt Radtke. Islamic History and Civilization. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1999.

The Author:

Muhammad Ghausi Shattari (b. 1554)

“Shaikh Hasan ibn Musa of Ahmadabad was the father of Muhammad Ghausi Shattari of Mandu, the author of Gulzar-i Abrar. He was a hafiz and a scholar of fiqah and hadis. After a Mughal attack on Gujarat in 1553, Shaikh Hasan ibn Musa migrated to Malwa with Humayun’s party and settled at Lonhera, three kos away from Mandu. Shaikh Hasan ibn Musa died in 1565. 30

Another important Shattari sufi in Malwa was Muhammad Ghausi Shattari (b . 1 5 5 4 ) of Mandu. He had friendly relations with almost all sufis of his time in suba Malwa and other contemporary sufis elsewhere which provided him vast material for his Gulzar-i Abrar 2 ' He completed this work sometime between 1611 and 1613. Ghausi has dedicated his book to emperor Jahangir both in the preface 32 and at the end. 33 While dedicating his work to the emperor, Ghausi praises Jahangir which indicates that Ghausi saw him as a patron in compiling his work.

Ghausi maintained good relations with the government officers. 34”[13].

[1] Select Bibliography, Madhumalati: An Indian Sufi Romance, Manjhan,            Aditya Behl, Simon Weightman (Editors), OUP Oxford, 2001, ISBN 0191606251, 9780191606250, page liv. ‘Madhumalati: An Indian Sufi Romance’s writer Manjhan’s full name is ‘Mir Sayyid Manjhan Shattari Rajgiri’. He was a Sufi of the Shattari Order. The Madhumaloti (Jasminum Grandiforum, ‘Night Flowering Jasmine’ is a mystical Indian romance composed in A.D. 1545.
[2] Bhattacharya, Ananda, Madariya Silsila in Indian Perspective, Islam and Muslim Societies, A Social Science Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1- 2013, pages 28-75, accessed on line at:  http://www.muslimsocieties.org/Vol_6_No_1_Madariya_Silsila_in_Indian_Perspective.html#, on 23.10.2017.
[3] Bhattacharya, Ananda (2013), ibid.
[4] Concise Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the Collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1947), https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62108, accessed on 23.10.2017.
[9] https://www.amazon.com/Gulzar-Abrar-Ghausi-Shittari-Mandavi/dp/9693467469, accessed last on 23.10.2017. Amazon did not display the name of the publisher on the day we inspected the item.
[11] Anjum, Tanvir, Vernacularization of Islam and Sufism in South Asia: A Study of the Production of Sufi Literature in Local Languages, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, Vol. 54, No. 1, January-June, 2017, accessed at http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/14_54_1_17.pdf, on 23.10.2017.
[12] Syed Bashir Hasan, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Aligarh, U.P., India, Chishti and Shattari Saints of Malwa: Relations with the State, Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR) ISSN No: 2319-5614 Volume 3, No.3, March 2014. http://borjournals.com/a/index.php/jbmssr/article/view/325, accessed on 21.10.2017.  
[13] Syed Bashir Hasan, Chishti and Shattari Saints of Malwa: Relations with the State, Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR) ISSN No: 2319-5614 , Volume 3, No. 3, March 2014, Accessed on 23.10.2017 through Archive.org, at: https://archive.org/stream/BahaAlDinShattari/Baha%27%20al-Din%20Shattari_djvu.txt
[18] Syed Bashir Hasan, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Aligarh, U.P., India, Chishti and Shattari Saints of Malwa: Relations with the State, Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR) ISSN No: 2319-5614 Volume 3, No.3, March 2014. http://borjournals.com/a/index.php/jbmssr/article/view/325, accessed on 21.10.2017. 
[21] Carl W. Ernst, PERSECUTION AND CIRCUMSPECTION IN SHATTARI SUFISM, In Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Debate and Conflict, ed. Fred De Jong and Berndt Radtke. Islamic History and Civilization. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1999.
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