Simerg is an independent platform that focuses on the dissemination of knowledge about the faith, culture and news pertaining to the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims led by their Hereditary Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, through literary readings as well as artistic and textual expressions. It also brings to its readers news, events and programs that are of interest to all readers, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Simerg supports 2 more independent initiatives, Barakah.com and Simergphotos.com
Along with photos captured on Navroz, March 21, 2021, the founding editor and publisher of this website and two sister websites simergphotos and barakah, shares his feelings about the second consecutive Navroz celebrated in isolation, and provides his perspective and feelings on why he felt the 2021 Navroz became the most joyous Navroz in his life. Please click MOREor on photo below for his reflective piece and beautiful photos published in Simergphotos.
Birds fly past the Ismaili Jamatkhana on Navroz, March 21, 2021. Please click on photo for reflective article and more photos.
The following Talika Mubarak from Mawlana Hazar Imam in English is reproduced from The Ismaili, the official website of the Ismaili community. Official translations in French, Portuguese, Farsi, Arabic, Urdu, Gujarati, Tajik, and Russian can be read at our sister website Barakah. The Talika is followed by recitations of Ginans Sahebe Farman Lakhi Mokalea and Navrozna din Sohaamna.
Mawlana Hazar Imam His Highness the Aga Khan’s Talika Mubarak to Ismailis
18th March 2021
My dear spiritual children,
On the occasion of Navroz, the 21st of March 2021, I send my most affectionate paternal maternal loving blessings to all my beloved spiritual children of my worldwide Jamat.
My family joins me in wishing you all Navroz Mubarak.
I send my most affectionate loving blessings to all the spiritual children who have submitted services and sent messages of congratulations and good wishes on this occasion.
With the success in producing effective vaccines and other forms of treatment, human societies around the world are looking with a sense of hope and optimism to emerging from the current Covid-19 pandemic.
At this time, I recommend that all my murids should accept to be vaccinated in accordance with the directives of their respective health authorities as soon as the vaccines are offered — as indeed I have done already. It is also my wish that my Jamat should avoid any complacency, and that every murid should continue exercising personal responsibility to ensure protection from the virus.
In particular, my Jamat should not give credence to any misinformation regarding the vaccination process, and comparisons between the different officially sanctioned vaccines that are now available.
I have requested the AKDN health care facilities to extend maximum support and assistance to the government authorities in the effective roll-out of the vaccination programme.
In these troubled times, it is my prayer that Navroz will herald a new beginning, with greater resilience, strength and unity in my Jamat to overcome all forms of difficulty. While the Jamatkhanas will continue to be re-opened as the situation improves, I wish my Jamat to keep in mind the importance I attach to our historic tradition of personal, private prayer.
I send my most affectionate loving blessings for mushkil-asan, and for my Jamat’s wellbeing, good health, safety and security. I also give my best loving blessings for barakah in your spiritual and material lives, and for the fulfilment of all your wishes.
You are all particularly in my heart, in my thoughts, and in my prayers at this time.
Yours affectionately,
Aga Khan
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Shukrana and Supplication
We submit our humble gratitude to our beloved Mawlana Hazar Imam for his Talika Mubarak to the world wide Jamat on the occasion of Navroz, March 21, 2021, and submit the following supplications from verse 1 of Pir Hasan Kabirdin’s Ginan Sahebe Farman Lakhi Mokalea:
“O brother! Listen, My Lord Ali has written and sent a Farman. The beloved Lord has remembered this servant today with kindness in his heart”
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.
From the day our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S.A.S.) passed away on June 8, 632, and Hazrat Ali (a.s.) became the first Imam on the Divine Commandment that the Prophet had earlier received at Ghadir Khumm, there have been forty-nine Ismaili Imams, spanning a period of 1388 years in human history.
Top: Imam Shah Hassanali Shah and Imam Shah Ali Shah; Bottom: Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah and Mawlana Sha Karim Hazar Imam ( both Gulgee lapis portraits).
Mawlana Hazar Imam and his immediate 3 predecessors have reigned the Jamat for a total of 202 years — 14.6 % of the 1388 years of Imamat to date — as follows: Mawlana Shah Karim Al Hussaini Hazar Imam (His Highness the Aga Khan IV, Imam from 1957 — 2020 and continuing, 63 years, he became the 49th Imam at the age of 20); Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah(His Highness the Aga Khan III, Imam from 1885 – 1957, 71 years, he became the 48th Imam at age 7 years), Imam Shah Ali Shah (Aga Khan II, 1881 – 1885, 4 years, he became the 47th Imam at the age of 51 years), and Imam Shah Hassanali Shah (Aga Khan I, 1817 – 1881, 64 years, he became the 46th Imam at the age of 13 years).
