Beautiful Recitations of the 16th Century Ginan “Navroz na din Sohamna,” and Composer Sayyid Fatehali Shah’s Fervent Search and Illuminating Meeting with the 45th Ismaili Imam, Shah Khalilullah

17 March 2024

Navroz Mubarak by Dr Nurin Merchant — Conceived and created by Dr. Nurin Merchant, this Navroz greeting incorporates the rose and jasmine flowers which are extremely popular in Iran during the celebration of Navroz. The base of the picture shows shoots of wheat grass signifying robust evergreen health throughout the year.

Abstract: The auspicious occasion of Navroz generates immense happiness and makes our hearts jump with joy as we receive blessings from Mawlana Hazar Imam together with roji and Ab-e-Shifa and recite the traditionally Ginan Navroz na din Sohamna. This post includes two beautiful recitations of the Ginan by Shamshudin Bandali Haji (full Ginan) and Mumtaz Bhulji (selected verses) followed by an explanation by Sadruddin Hassam. In the Ginan, Sayyid Fatehali Shah relates the combined experience of the zahiri deedar (exoteric or physical glimpse or meeting) that he was granted by the 45th Ismaili Imam, Shah Khalilullah (peace be on him), and the inner joy of contentment and ecstasy that he experienced with the bestowal of Noorani (spiritual or esoteric) grace.

Navroz Ginan recitation by Shamshu Bandali Haji

Recitation of Navroz Ginan by Late Shamshudin Bandali Haji. In his opening remark, the reciter mistakenly attributes the Ginan to Pir Shamsh. The clarification about the composer is provided in the article below.

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Navroz Ginan recitation of selected verses by Mumtaz Bhulji

Recitation of selected verses of Navroz Ginan by Mumtaz Bhulji

These 2 recitations have been retrieved from University of Saskatchwan’s Library webportal Ginan Central. Click on the link, and you will be able to hear many more recitations of the same Ginan by other Ismaili members of the Jamat.

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The Navroz Ginan

By SADRUDIN K. HASSAM

Introduction

An attempt is made in this article to give an interpretation of the devotional Ginan Navroz na din Sohamna, which is recited by Ismaili Jamats in many parts of the world on the occasion of the celebration of the Persian New Year which falls on March 21st. In this ginan the composer, Sayyid Fatehali Shah, relates the combined experience of the zahiri deedar (exoteric or physical glimpse or meeting) that he was granted by the 45th Ismaili Imam, Shah Khalilullah (peace be on him), and the inner joy of contentment and ecstasy that he experienced with the bestowal of Noorani (spiritual or esoteric) grace. At the same time, he gently persuades the mu’min (a believer) to always strive for esoteric understanding as well as to develop a lasting spiritual relationship with the Imam of the Time. It may be noted that in Shia Imami Ismaili theology each Imam is the bearer of the same Divine Light (Noor). The Divine Institution of Imamat has its origins in the first Shia Imam, Hazrat Ali (peace be on him), who was declared as the successor to Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) at the famous historical event at Ghadir-e-Khumm.

As the composer has to narrate the exoteric experience as well as the ineffable esoteric relationship, the ginanic diction that he uses has to resort to the traditional and familiar imagery and symbolic expressions in order to convey his message. The words, the imagery and the symbolic expressions, however, blend beautifully in this ginan. This beauty, unfortunately, cannot be recreated in this prosaic interpretation. Nor can we go into the prosody of the ginan.

In this reading we shall first address a common held misunderstanding about the identity of the composer. We shall then make an attempt to describe the exoteric experience of the composer’s meeting with the Imam, as so wonderfully narrated in the ginan, and finally we shall examine and interpret some of the key words and expressions to convey the ineffable spiritual experience as well as the composer’s gentle persuasion to the mu’mins. One hopes that this brief reading will heighten the reader’s appreciation and understanding of this ginan.

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A clarification about the composer and the period of composition

The composition of this ginan is sometimes wrongly attributed to Pir Shams al-Din who lived more than four centuries before the actual composer of this ginan, Sayyid Fatehali Shah. This mistake may have arisen because of the pen-name he has used in the second line of the last verse which reads:

Bhane Shamsi tamme sambhro rookhi.

It was a normal practice for the composer to mention his own name in the concluding verses of the ginan. But Shamsi here does not refer to Pir Shams al-Din – rather it was the pen-name of Sayyid Fatehali Shah.

He, like a number of other Sayyids, who did the work of da’wa (propagation and teaching) in India, may have been a descendant of Pir Hassan Kabirdin. Sayyid Fatehali Shah himself preached among the communities in Sind. He eventually died there and was buried near Jerruk which is south of Hyderabad in Pakistan.

The first two lines in verse seven give us the clues as to the period when this ginan was composed as well as validate the real name of the composer. These lines read:

Eji gaddh Chakwa ne kille Shah Khalilullah ramme
Tiyaan Fatehali ne mayya karine bolaawiyya

Shah Khalilullah here refers to the forty-fifth Ismaili Imam, whose Imamat was from 1780 to 1817 A.C. He lived in Iran in the town of Mahallat, which is located approximately 362 kilometers from Tehran. The town is situated on the slope of a mountain. Mahallat is also amongst the most ancient residential areas in Iran and was an important base of the Ismailis; hence the many references to the 46th and 47th Imams (Aga Khan I and II) as Aga Khan Mahallati. Sayyids and murids of the Imam from various parts used to come to Mahallat to pay their respects. This ginan is therefore fairly recent, having been composed either towards the end of eighteenth century or early in the nineteenth century.

