(Picture Source:google)
Thou art in the Ka'ba at Mecca,
as well as in the (Hindu) temple of Somnath.
Thou art in the monastery,
as well as the tavern.
Thou art at the same time the light and the moth,
The wine and the cup,
The sage and the fool,
as well as in the (Hindu) temple of Somnath.
Thou art in the monastery,
as well as the tavern.
Thou art at the same time the light and the moth,
The wine and the cup,
The sage and the fool,
The friend and the stranger.
The rose and the nightingale.
(From Dara Shikoh's treatise on Sufism, The Compass of Truth)
Dara Shikoh (March 20, 1615 – August 30, 1659) was the eldest son and heir apparent of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal ( of Taj Mahal fame).He came to believe in the essential unity of Hinduism and Islam. and was led to this conclusion by another Sufi saint, Mullah Shah Badakshani. He had the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads translated into Persian as The Mysteries of Mysteries, and wrote a comparative study of Hinduism and Islam, The Mingling of Two Oceans.
1 comment:
Dara Shekho is not considered a Moghul by the muslim historians of India. His younger brother got him killed in order to accede to the throne in alliance with the religious clerics of the time. It is also a historical joke that his brother (Aurangzeb) is considered the absolute-good-Muslim among the Indian rulers by religiously inspired historians.
Daro Shekho was the ideal type which Muslim Philosopher Ibn-al-Arabi described in his writings. He was more an ascetic than interested in politics - no wonder, according to naive Machivallian Analysis, he succumbed to such a death.
Mohsin Hamid in his book "Moth Smoke" alludes to them. The protagonist is named after him. Visual depiction of this is in the movie adoption of the urdu movie called "Daira" (The Circle).
Post a Comment