Ghanimat Kunjahi Explained

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. a sentimental and romantic mathnawī poem set in India during Kunjahi's time.

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

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.
• Book: Shackle, Christopher . 1999 . Persian Poetry and Qadiri Sufism in late Mughal India: Ghanimat Kunjahi and his mathnawi Nayrang-i Ishq . Late Classical Persianate Sufism . L. . Lewisohn . D. . Morgan . Oxford . Oneworld . 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)

Notes and References

1. Book: de Bruijn, J.T.P. . Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition - Brill Reference . en . Sabk-i, Hindī . 2018-05-08.
2. Book: Schimmel, Annemarie . [{{google books |plainurl=y |id=TYImm1TnemwC|page=103}} Islam in the Indian Subcontinent ]. BRILL . 90-04-06117-7 . 103.
3. Sharif Kunjahi laid to rest. Dawn (newspaper). 22 January 2007.
4. Book: Arif . Iftikhar . [{{google books |plainurl=y |id=8hKgYfCEcg4C}} Modern Poetry of Pakistan ]. Khwaja . Waqas . Dalkey Archive Press . 2010 . 978-1-56478-605-0 . 288.