It appears that like many other murids, Sayyid Fatehali Shah travelled from Sind to Iran to meet Hazrat Imam Shah Khalilullah.

On arriving in Mahallat on the day of Navroz, he learns that the Imam has gone to the woods on a hunting expedition. The Sayyid naturally feels disappointed that having come all the way, he did not have the opportunity for the deedar. This feeling of sadness is lamented in the first stanza of the ginan. Despite this, there is an undercurrent of inner hope at the prospect of having the deedar by the mercy of the Imam.

The pangs of separation from the beloved and the yearning for reunion are a recurrent theme in Ismaili ginans and also in Sufi mystical poetry. In this ginan, there is the lament of this separation, but in keeping with the traditional ginanic function, there is also gentle persuasion and hope of spiritual union.

We shall now examine how Sayyid Fatehali Shah relates his zaheri deedar of the Imam and how this blends with his esoteric experience.

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The meeting with the Imam of the Time in the woods and at the fort

In the following four verses (1, 2, 3 and 7), Sayyid Shamsi relates his quest for the Master which leads to his meeting with Imam Shah Khalilullah. The meetings (deedar) fulfilled his intense yearning.

Transliteration:

Eji Navroz na din sohamna,
Shah Ali Qayam shikaar ramwa vann gaya,
Sevak na mann thaya oodassi,
Praan Ali charne rahiya…..1

Interpretive Translation and Explanation

On a beautiful day of Navroz,
Imam-e-Zaman had gone to the woods to hunt.
(I) His murid (disciple) became sad at heart (for missing my Master),
as my soul was yearning to be at the feet of the Imam. (An expression of respect and – obedience to the Imam)….1

Navruz (Navroz – Gujrati variation) is a Persian word meaning ‘New Year’s Day’ (twenty-first March). This is the first day of spring, hence the day is beautiful (sohamna).
Shah Ali Qayam refers to Imam-e-Zaman (Imam of the Time) because Noor-e-Imama is everpresent (qayam).
Shikaar ramwa gaya means ‘went hunting’ and vann means ‘woods.’
Sevak is ‘one who is ready to serve or obey,’ in this case a ‘disciple’ or a ‘murid.’
Praan means ‘inner life’ or ‘soul.’

VERSE 2

Transliteration

Eji Shah Qayam preete jo chint baandhi
Nar ne preete amme vann gaya
Eva vann sohamna Nar Qayam ditha,
Dela dai devanta rahiya …..2

Interpretive Translation and Explanation

Impatient because of my ardent and deep loving desire to meet the Imam,
I also went into the woods,
which in the presence of the Imam
unfolded like heavenly gates looking angelically beautiful….2

The expression preete jo chint baandhi literally means ‘with love when (one) focuses on the remembrance (dhikr).’
Dela dai devanta rahiya is an idiomatic expression implying ‘the unveiling of angelic (devanta) beauty with the opening of gates (dela).’ When the murid (devotee) searches inwards for the murshid (master), spiritual insight keeps on unveiling the gates with ever-increasing beauty.

VERSE 3

Transliteration

Eji bhalu thayu Saahebe soomat aali,
Shah Ali Qayam saathe ramwa amme vann gaya.
Anant aasha poori amaari
Shah dil bhaave gamya….3

Interpretive Translation and Explanation

It was a blessing that the Master inspired in me the wisdom
so that I went into the woods.
My intense yearning was fulfilled
because true bliss had blossomed in my heart…..3

Saahebe soomat aali means ‘the Master inspired in me the wisdom.’
Anant asha poori amaari means ‘my intense yearning (for deedar, both zahiri and batini) was fulfilled.’

VERSE 7

Transliteration

Eji gaddh Chakwa ne kille Shah Khalilullah ramme,
Tiyaan Fatehaline mayya kari ne bolaawiya,
Anant aasha poori amaari
Neet Ali Noore oothiya….7

Interpretive Translation and Explanation

Shah Khalilullah, pleasantly relaxing at the fortress in Chakwa,
graciously summoned me (Fatehali) in his presence;
then with the constant overflowing of His Noor,
fulfilled my many ardent wishes (for spiritual growth)….7

The expression Neet Ali Noore oothiya implies ‘the mystical experience of the overflowing of the Noorani Deedar of Ali (The Imam Eternal) which was granted (to him).’

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The inner search and experience

In the remaining four verses (4, 5, 6 and 8 ) of the ginan, Sayyid Shamsi, touches upon his own inner yearnings and gently persuades the listener to seek out the spiritual vision through the love and grace of the spiritual lord.

VERSE 4

Transliteration

Eji hette Alisu hirakh baandho,
Avichal ranga Sahebse girahiya,
Evi chint baandhi Nar Qayam saathe,
Sat bhandaar motiye bhariya….4

Interpretive Translation and Explanation

Be joyfully bound in the love of Ali
And attain the unfading spiritual color (the state of bliss) from the Master;
When my mind was bound to the Ever-Living Lord in contemplation
Reality adorned (the Soul) with priceless treasure of (Noorani) pearls….4

Avichal ranga Sahebse girahiya means ‘the permanent state of bliss from the Lord’ and refers to the nafs-i-mutmainna or ‘the contented self’ (Holy Qur’an, 89:27). It is a state of mind which is serene because the self has understood the Reality. The verse of the Holy Qur’an reads: But ah! thou soul at peace! (translated M. Pickthall).

