"Possessing a treasure like my "Makhzan al-Asrar" Why should I bother myself with romances? In today's world, however, there is no one Who hasn't a passion for romances." Nizami1 Nizami Ganjavi, one of the greatest romantic poets in Persian literature, was born in 1141 in Ganja, modern-day Azerbaijan and lived at a time of intense intellectual activity. A prominent poet acquainted ...
Abu Bakr ibn Tufayl (d. ca.1186), a philosopher, astronomer, court official, and physician to the Almohad ruler, was the author of the philosophical tale Hayy ibn Yaqzan (Living, Son of Awake). This tale, translated into Latin in 1671, is thought to be the model for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Hayy ibn Yaqzan is set in twelfth-century Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) - a ...
Imam Aqa Ali Shah Aga Khan II, the forty-seventh Imam of the Nizari Ismailis, succeeded his father to the Imamat in April 1881. Born in 1830 in Mahallat, Persia (modern day Iran) where he spent his early years, he went to Najaf, Iraq, with his mother to study Arabic, Persian, and Ismaili doctrines while his father was residing in Bombay (now ...
"The garden of Islamic tradition is also a place where the flow of refreshing water reminds us of divine blessing. It is a place for meditation, and quiet renewal. But I would likewise to emphasise that the garden, through history, has also been seen as a social space - a place for learning, for sharing, for romance, for diplomacy, for reflection ...
"...we were touching the very foundations of my ancestors, the Fatimids, and the pluralistic history and intellectual profile of this city and this country to which they contributed so profoundly. I am very humbled by the opportunity to return to Cairo, founded over a thousand years ago by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Muizz, to build on that history. Thirty-five generations later, through ...
The physical Nawruz is brought about by a change of the year The spiritual Nawruz occurs but with the transformation of life itself The Nawruz of the people of verity lies in changing their actions The Nawruz of the people off falsehood lies in changing their clothes Nawruz is not something set to fade Nawruz is something safe from ever fading. ...
Let the once dead earth be a sign to them. We gave it life, and from it produced grain for their sustenance. We planted it with palm and the vine and watered it with gushing springs, so that men might feed on its fruit. It was not their hands that made all this. Should they not give thanks? Qur'an 36:33-35 Spring ...
"We found too, that the overwhelming unity of Islamic life which sees no division between body and spirit, between this world and the next, was a powerful influence on Islamic architecture. The desire to bring to this world some of the beauty of the hereafter acted as a constant barrier to the discordant or the haphazard in Islamic styles. The calligraphy ...
![[Mar 5]Today in history: Nasir Khusraw set out on his seven-year journey](https://ismailidigest.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/d5841713dd-1024x576.jpeg)
Nasir Khusraw (1004- ca.1077) was born in Qobadiyan in the district of Marv in the eastern Iranian province of Khurasan. He did well at school, learning Persian and Arabic as well as sciences, literature, mathematics, philosophy, religious sciences, and history. Following his family's tradition, Nasir joined the government bureaucracy in a financial capacity, perhaps as tax collector. Nasir enjoyed to travel ...
The term 'Islamic art' refers to visual arts produced in Islamic regions by a variety of artists and for diverse consumers, not necessarily by and for Muslims. Sheila Blair explains that "while some types of Islamic art, such as Qur'an manuscripts, mosque lamps or carved wooden minbars (pulpits), are directly concerned with the faith and practice of Islam, the majority of ...
Thus Allah makes clear his signs so that you may use your intellect (Qur'an 2:142). Intellect - the power or faculty of the mind by which one knows or understands, as distinguished from that by which one feels; the understanding; the faculty of thinking and acquiring knowledge. Dictionary.com Reason - the mental powers concerned with forming conclusions, judgements, or inferences. Dictionary.com ...
![[Feb 1954]The Platinum Jubilee of Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah's Imamat was commemorated](https://ismailidigest.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/95bfee7d83-1024x576.jpeg)
Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah succeeded his father to the Imamat on August 17, 1885 reigning for seventy-two years, longer that any of his predecessors. K.K. Aziz states that Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah "occupies a place which .... may be called unique.... The positions he held in public life, the parties and organizations he led or patronized, the long innings he played ...
![[Feb 18]Today in history: Al-Mu'ayyad was granted audience with Fatimid Imam al-Mustansir bi'llah](https://ismailidigest.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/c1c67abbe5-1024x576.jpeg)
"My eyes had barely fallen on him when awe took hold of me and reverence overcame me..." A distinguished Ismaili scholar, da'i, and statesman of the Fatimid era, Abu Nasr Hibat Allah b. Musa b. Abi Imran b. Dawud al-Shirazi was born around the year 1000 in Shiraz, the capital of Fars region in south-west Persia, where his forefathers had a ...