This 203 year period accounts for more time than does the entire Fatimid period, reigned by 8 Imams from Imam Mehdi (11th Imam to Imam Mustansir bi Allah (18th Imam)!
Art work Nurin Merchant, Credit: Infinity design povray.org
Some of the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad on the Imamat are follows: “I leave among you two weighty things: The Book of Allah and my Progeny. If you keep attached to these two never, never will you go astray. Both are tied with a long Rope and cannot be separated until the Day of Judgment.”
I recollect a Farman made by Mawlana Hazar Imam during his Silver Jubilee (1982) in Nairobi, Kenya, where he said that he was the 49th Imam and that there would always be Imams in the future, whether it is the space age or even beyond that! That Allah’s guidance is ever present on this earth through the manifest Imam is reaffirmed in another tradition of the Prophet that says that if the world were to remain without an Imam for one moment, the whole world with everything in it would perish instantaneously.
Purush shan matra pag dharani na dharante, Sansaar, chandra, suraj na dhrashtante, Kuchh na dhrashtante, Bhom kar, megh, dharti na aakaash bhave
Translation:
If the Imam did not have his feet on this earth for even a moment, then the world, moon, sun would vanish and nothing would exist, neither the heaven nor the earth.
On those affirmations from the Prophet Muhammad, our Ginans and Mawlana Hazar Imam, let us therefore truly rejoice that we have a living Imam and that our future generations will also continue to always live under the loving care guidance and protection of the Imam of the Time.
Let us on this auspicious 63rd Imamat Day offer our heartful thanks to Mawlana Hazar Imam for the following Talika that we have received yesterday, July 10, 2020. It was also read out to us last night by ever inspiring President of the Aga Khan Council for Canada, Ameerally Kassim-Lakha, in the weekly reflections program.
We convey Imamat Day Mubarak to our readers and Jamats around the world.
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Talika Mubarak from Mawlana Hazar Imam (English)
My beloved spiritual children,
On the occasion of Imamat day, the 11th of July 2020, I send my warmest and most affectionate paternal maternal loving blessings to all my beloved spiritual children throughout the world.
I send my best loving blessings for the souls of all my ruhani spiritual children, and I pray that their souls may rest in eternal peace.
While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to pose a challenge globally, I have agreed to the re-opening of Jamatkhanas in areas where the health authorities allow gatherings in spaces of prayer.
As Imam-of-the-Time, I have authorised modifications to the conduct of ceremonies in our Jamatkhanas, to ensure compliance with present health and safety requirements. This matter is constantly under my review, and I will make appropriate decisions on when to return to normal practice.
It is my wish that, in attending Jamatkhana, as indeed at all other times, my Jamat should continue to exercise utmost care and rigour in observing the measures recommended by the public health authorities.
On this happy occasion, I send my most affectionate loving blessings to all my spiritual children who have submitted services and sent messages of congratulations and good wishes.
I send my most affectionate special loving blessings for mushkil-asan, good health, safety and security for all my Jamats, and the restoration of peace and stability, with best loving blessings for your spiritual happiness, worldly progress, strength of faith, and for unity in the Jamat.
Yours affectionately,
Aga Khan
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Message from Mawlana Hazar Imam (French)
A l’occasion de l’Imamat Day, Mawlana Hazar Imam nous a gracieusement béni d’un Saint Talika pour son Jamat global qui est partagé sur le site The Ismaili.
Mes Chers Enfants Spirituels,
A l’occasion de l’Imamat day, le 11 juillet 2020, j’envoie mes plus chaleureuses et mes plus affectueuses tendres bénédictions paternelles et maternelles à tous mes enfants spirituels bien-aimés à travers le monde.
J’envoie mes meilleures bénédictions affectueuses pour les âmes de mes enfants spirituels ruhani, et prie pour que leurs âmes reposent dans la paix éternelle.
Alors que la pandémie Covid-19 continue à poser un défi au niveau mondial, j’ai donné mon accord pour la réouverture des Jamatkhanas dans les zones où les autorités sanitaires autorisent les rassemblements dans les espaces de prière.