VERSE 5

Transliteration

Eji amme Saheb saathe sahel kidha,
Riddh siddhaj paamiya,
Ek mann ginan je saambhre
Aa jeev tena odhariya….5

Interpretive Translation and Explanation

I (Fatehali) relished the spiritual journey with the Master (the Imam),
and (as a result) I was blessed with spiritual elevation and gnosis (spiritual insight).
He who listens to the Ginans attentively (and strives for the contemplative knowledge),
his soul finds the path to salvation….5

Here the Sayyid implies that a mu’min should strive for the batini deedar (spiritual reality of the Imam). One may achieve this with the blessing of the Imam.

VERSE 6

Transliteration

Eji jeev jiyaare joogat paame,
Praan popey ramm rahiya,
Agar chandan prem rasiya,
Hette hans sarowar zeeliya…..6

Interpretive Translation and Explanation

When the self understands reality,
the soul blends beautifully like a flower
and experiences musk and sandalwood-like fragrance.
The self floats in ecstasy of love as a swan swims in a lake….6

This verse contains symbolic expressions and imagery to convey the ineffable serenity and the inner joy of the fortunate one who has been graced with the the batini (esoteric) experience. The life of such a person becomes beautiful like a flower.

The fragrance of musk (agar) and sandalwood (chandan) symbolizes good behavior of the gifted one through speech and good deeds.

The swan (hans) represents the soul that is pure. Through esoteric and ecstatic experiences it remains liberated and is in abiding love for the beloved.

VERSE 8

Transliteration

Eji bhai re moman tamey bhaave araadho,
Bhane Shamsi tamey saambhro rookhi,
Saaheb na goon nahi wisaare,
Tena praan nahi thashe dookhi….8

Interpretive Translation and Explanation

O momin brothers! With deep affection remember the Lord.
Take heed and listen to what Shamsi says:
“They who do not forget the batin of the Imam (realizable through Imam’s grace),
their souls will never ever be miserable or unhappy”…..8

Sayyid Shamsi gently reminds his momin brothers (rookhi) always to remember the Lord with affection. Here, rookhi is probably the intimate form of the word rikhisar which is used in the ginans to refer to mu’min brothers. The word has been used thus to rhyme with the last word of the stanza dookhi (miserable).

The last two lines are to remind us not to forget the batin of the Imam but to strive towards it through regular prayers. Those who carry out these responsibilities with dedication and devotion can never be unhappy whatever the worldly life might impose upon them. Thus the souls of the true mu’mins will always be at peace within themselves, knowing that they are under the protection and guidance of a living manifest Imam.

“Remember the Day when we will summon all human beings with their Imam. …” – The Holy Qur’an 17:71

From the above discourse, we can see why the ginan is appropriate for the occasion of Navroz, which marks the commencement of a new year. The glorious transformation of nature in spring reminds us of the creative power of Allah, who continually showers His bounties for us. Thus, the festival of Navroz should effect a spiritual renewal in each one of us. It should inspire greater love for Imam-e-Zaman as is enjoined upon us by Allah and our beloved Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him).

This Navroz ginan by Sayyid Fatehali Shah reminds us of our spiritual obligations for continuous search for enlightenment through the Ta’alim (teachings and guidance) of the Imam of the time.

Date posted: March 19, 2020.
Last updated: March 20, 2024 (reformatting.)

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Before departing this website please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few.

The piece on Navroz included this post has been adapted by Simerg from the original article, “Eji Navroz Na Din Sohamna – An Interpretation,” by Sadrudin K. Hassam, which appeared in Ilm, Volume 9, Number 2, (March 1985).

A Legacy of Lost Heritage: The Central ITREB Library, Karachi, Pakistan, and Its Collection of Materials Relevant to Ismaili Communities — An Update on the Impact of the Recent Fire Incident

11 November 2023

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Editor’s note: On November 12, 2023, a day after the publication of the article “A Legacy of Lost Heritage” below, Simerg received a communique from ITREB in Karachi, via an Ismaili institutional leader, providing further details on the extent of the damage to the Ismaili institution’s Central library located in Karachi. According to the communique, the damage was more limited than initially thought and reported in our piece. In particular, the more than 200 manuscripts are completely safe because of protective measures taken to ensure their safekeeping. The Gujarati and Khojki-language magazines were previously moved to a different location within the library and were also saved. While a significant number of other materials in the library were damaged due to heat, smoke and water, rather than completely destroyed, they may be recoverable to some degree.

Simerg sincerely hopes that the majority of important objects and documents in the ITREB library remain in their original state and that those that were damaged are recoverable. We also hope that proper fire safety rules are in place to avoid such incidents from taking place in the library as well as Ismaili institutional buildings, especially the older ones, around the world. As noted in a UNESCO Study, the cost of restoring documents and books damaged in a library fire is substantially greater than what would be spent to store the materials under the best fire protection conditions.

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A Legacy of Lost Heritage

By RIZWAN MAWANI

On the morning of November 2^nd, 2023, at 9:15am local time, the National ITREB (Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board) building for Pakistan located in the Garden East district of Karachi caught on fire. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the blaze. However, it quickly became apparent there would be another casualty.

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The Central ITREB Library, Karachi Pakistan and Its Collection of Materials Relevant to Ismaili Communities — Smoke billows from a fire on November 2, 2023, at the ITREB building in Karachi, Pakistan, housing an important library collection of tens of thousands of printed materials, photographs, memorabilia, audiovisual materials, and manuscripts.

Located within the building was an important library housing tens of thousands of printed materials, photographs, memorabilia, audiovisual materials and manuscripts. The fire destroyed much of the collection. What wasn’t burnt or singed by the fire was then subject to water damage as firetrucks attempted to extinguish the blaze which was fed by the thousands of pages of flammable material in the building.