![[Feb 16]Today in history: Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah established a research institution](https://ismailidigest.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/f1c0878c18-1024x576.jpeg)
Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III (r. 1885-1957) established a research institution, the Ismaili Society (Anjoman-e Esma'ili), on February 16, 1946 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. According to the Charter, its primary objective was "the promotion of independent and critical study of all matters connected with Ismailism with the stated policy of refraining from all religio-political missionary activities" (Daftary, Anjoman-e ...
"There is no doubt that the artists of Egypt under the Fatimids were skilled to a degree that found no parallel in the handicrafts of Europe.... " Stanley Lane-Poole, The Art of the Saracens in Egypt,1886 In the year 909, the Fatimid Imam al-Mahdi was proclaimed as caliph in present-day Tunisia, founding the Fatimid reign. In 969, the Caliph Al-Mu'izz conquered ...
![[Feb]This month in history: Ivanow, the pioneer of modern Nizari Ismaili studies, came into contact with the community for the first time](https://ismailidigest.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/3b219c2ed4-1024x576.jpeg)
"They with amazing care and devotion kept through ages burning that Light, mentioned in the Koran which God always protects against all attempts of His enemies to extinguish it." IvanowIvanow. Source: The Institute of Ismaili Studies The pioneer of modern Nizari Ismaili Studies, Wladmir Ivanow, was born in 1886 in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he studied Arabic and Persian as well ...
In 1090, Hasan Sabbah acquired the fortress of Alamut in northern Iran, marking the founding of what was to become the seat of the Nizari Ismaili state. Over the course of the next 150 years, the Ismailis acquired more than 200 fortresses in Iran and Syria, located in the inaccessible mountainous regions for refuge of the Nizari Ismailis who were fleeing ...
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, one of the major intellectual scholars of the thirteenth century who contributed to many fields of learning, was born in 1201 in Tus, northeastern Persia into a Twelver Shi'i family. His father, a prominent jurist, encouraged al-Tusi to study all branches of knowledge and examine the views on the various schools of Islamic tradition, because his father "was ...
Rashid al-Din Sinan, the greatest of the medieval Nizari Ismaili da'is in Syria, was born into a Twelver Shi'i family in Basra, Iraq, around 1133. He worked as a schoolmaster, eventually converting to Nizari Ismailism in his youth. To further study Ismaili doctrines,Sinan went to Alamut, the central headquarters of the Ismaili da'wa, where he met Imam Hasan ala dhikrihi'l-salam. Shortly ...
![[Jan 9]Today in history: Imam Nur al-Din Muhammad succeeded to the Imamat](https://ismailidigest.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/513e875015-1024x576.jpeg)
On January 9, 1166, Imam Nur al-Din Muhammad, also known as A'la Muhammad, succeeded his father to the Imamat at the age of nineteen years. The twenty-fourth Ismaili Imam was a scholar and writer, contributing actively to the Ismaili thought of his time and teaching of qiyama, or resurrection, declared by his father in 1164, in which he revealed himself as ...
The term 'rock crystal' is derived from the Greek word for ice, krystallos, because the Greeks thought that rock crystal was formed by water frozen on mountaintops at extreme temperatures that it could no longer melt. A pure form of the silica mineral quartz, rock crystal has been valued, since the third millennium BCE, for its transparency and flawless structure. The ...
"...perhaps the real secret to the print's [paisley] immortality is...how it blends its rich historicism with a powerful adaptability, and how it is open to endless and unexpected re-invigoration and re-interpretation." Lindsay BakerImages: 25 Years in Pictures. The.Ismaili Resembling a droplet, the fig-shaped paisley motif is thought to have represented a combination of a floral spray (hence its Persian name boteh, ...
Winter solstice, on December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 20 in the Southern Hemisphere, comprises the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. Many ancient cultures rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight. For instance, ...
"Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! good deeds annul ill-deeds. This is reminder for the mindful" (Qur'an 11:114). Composed by Pir Hasan Kabirdin, Anant Akhado, commonly called Aashaaji, is a 500-verse granth (long Ginan) dedicated to the Imam of the time Mawlana Islam Shah. Anant Akhado "literally means a gathering ...
On December 10, 1990, Mawlana Hazar Imam signed a Protocol of Agreement on behalf of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture with the Governor of Cairo, His Excellency Mahmoud Sheriff to create a public park in Cairo. Following the signing, Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Excellency Mahomoud Sheriff, and Her Excellency Madame Suzanne Mubarak participated in the foundation stone and tree planting ...
Pachham deesaa hoi chadde aakaashaa, Jaai dekhyaa agam tamaashaa.64 The skies in the West glow And one witnesses a unique and unparalleled show of Light - Nur. (Brahm Prakash v. 64) The mysterious illumination of the western heavens is held to be a symbolic rendition of a spiritual experience. The 150-verse Brahm Prakash composed by Pir Shams relates the gnostic ascent ...