En tant qu’Imam-du-Temps, j’ai autorisé des modifications dans la conduite des cérémonies dans nos Jamatkhanas, afin de garantir leur conformité avec les exigences actuelles en matière de santé et de sécurité. C’est un sujet que je suis constamment, et je prendrai les décisions appropriées quant au moment de revenir à une pratique normale.
C’est mon souhait qu’en venant au Jamatkhana, comme en toutes circonstances, mon Jamat continue à faire preuve du plus grand soin et de la plus grande rigueur dans le respect des mesures recommandées par les autorités de santé publique.
En cette heureuse occasion, j’envoie mes plus affectueuses tendres bénédictions à tous mes enfants spirituels qui ont soumis des services et envoyé des messages de félicitations et de bons vœux.
J’envoie mes plus affectueuses tendres bénédictions spéciales pour mushkil-asan, une bonne santé, la sûreté et la sécurité de tout mon Jamat, et le retour de la paix et de la stabilité, avec mes meilleures bénédictions affectueuses pour votre bonheur spirituel, le progrès matériel, la force de la foi, et pour l’unité dans le Jamat.
Affectueusement,
Aga Khan
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Talika from Mawlana Hazar Imam (Portuguese)
Por ocasião do Imamat Day, Mawlana Hazar Imam graciosamente enviou um Talika Mubarak para o Jamat global e que partilhamos pelo The Ismaili.
Meus amados filhos espirituais,
Por ocasião do Imamat Day, 11 de julho de 2020, envio as minhas mais calorosas e mais afetuosas bênçãos paternais e maternais a todos os meus filhos espirituais por todo o mundo.
Envio as minhas melhores bênçãos de amor para as almas de todos os meus filhos espirituais ruhani, e oro para que as suas almas descansem em paz eterna.
Apesar da pandemia de Covid-19 continuar a representar um desafio global, concordei com a reabertura de Jamatkhanas nas áreas onde as autoridades de saúde permitem encontros em locais de oração.
Como Imam do Tempo, autorizei modificações na realização de cerimónias nos nossos Jamatkhanas, de forma a assegurar o cumprimento dos atuais requisitos de saúde e segurança. Este assunto está constantemente sob a minha análise, e tomarei as decisões apropriadas acerca de quando se poderá regressar à prática normal.
É meu desejo que, tanto ao frequentar o Jamatkhana, como também em todos os outros momentos, o meu Jamat continue a exercer o máximo cuidado e rigor no cumprimento das medidas recomendadas pelas autoridades de saúde pública.
Nesta feliz ocasião, envio minhas mais afetuosas bênçãos de amor a todos os meus filhos espirituais que submeteram serviços e enviaram mensagens de felicitações e votos de felicidades.
Envio minhas mais afetuosas e especiais bênçãos de amor para mushkil-asan, boa saúde, segurança e proteção, para todos os meus Jamats, e restauração da paz e estabilidade, com as melhores bênçãos de amor para a vossa felicidade espiritual, progresso material, força de fé e para união no Jamat.
Afetuosamente
Aga Khan
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Talika from Mawlana Hazar Imam (Farsi)
Talika in Farsi
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Talika from Mawlana Hazar Imam (Arabic)
Talika in Arabic
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Talika from Mawlana Hazar Imam (Gujarati)
Talika in Gujarati
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Talika from Mawlana Hazar Imam (Russian)
Talika in Russian
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Talika from Mawlana Hazar Imam (Urdu)
Talika in Urdu
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Talika from Mawlana Hazar Imam (Tajik)
Talika in Tajik
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Shukrana and Supplication
We submit our humble gratitude to our beloved Mawlana Hazar Imam for his blessings to the world wide Jamat on the occasion of his 63rd Imamat Day.
We submit the following supplications from verse 1 of Pir Hasan Kabirdin’s Ginan Sahebe Farman Lakhi Mokalea:
“O brother! Listen, My Lord Ali has written and sent a Farman. The beloved Lord has remembered this servant today with kindness in his heart”
Date posted: July 11, 2020. Last updated: July 12, 2020.
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.
CORRECTION: When the post was initially published, the Arabic translation was loaded into the Farsi Talika block, and appeared twice. The post now stands corrected, and we regret the confusion it caused.
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