In the context of the Central ITREB Library located in Karachi, the local history, writing and output of the Khoja Jamats in particular, and more broadly of the Jamats of the Indian Subcontinent and to a lesser extent Eastern Africa and Northern Pakistan were preserved in the portion of the collection that focused on the contemporary period. In this post, I have included some gems of materials that I was able to capture on some of my journeys as an homage to the library and its role in my own archival research and being able to cobble together a social and religious history of the Ismailis.

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While assessing the full extent of the damage is still an ongoing process, a number of items were able to be saved including a unique collection of Khojki manuscripts which were housed in fire retardant boxes. When I first heard about the tragedy the next day, I was devastated to learn of the loss of such a treasure trove of materials so important to better understanding the history of the Ismaili community. I had had the opportunity to consult the library on several occasions during my visit to Karachi over the years, including on my last visit in 2013. I was amazed from my first visit in 2006 at the breadth and richness of the collection and easily lost myself for hours and days within the library perusing its shelves, flipping through the pages of its meticulously organized items and often feeling a sense of delight at a personal discovery of a publication or image I was unaware of or that shed important light on a question I’d been pondering.

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My own research interests were in the printed collection of the library in English and Gujarati including the photographic documentation of the community in the Indian Subcontinent and around the world. I had taken the opportunity to photograph umpteen works so that I could consult them in more detail and at my leisure once I returned to my home and now I realize the singular importance of those acts of documenting the legacy of the production of individual Ismailis and of Ismaili communities and institutions around the world. Much of ITREB’s Central Library collection owes a debt to Ismailis in Karachi, Pakistan, and around the world who donated materials including photographs as well as the library’s role in actively obtaining and safeguarding those materials.

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The Importance of Local Libraries

Since the establishment of The Institute of Ismaili Studies in London in 1977, a central repository of the community has been under development and many familial, local, institutional and national collections have been kindly donated to the IIS for safekeeping, preservation, digitization with the larger mandate of providing resources for research. However, before that, the guardians of these materials were often personal collectors, families and smaller institutions such as The Ismaili Society and Ismailia Associations, the predecessors of the now-ITREBs as well as local Jamatkhana libraries. In fact, it was because of these collections, not necessarily large-scale libraries, that scholars such as Wladimir Ivanow, Husayn Hamdani, Asaf Fyzee, Jawad Muscati and many now celebrated Nizari Ismaili authors, scholars, khalifas and waezeen of current and previous generations were able to make breakthroughs in their understanding of the Ismaili past and had source materials for their research.

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The importance of these regional libraries, especially for local researchers, cannot be underestimated. Throughout my travels over the past 25 years to areas where Ismailis live or once lived, its has often been the works preserved in individual homes, in smaller institutional collections and in local and regional Jamatkhana libraries that have provided some of the most unique documents and witnesses to history; and it is through them that have come the greatest insights and breakthroughs. Large institutional collections such as those of national libraries or of learned societies have become more accessible as they digitize their collections, but it is our debt to local institutions that cannot be underestimated.

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Local institutions, including Jamatkhanas, throughout the world have often preserved innumerable documents, manuscripts, published works, photographs and even newspaper cuttings which shed light on one of the least understood and most complex periods of Ismaili history — the last few hundred years. As Jamats in local environments fell under the dominion of various empires and rulers, and later national governments, local histories become increasingly important for understanding how Ismaili communities have come to be where they are today.

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Furthermore, since the early 1980s as part of the global processes of standardization and institutionalization, the focus of important publications such as local Ismaili magazines have shifted the majority of their spotlights to the Imam, his family and the work of Imamat institutions where previously the magazines also included much more detail, output on the production and development of Ismaili communities through the lens of the local and told from the ground-up. While there has been many things gained in the centralization of the Ismaili magazines, one of the most notable losses has been the capturing of stories of the ground realities, literary output, reflections of individual Ismailis and the vibrancy and details of the local development of Ismaili communities.

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I wrote this short piece with the hopes that it would be an homage or memorial of sorts to the Central ITREB Library Pakistan and to encourage families and small institutions to safeguard their collections for the benefit of the community in the service of documenting its past. We must also remember that just as important, however, is to preserve the present for future generations.

Date posted: November 11, 2023.
Last updated: November 13, 2023 (see editor’s note at top of page).

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About the author: Rizwan Mawani has a background in Anthropology and Religious Studies and is the author of Beyond the Mosque: Diverse Places of Muslim Worship (I. B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2019). Rizwan has written for a wide variety of audiences and his work has appeared in academic publications, encyclopedias as well as the Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post. Rizwan was previously Website Content Editor and Research Coordinator in the Department of Constituency Studies at The Institute of Ismaili Studies. His current research focuses on the past two centuries of global Ismaili history with a focus on the Jamatkhana and its development during that period.

We invite our readers to read his earlier piece The Aga Khans, the Hereditary Imamat and the British Monarchy: A 150 Year Relationship of Respect, Cooperation and Friendship that appeared in Barakah, a website dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan. A reformatted version of Rizwan’s piece was also published on this website (Simerg).

We welcome feedback from our readers. Please click LEAVE A COMMENT. Your letter may be edited for length and brevity and is subject to moderation.

Must Visit: The Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, a Unique National Heritage Site Near Calgary

27 September 2023

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Please click: TREATY 7 COMMEMORATION AT BLACKFOOT CROSSING

On Friday, September 22, 2023, Blackfoot Crossing, the Historic Site of the signing of Treat No. 7, held a special commemoration event to celebrate the 146th year of the signing with traditional activities that included drum beating and dancing by the children and youth of The Siksika People — also known as The Blackfoot. Malik Merchant drove down to the stunning site overlooking the Bow River. While he enjoyed the traditional activities as well as a BBQ lunch — all free on Commemoration Day — he was impressed and inspired by the exhibits in the beautifully curated museum dedicated to showcasing the history and culture of The Blackfoot.