On November 24, 1963, Mawlana Hazar Imam participated in the commemoration of the first anniversary of Mindanao University, the Philippines. In his address, Hazar Imam highlighted the intellectual traditions of medieval Muslim societies: "The Khalifates drew administrative machinery from some of the greatest centres of learning which have ever existed. The Universities in Damascus and Baghdad, and later those of Cairo, ...
The first revelation to the Prophet was about knowledge and learning. The acquisition of knowledge came to be perceived as a way of improving understanding of the faith and its practices. Motivated by the central message of the Qur'an to pursue knowledge and the Prophetic Tradition, 'Seek knowledge, even though it comes from China,' the rulers incorporated some of this material ...
Ginans are a vast collection consisting of several hundred Ginans, composed by Pirs and Sayyids, which have been a central part of the religious life of the Nizari Ismaili community of the Indian Subcontinent now residing in many parts of the world. Pirs were sent to the Indian subcontinent by Imams since at least the Fatimid times (909-1171). From the Sanskrit ...
On November 9, 1936 Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah delivered the Inaugural Lecture to the Iran Society in London, United Kingdom. "I must thank His Excellency the Iranian Minister, Lord Lamington and the members of the Society for having done me the honour of inviting me tonight to bring before you the importance to the whole world of those spiritual forces that ...
In the Haji Bibi Case of 1905 at the Bombay High Court, Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah was questioned about his followers in various countries, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, Central Asia, and so on. In his oral testimony, Imam also remarked "In Hindustan and Africa there are many Guptis who believe in me." Asked to elucidate the identity of these "Gupti" followers, the ...
In his composition Sat swarg khuliya, Pir Sadr al-Din says: Jire bhaai re saat sarag naa kaani khuliyaa chhe dwaar jis din Nabi Muhamed janamiyaa ... v 1 Dear brothers, the doors to the seven heavens were opened on the day Prophet Muhammed was born. (tr. Ismaili.net)Angels and the Ka'ba. The Ottomam miniature painting depicts four angels bearing ornate caopies above ...
Mawlana Hazar Imam presented the first awards of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture on October 23, 1980 at the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan.Mawlana Hazar Imam presents the Aga Khan Award for Architecture to representatives of the Kampung Improvement Programme based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: AKDN / Christopher LittleRanjit Sabikhi (left) Indian architect and Ramesh Khosla (right), Canadian designer, posing ...
Mawlana Hazar Imam succeeded his grandfather to the Imamate on July 11, 1957. To mark his accession, several ceremonies were held, the first in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) on October 19, 1957.Source: Ilm, July 1977 "My grandfather often reminded you that we are living in the atomic age. But what in fact do we mean by this? Certainly we ...
"And of his signs are the night and day, the sun and the moon..." (41:37)Source: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Hamilton Centre From the Greek root me meaning to measure, the word 'moon' can be traced to the Old English word mona which shares its origin with the Latin word mensis, meaning month; hence, it was named Moon. The Earth's Moon, ...
Whatever of good befalleth thee (O man) it is from Allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself.... (Qur'an 4:79) Whatever of misfortune striketh you, it is what your right hands have earned. And He forgiveth much (Qur'an 42:30) These ayats are echoed in Pir Hasan Kabirdin's composition Aash tamari shri ho: Aash tamari shri ho kaaem saami, ...
![[Oct 6]Today in history: Imam Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III, President of the League of Nations, delivered the adjournment session](https://ismailidigest.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/b91fa0d914-1024x576.jpeg)
"The tribulations of one people are the tribulations of all. That which weakens one weakens all." Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III, October 6, 1937President of the League of Nations Imam Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III succeeded as Imam on August 17, 1885 at the age of eight years, leading the Nizari Ismailis as Imam for seventy-two years, ...
![[Oct 1] On this day 60 years ago, Mawlana Hazar Imam laid the foundation stone of Prince Aly Khan Library](https://ismailidigest.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/3e1460bd14-1024x576.jpeg)
On October 1, 1960, Mawlana Hazar Imam laid the foundation stone of the Prince Aly Khan Library in Karachi, Pakistan (the.Ismaili).Photo: Farhan Karim/The.Ismaili Prince Alykhan (d. 1960), father of Mawlana Hazar Imam, Prince Amyn, and Princess Yasmin, was born in Turin, Italy on June 13,1911. He travelled extensively with Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah to meet Ismailis in the Indian subcontinent, Middle ...
Works of art have made up the visual landscape of Islamic societies for fourteen centuries, playing an important role in the devotional lives of Muslims. Writing the sacred word was considered an act of piety, inspiring the development of diverse calligraphy styles from the Kufic, named after the city in which it is believed to have been developed by Hazrat Ali ...
O brother! Remain in the company of the true master (murshid kamil) so that ignorance is removed, then you will see the reality of the heart, leave all illusions and say "Ali Ali." Pir Shams (Kesri sinha v 4) The word ginan and its variants, gyan and gnan are derived from the Sanskrit jnana, which Seyyed Hossein Nasr has tellingly translated ...
