Muhammad Akram Ghanimat Kunjahi (died c. 1713 CE) was a Punjabi[1] poet of Persian language and Sufi in the Mughal Empire.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Little is known about his life with certainty, except that he descended from a family of muftis originating from the village of Kunjah, in Gujrat District.[2] He was a disciple of Sayyid Muhammad Salih, himself a favourite disciple of Naushah Ganj Bakhsh, a well known saint associated with Qādiriyya Sufi order.[3] He is reported to have travelled to Kashmir, Kabul and Delhi.[4] The date of death of Kunjahi is not known: but since he praises Farrukhsiyar (enthroned 1713) in his Golzār-e moḥabbat and his death is mentioned in his nephew Moḥammad Māh Ṣedāqat-e Konjāhī's Ṯawāqeb al-manāqeb (written 1714), he probably died towards the end of 1713.[5] He is buried in his native village of Kunjah.[6]
Works[edit | edit source]
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.[7] Notable works of Kunjahi include a Dīvan consisting of 233 ghazals and 12 robāʿīs; Golzār-e moḥabbat, a mathnawi of 591 lines and the Nayrang-i ʿishḳ ('Talisman of Love'), a sentimental and romantic mathnawī of 1500 lines set in Punjab during Kunjahi's time.[5][7]
Nayrang-i ʿishḳ was written in 1685, and was highly esteemed in India.[2] The poem starts with the formal praise to the land of Punjab where the story is set. It then tells the tale of love between prince Aziz and a dancer named Shahid.[2] The poem was translated into several languages in the subsequent centuries. Notable translations include that of Abd al-Hamid Mohmand (in Pashto),[8] Bhagwant Rai Rāhat (in Urdu) and Mian Muhammad Bakhsh (in Punjabi).[9]
Legacy[edit | edit source]
In popular local memory, Kunjahi was remembered as a miracle worker associated with improving mental faculties, curing insanity, and aiding aspiring poets.[10] His tomb was revered for its alleged powers, and it became a site for interring other poets, including Shareef Kunjahi.[11] The Bazm-i-Ghanimat literary organization in Pakistan was named after him.[12]
Editions[edit | edit source]
- Dīwān, ed. Ghulām Rabbānī ʿAzīz (Lahore 1958)
- Nayrang-i ʿishk, ed. Ghulām Rabbānī ʿAzīz (Lahore: Panjabi Adabi Akademi, 1962)
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Bausani (1974), p. 106, as reproduced in Chaghatai (2014), pp. 12–36.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Naficy (1965), p. 1006.
- ↑ Shackle (1999), p. 445.
- ↑ Bausani (1974), p. 107; Shackle (1999), p. 446
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Naushahi (2000).
- ↑ Chaghatai (2014), p. 14.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chaghatai (2014), p. 19.
- ↑ Shackle (1999), pp. 457–459.
- ↑ Shackle (1999), pp. 459–462.
- ↑ Shackle (1999), p. 435.
- ↑ "Sharif Kunjahi laid to rest". Dawn. 22 January 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
- ↑ Arif, Iftikhar; Khwaja, Waqas (2010). Modern Poetry of Pakistan. Dalkey Archive Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-56478-605-0.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Bausani, A. (1974). "'Indian Elements in the Indo-Persian Poetry: The Style of Ganimat Kunǧāhī'". In J.M. Barral (ed.). Orientalia Hispanica Sive Studia F.M. Pareja Octogenario Dicata. Vol. 1: Arabica-Islamica. Leiden: Brill. pp. 105–19.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) Reproduced in Chaghatai, M. Ikram (30 October 2014). "Ghanīmat Kunjāhī– A Leading Persian Poet of Sabk-i Hindī (with an article by A. Bausani)". Oriental College Magazine. 89 (3): 12–36.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Shackle, Christopher (1999). "Persian Poetry and Qadiri Sufism in late Mughal India: Ghanimat Kunjahi and his mathnawi Nayrang-i Ishq". In Lewisohn, L.; Morgan, D. (eds.). Late Classical Persianate Sufism. Oxford: Oneworld. pp. 435–63.
- Template:Encyclopædia Iranica
- Naficy, S. (1965). "G̲h̲anīmat Kund̲j̲āhī". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume II: C–G (2nd ed.). Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 1006. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8560. OCLC 495469475.