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A young child wearing a colorful traditional outfit performs during a cultural event, while an audience of children in orange shirts and adults sits nearby, engaging with drums and musical instruments. — *A traditional dance performance by a young child to the tune of traditional drum beating by children and youth of the Siksika Nation. Please click on image for full report and more photographs.*

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A scenic view of the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, featuring a viewpoint sign about the park and its natural surroundings, with a river and colorful foliage in the background. — *A view of the valley and Bow River from Blackfoot Crossing’s lookout point. Please click on photo for full report and more photographs.*

The Historical Park is just over an hours drive from Calgary and one cannot fail to admire and be impressed by the central building’s architecture that has tipis and tipi shaped structures incorporated into its design. The centre includes a cafeteria, a gift shop, a beautiful little theatre as well as an amphitheatre. The lookout point is 300 metres from the building and there is also a paved trail leading to see tipi tents and other interesting features of the area. Please click HERE or on the images below to view Malik’s full report and photographs. Also click Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park Website for more information about the unique heritage site. Plan a day to visit and learn about the history and culture of the Siksika First Nations People as well as to enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings and easy trails for the entire family.

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Interior view of a museum at Blackfoot Crossing with exhibits showcasing Indigenous artifacts and a visitor observing the displays. — *A view of Blackfoot Crossings beautiful museum dedicated to the Siksika First Nations. Please click on photo for full report and more photographs.*

Date posted: September 27, 2023.

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Photographs: The Ismaili Muslim Community’s Stampede Breakfast – Calgary’s Iconic Breakfast Event, Year in & Year Out! And Links to Stories on External Sites

8 July 2023

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Today, in this post, I honour Calgary city’s police force by providing a photo of some of the police officers that were on duty for the annual Ismaili Muslim Stampede Breakfast. Yes it is “THE TOP” breakfast event in Calgary during the Stampede. On Saturday July 8, 2023, the breakfast even brought the political heavyweights in Canada — from the Prime Minister of Canada to the Premier of Alberta to the Leader of the Official Opposition of Canada — to the grounds of the Ismaili Muslim Headquarters Jamatkhana for a superb breakfast consisting of the East African dish, bharazi! Malik Merchant knew about the bharazi, the pancakes, and the chai but the sirens that he heard as he reached closer to the grounds were not of those of fire brigades and ambulances…but that of the Prime Minister’s motorcade! Please see his story and photographs.

External link(s) to story after photo

A group of four Calgary police officers posing together at the Ismaili Muslim Stampede Breakfast event, held outdoors with a crowd in the background. — The Ismaili Muslim community’s self-discipline creates a stress free environment for everyone including police officers. They are seen at the annual stampede breakfast held in Calgary on Saturday, July 8, 2023. Please click om image for story and more photographs.

External Links:

Date posted: July 8, 2023.

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With Eid al-Adha approaching, Simerg suggests that you acquire the beautiful, inexpensive booklet of Eid stamps issued by Canada Post

10 June 2023

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By MALIK MERCHANT

On April 3, 2023, Canada Post issued a special stamp to commemorate two Muslim Eid Festivals: The Eid al-Fitr which was celebrated on April 21 at the completion of the month of Ramadhan and the upcoming Eid al-Adha which will be held between June 26 to July 1 to mark the Festival of Sacrifice that is held at the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

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Canada Post Eid Stamps, Simerg — Front (at right) and back of booklet of Eid stamps issued by Canada Post on April 3, 2023 to commemorate Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Booklet size, opened as shown above, appx. 190 cms x 105 cms. Please click on image for enlargement.

In our special post announcing the Eid stamps, we had recommended to our readers that they should obtain the stamp from postal outlets in drug stores such as Shoppers Drug, at actual Canada Post offices or order them on-line. As I soon found out, in Calgary as well as during my visit to Toronto, none of the retail postal outlets or post offices that I visited sold the stamp separately or even stocked the booklets of 6 stamps (each booklet is priced at $5.52). I placed an on-line order for 6 booklets that arrived by mail within a couple of days. Any order that amounts to $25.00 or more is shipped free within Canada, with tracking.

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Eid stamps as presented by Canada Post in special booklet issued on April 3, 2023. The stamps can be detached from the booklet and used to mail letters. Booklet size, opened as shown above, appx. 190 cms x 105 cms. Please click on image for enlargement.

The six stamps inside the booklet can be used to cover the cost of standard letter shipping within Canada — it may be noted that the stamp is of permanent value which means that even if the cost of mailing a 1st class standard letter (less than 30 gms) within Canada goes up, you can use the stamp without having to pay extra. The stamps will be a pleasant surprise to recipients of your letters at home as well as abroad, a great item for collectors of Islamic stamps, a personal keepsake or to give it as a gift that will be appreciated and cherished for years.

I am delighted to present the outside and inside images of the stamp booklet. You may order the booklet(s) by clicking on Purchase Eid Stamps at Canada Post. Remember postage is free for orders $25.00 and higher — and you may combine the booklet orders with purchases of other items available on-line. For single or multiple booklet purchases totalling less than $25.00, there is a shipping charge of $4.99 (all prices quoted in CAD $.)

Date posted: June 10, 2023.
Last updated: June 11, 2023 (added note on shipping charge.)

