Ghanimat Kunjahi

Muhammad Akram Ghanimat Shah Kunjahi (b. Kunjah; d. c. 1695 CE) was a Persian-language poet and Sufi in the Mughal Empire.

Biography

He belonged to the Banu Hashim family and was a descendant of Ali. Kunjahi primarily resided in his native village but also traveled to Kashmir, Delhi, and Lahore. He followed the Ḳādiriyya Sufi order.^[1] Notable pieces include a poem praising Aurangzeb and the Nayrang-i ʿishḳ ('Talisman of Love'),^[2]

Kunjahi wrote in Persian using the sabk-i hindī style, characterized by a fondness for the ghazal form and an interest in realistic and sometimes erotic themes. His works reflected complex imagery, themes, and syntax.^[1] a sentimental and romantic mathnawī poem set in India during Kunjahi's time.^[1]

In popular local memory, Kunjahi was remembered as a miracle worker associated with improving mental faculties, curing insanity, and aiding aspiring poets.^[3] His tomb was revered for its alleged powers, and it became a site for interring other poets, including Shareef Kunjahi.^[4] The Bazm-i-Ghanimat literary organization in Pakistan was named after him.^[5]

Studies

A. Bausani, 'Indian Elements in the Indo-Persian Poetry: The Style of Ganimat Kunǧāhī', in Orientalia hispanica sive studia F.M. Pareja octogenario dicata, ed. by J.M. Barral, Arabica-Islamica, 1 (Leiden 1974), pp. 105–19.
Shackle, Christopher (1999). "Persian Poetry and Qadiri Sufism in late Mughal India: Ghanimat Kunjahi and his mathnawi Nayrang-i Ishq". In Lewisohn, L.; Morgan, D. (eds.). Late Classical Persianate Sufism. Oxford: Oneworld. pp. 435–63.
Arun Singh, Black Light: Islamic Philosophical Themes from the Nayrang-e ‘Ishq (London: Buzurg Omid, 2013)n: Lewisohn, Leonard, (ed.), The Heritage of Sufism: III. Late Classical Persianate Sufism (1501 - 1750). Oxford: Oneworld Publications, pp. 435–463.

Editions

Dīwān, ed. Ghulām Rabbānī ʿAzīz (Lahore 1958)
Nayrang-i ʿishk, ed. Ghulām Rabbānī ʿAzīz (Lahore: Panjabi Adabi Akademi, 1962)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c de Bruijn, J.T.P. "Sabk-i, Hindī". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition - Brill Reference. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
^ Schimmel, Annemarie. Islam in the Indian Subcontinent. BRILL. p. 103. ISBN 90-04-06117-7.
^ Shackle 1999, p. 435.
^ Sharif Kunjahi laid to rest. Dawn (newspaper). 22 January 2007.
^ Arif, Iftikhar; Khwaja, Waqas (2010). Modern Poetry of Pakistan. Dalkey Archive Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-56478-605-0.

[islam2-1] Bruijn, J.T.P. "Sabk-i, Hindī". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition - Brill Reference. Retrieved 8 May 2018.

[2] Schimmel, Annemarie. Islam in the Indian Subcontinent. BRILL. p. 103. ISBN 90-04-06117-7.

[FOOTNOTEShackle1999435-3] Shackle 1999, p. 435.

[4] Sharif Kunjahi laid to rest. Dawn (newspaper). 22 January 2007.

[5] Arif, Iftikhar; Khwaja, Waqas (2010). Modern Poetry of Pakistan. Dalkey Archive Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-56478-605-0.

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