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Watch Video Highlights of “Rugged Beauty – Antique Carpets from Western Asia,” a Beautiful Exhibition in Denver

8 February 2023

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“Rugs from West Asia — primarily from Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus — are likely among the most beautiful objects ever created by humans. Perhaps it is the play of light on the piled surface, the richness of the colors from the natural plant and insect dyes, or the compositions integrating the multilayered patterns. The personal experience of beholding a beautiful rug enchants each of us in our own way” — Paul Ramsey, quoted in Don’t Miss This Local Exhibition posted in www.5280.com

Featured image at top of post: A view of a gorgeous thick piled Turkish yata which served as portable bedding in the 19th century. Image clipped from VOA video (watch video below.)

Compiled by MALIK MERCHANT
(sources hyperlinked).

With more than 40 objects on display, the exhibition Rugged Beauty: Antique Carpets from Western Asia which runs at the Denver Art Museum until May 28, 2023, opens a window into the artistic and utilitarian innovations of weavers, domestic consumption, and the cross-cultural exchanges between present-day Turkey, Iran, and the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia) from the 1500s to the 1900s.

The stories in Rugged Beauty showcase the living traditions of western Asia, a vast and culturally rich region of the world. Each of the objects on display were made by hand, predominantly dyed by hand, and hand-woven using the knotted-pile weaving technique. Though the individual identities of the makers are mostly unknown, the rugs’ designs of rich colors, intricate patterns, and complex symbols reveal a deep history of trade, diplomacy, and foreign relationships.

Centuries-old weavings from the Caucasus, Iran and Turkey show the individual stories and intertwined histories of the region in a museum exhibit in the Western U.S. state of Colorado. If you are in Denver or surrounding areas, try and visit this beautiful display of magnificent rugs. The museum notes on its website that entry to the exhibition is included in general admission, which is free for everyone 18 and under every day, as well as museum members.

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WATCH VIDEO: Antique Rugs From Caucasus, Iran, Turkey Reflect History in Patterns

Produced by VOA Correspondent Scot Stearns

https://videopress.com/v/1rX3ljCG?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Centuries-old weavings from the Caucasus, Iran and Turkey show the individual stories and intertwined histories of the region in a museum exhibit in the Western U.S. state of Colorado

To watch video at source, please click VOA News – Antique Rugs From Caucasus, Iran, Turkey Reflect History in Patterns.

Date posted: February 8, 2023.

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REVIEW SIMERG’S TABLE OF CONTENTS AND VISIT ITS SISTER WEBSITES

Before departing this website, please take a moment to review Simerg’s Table of Contents for links to hundreds of thought-provoking pieces on a vast array of subjects including faith and culture, history and philosophy, and arts and letters to name a few. Also visit Simerg’s sister websites Barakah, dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan, and Simergphotos. The editor may be reached via email at mmerchant@simerg.com.

The Aga Khan and Cultural Historian Oleg Grabar

8 January 2023

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“Oleg Grabar has done more to define the field of Islamic art and architecture than almost anyone else alive. The questions he has asked, the hypotheses he has proposed and the theories he has developed, over a career that now spans more than six decades, have shaped and defined the way we understand the Islamic world’s rich architectural heritage” — Chairman’s Award Citation, Aga Khan Award for Architecture Ceremony, November 2010, Qatar

January 8, 2023, the date of this post, marks exactly 12 years since the passing of Professor Oleg Grabar at the age of 81. Simerg’s sister website, Barakah, presents 3 rare photographs connecting the late Harvard and Princeton scholar with His Highness the Aga Khan and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA ) as well as includes the full citation of the honour that was bestowed on Grabar by the Aga Khan during the presentation ceremony of the world’s biggest architecture prize on November 24, 2010 — READ MORE

Aga Khan Award for Architecture Lifetime Achievement Award to Oleg Grabar, Simerg — His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the then Emir of Qatar, presents a certificate to Professor Oleg Grabar who was awarded the Chairman’s Award in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the field of Islamic art and architecture, as Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and His Highness the Aga Khan look on. The Award ceremony took place in Qatar November 24, 2010. Photograph: AKDN/Gary Otte. Please click on photo for Citation and more photographs.

Date posted: January 8, 2023.

Featured photo at top of post: The Aga Khan and his younger brother Prince Amyn with Oleg Grabar. Photograph: © Christopher Little.

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Gülru Necipoğlu, Harvard’s Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Architecture, to Receive Freer’s 2023 Lifetime Achievement Medal; Oleg Grabar, 1st Aga Khan Professor was Honoured with the Freer Medal in 2001

6 January 2023

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Compiled and adapted from News Release, National Museum of Asian Art, January 3, 2023

The National Museum of Asian Art has announced its 2023 recipients of the Freer Medal, a lifetime achievement award that honors individuals who have substantially contributed to the understanding of the arts of Asia throughout their career. This year, the institution’s centennial, the honor will go to Vidya Dehejia, the Barbara Stoler Miller Professor Emerita of Indian and South Asian Art at Columbia University, and Gülru Necipoğlu, the Aga Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University’s History of Art and Architecture Department. They will be honored for their lifetime work in South Asian art and arts of the Islamic world, respectively. The medal will be presented to Dehejia April 28 and to Necipoğlu Oct. 27.

Named after the museum’s founder, Charles Lang Freer, the Freer Medal has been awarded 14 times since its inception in 1956. This is the first time that a scholar of South Asian and another of Middle Eastern descent will receive the award. Only two other women have previously received the Freer Medal: It was awarded to Dame Jessica Rawson, professor of Chinese art and archaeology at the University of Oxford, in 2017 and to Stella Kramrisch, Czech art historian and leading specialist on South Asian art, in 1985.

“The Freer Medal is an important way in which our museum encourages and exemplifies excellence in Asian art scholarship,” said Chase F. Robinson, Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art, the National Museum of Asian Art. “We are pleased to recognize the enormous contributions that these scholars have made to their fields. It is long overdue that women of Middle Eastern and Asian heritages receive the Freer Medal. The museum congratulates Vidya Dehejia and Gülru Necipoğlu on this award during the landmark occasion of our centennial.”

About Gülru Necipoğlu

Gülru Necipoğlu, 2023 Freer Medal, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Simerg, News — *Gülru Necipoğlu. Photograph: Via National Museum of Asian Art*

Necipoğlu earned her doctorate from Harvard University in 1986 and has served there as the Aga Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture since 1993. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University and a Master of Arts from Harvard University. Necipoğlu specializes in the arts and architecture of the pre-modern Islamic lands, with a focus on the Mediterranean world and the cross-cultural and artistic exchanges between the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires in the 16th and 17th centuries. Grounded in rigorous archival research, her multi-disciplinary studies have addressed the aesthetic interconnections of Byzantium and Renaissance Europe, pre-modern architectural practices and the role and function of ornament in the Islamic world and beyond, offering new and highly original perspectives on the arts and architecture of the region. Throughout her illustrious career, Necipoğlu has also trained and mentored numerous students, who have continued to transform the field.

Since 1993, Necipoğlu has also served as editor of Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Cultures of the Islamic World and its supplements, the pre-eminent publication in the field, which has transformed the study of the arts and architecture of the Islamic world. Her own publications comprise studies in monumental architecture to intricate designs on portable objects and have changed the understanding of the arts of the Islamic world. They include Architecture, Ceremonial and Power: The Topkapı Palace (1991), The Topkapı Scroll–Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture (1995), The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire (2005, 2011), Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3–1503/4) (2 vols, 2019, coeditors Cemal Kafadar and Cornell H. Fleischer), The Arts of Ornamental Geometry: A Persian Compendium on Similar and Complementary Interlocking Figures (2017), A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, in the Wiley-Blackwell Companions to Art History (coeditor F. Barry Flood, 2017) and Histories of Ornament: From Global to Local (coeditor Alina Payne, 2016).

In recognition of her distinguished scholarly career, Necipoğlu is an elected member of the British Academy, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio in Vicenza, Italy.

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Oleg Grabar: One of 14 Previous Recipients of the Freer Medal , was Instrumental in Founding Harvard’s Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture

The following piece about Oleg Grabar includes material from a memorial meeting held by Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 1, 2012. Co-incidentally, we are publishing this piece almost 12 years to the day of Grabar’s death on January 8, 2011.

Among the fourteen previous recipients of the Freer Medal is Professor Oleg Grabar (1929-2011), who received the eleventh presentation of the medal on April 5, 2001. A special award booklet dedicated to Professor Grabar was published and can be downloaded by clicking HERE.

On November 24, 2010, at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture ceremony held in Qatar, His Highness the Aga Khan presented the Chairman’s Award to Professor Oleg Grabar in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the field of Islamic art and architecture. Less than two months later, on January 8, 2011, Oleg Grabar passed away at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of eighty-one.

Professor Grabar was recognized by the Islamic art and architecture community as one of the field’s most influential and insightful scholars. He was professor emeritus of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, and Aga Khan Professor, Emeritus, at Harvard University.

Professor Grabar, who taught in the Harvard Department of Fine Arts (now History of Art and Architecture) for twenty-one years (1969–1990), was instrumental in founding Harvard’s Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture. There are few, if any, Islamicists who have not profited from the scholarly contributions of this extraordinary man, who was larger-than-life. He was the first Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art at Harvard (1980–1990) — a position now held as mentioned in the previous section above by Gülru Necipoğlu — and subsequently joined the faculty of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he remained active in research and publication until his second retirement in 1998, and over the following thirteen years as well. Grabar’s continuing post-retirement intellectual productivity and capacity to inspire were officially recognized when he received His Highness the Aga Khan’s Chairman’s Award in Doha, Qatar, in 2010.

Please click on photo for enlargement

Date posted: January 6, 2023.

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Salim Rahemtulla’s “90 Days” is Set for World Premiere September 8 in Vancouver – the Play Tells the Story of an Ismaili Muslim Family’s Forced Exodus from Uganda 50 Years Ago

8 September 2022

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of Uganda’s former dictator, Idi Amin, expelling the 80,000-member Asian community. Vancouver’s Salim Rahemtulla, who never set out to be a playwright, is releasing a special play “90 Days” that tells the story of an Ismaili Muslim family’s forced exodus from Uganda in 1972. Salim Rahemtulla’s father waited until two days left before the deadline before getting the remaining family members out of the country. He made this decision after Amin signalled his intention to disperse all Asians left in Kampala to other parts of the country. It was a harrowing experience for his father and mother. “They didn’t even know where they were going,” Rahemtulla says. “They were told on the plane…and they ended up in Malta — my parents and my two younger brothers. One brother ended up in Austria” — PLEASE READ MORE IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT

A Brief Statement on “90 Days”

By SALIM RAHEMTULLA

“I started writing the play three years ago and my goal was to have it completed and performed for the 50^th anniversary of the Uganda Expulsion. The play is set in 1972 in Kampala, and Idi Amin, then President of Uganda, has had a dream he should expel all Asians from the country and give them 90 Days to leave. Yusuf Rahim, a Kampala shopkeeper, is disbelieving of the order and refuses to uproot his wife and two children. He decides to stay. As the family navigates the uncertainties of the ninety days that follow and come into conflict with each other about what to do, the dangers of staying in Kampala become too clear to ignore. As the family makes hard choices about whether to seek asylum in countries that do not want them, the traumatic expulsion is brought to life through the lens of a modest Ismaili family grappling with the pains of separation and tearing themselves away from a country they thought was home.”

Writing to his friends around the world, Salim says:

“I hope you can come to Vancouver and celebrate the play with me and my family and all the wonderful people at Western Gold Theatre and the very talented and experienced cast, the director and all others involved in the staging of this play.”

For more details and to purchase tickets please visit the website: www.westerngoldtheatre.org. The Western Gold Theatre focuses on sharing and celebrating the talents of senior professional theatre artists. In conjunction with the performances, the theatre is also presenting a series of supplementary educational and social activities under the umbrella term, Recounting 90 Days.

Date posted: September 8, 2022.

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As a note to our readers, Salim Rahemtulla and his daughter Zahida worked together to prepare The Aga Khan’s View of the World for our sister website Barakah during the Diamond Jubilee of Mawlana Hazar Imam.

We welcome feedback/letters from our readers. Please click on Leave a comment. Your feedback may be edited for length and brevity, and is subject to moderation. We are unable to acknowledge unpublished letters. Simerg’s editor Malik Merchant may be reached via email at mmerchant@simerg.com

“Symphony of Courage”: A Documentary of the Dramatic Journey of Afghan Music Students From Kabul to Qatar to Lisbon

30 August 2022

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Voice of America’s (VOA) 52 DOCUMENTARY is a new documentary series that connects you with the global community through human interest stories. The compelling films allow you to explore new places via spectacular visuals and brilliant storytelling, empowering you to engage with the world in new ways. To watch previews of the 52 DOCUMENTARY series, click HERE. We are pleased to share one such documentary, “Symphony of Courage”, that premiered on VOA+ on August 24, 2022.

About Afghanistan Symphony of Courage: The Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), the first of its kind, closed down in August 2021 as its members faced fear for their futures as musicians under the Taliban. Founded in 2010, ANIM was renowned for its inclusiveness. It became a symbol of a new Afghanistan, with boys and girls studying together and performing to full houses in the United States and Europe. Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, the institute’s founder and leader, fearing that music was not welcome in Afghanistan under Taliban, teamed up with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and worked tirelessly to secure safe passage out of the country for the institute’s nearly 300 students, including its all-female orchestra whose 250 members range in age from 12 to 20.

“Symphony of Courage” follows the dramatic journey of two students and sisters, Farida and Zohra, as they navigate life in hiding under the Taliban rule, and eventually made their escape to Qatar and eventually to Lisbon, Portugal, where they are free to make music once again.

Date posted: August 30, 2022.

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Simerg’s editor Malik Merchant may be reached via email at mmerchant@simerg.com

Simerg – Insights from Around the World

Simerg is an independent initiative dedicated to Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan — their Hereditary Imam — and the Ismaili Imamat, and Islam in general through literary readings, photo essays and artistic expressions

Category Archives: Culture and Heritage

Beautiful Recitations of the 16th Century Ginan “Navroz na din Sohamna,” and Composer Sayyid Fatehali Shah’s Fervent Search and Illuminating Meeting with the 45th Ismaili Imam, Shah Khalilullah

Navroz Ginan recitation by Shamshu Bandali Haji

Navroz Ginan recitation of selected verses by Mumtaz Bhulji

The Navroz Ginan

Introduction

A clarification about the composer and the period of composition

The meeting with the Imam of the Time in the woods and at the fort

The inner search and experience

A Legacy of Lost Heritage: The Central ITREB Library, Karachi, Pakistan, and Its Collection of Materials Relevant to Ismaili Communities — An Update on the Impact of the Recent Fire Incident

A Legacy of Lost Heritage

Must Visit: The Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, a Unique National Heritage Site Near Calgary

Photographs: The Ismaili Muslim Community’s Stampede Breakfast – Calgary’s Iconic Breakfast Event, Year in & Year Out! And Links to Stories on External Sites

With Eid al-Adha approaching, Simerg suggests that you acquire the beautiful, inexpensive booklet of Eid stamps issued by Canada Post

Watch Video Highlights of “Rugged Beauty – Antique Carpets from Western Asia,” a Beautiful Exhibition in Denver

WATCH VIDEO: Antique Rugs From Caucasus, Iran, Turkey Reflect History in Patterns

REVIEW SIMERG’S TABLE OF CONTENTS AND VISIT ITS SISTER WEBSITES

The Aga Khan and Cultural Historian Oleg Grabar

REVIEW SIMERG’S TABLE OF CONTENTS AND VISIT ITS SISTER WEBSITES

Gülru Necipoğlu, Harvard’s Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Architecture, to Receive Freer’s 2023 Lifetime Achievement Medal; Oleg Grabar, 1st Aga Khan Professor was Honoured with the Freer Medal in 2001

About Gülru Necipoğlu

Oleg Grabar: One of 14 Previous Recipients of the Freer Medal , was Instrumental in Founding Harvard’s Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture

REVIEW SIMERG’S TABLE OF CONTENTS AND VISIT ITS SISTER WEBSITES

Salim Rahemtulla’s “90 Days” is Set for World Premiere September 8 in Vancouver – the Play Tells the Story of an Ismaili Muslim Family’s Forced Exodus from Uganda 50 Years Ago

A Brief Statement on “90 Days”

“Symphony of Courage”: A Documentary of the Dramatic Journey of Afghan Music Students From Kabul to Qatar to Lisbon