[Reader-list] Zebunnisa's tear

[Lehar ..]

are you saying that the naqshbandis were antagonistic
to the qadaris( dara's silsila) to the poitn of taking
their lives..?
and also.. are u implicating the naqshabandis in
communal conflict..
whatever one has read of aurangzeb, he was extrmelt
criticla ofthe sufis..including sarmad
You are qouting well known Sangh historian David
Frawley, known as the saffron angrez..who has spent a
fortune and a large amount of his life working with
the RSS  and Murli Manohar Joshi to implicate the
Sufis.
incidentallym, the first hit for searching naqshbandis
and aurangzeb is dr. fraudley ..( as he is popularly
known as).. read Gita Hariharans briallint book In
Times fo Siege on the same


her is qoute on one more conservative naqshbandi of
the time

People of note in Delhi 1701 - 1800

Shah Wali Ullah 1703 – 1762 – lived in Delhi. Sufi of
Naqshbandi order. Aim to check the spiritual and
political decline of Islam in India. "Translated the
Quran into Persian, wrote Quranic commentaries and
works on theology and jurisprudence. Attempted to show
that Sufism was in accord with Islam. No influence in
his own time but became important source of Islamic
social and political thought in 19th and 20th
centuries in India and Pakistan."

The conservative Shaikh Ahmad Sirdhindi regarded the
Sufis as more dangerous than the ulama and sought to
disprove the very foundation of SUfism and tasaawuf as
mere illusion..
Therefore, Shaikh Ahmad set himself to disprove the
philosophy of Ibn Arabi and put forward the contention
that the mystic experience of the unity of God and the
world is an illusion. He affirmed the existence of the
world as a separate entity which is the shadow of a
Real Being. This philosophy was directed against the
pantheistic ideas of the Sufis, which were influenced
by Ibn Arabi and oter Sufis..
Ref: Kenneth W. Morgan is Professor of history and
comparative religions at Colgate University. Published
by The Ronald Press Company, New York 1958. This
material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and
Winnie Brock.


so he really wasnt a Sufi..? why are you balimg the
sufis for someone who was against them..
aurangzeb can hardly be called a scholar..
his treatment of his own children, let alone dara does
not find sacntion with any Ulema or Sufi..howevr
conseravtive..
aurangzeb is god's gift to the sangh parivar..:)
as the sangh will be to future generations which want
to demean 'hinduism'..
the tragedy/ game goes on..



links on proving how bad bad all thse sufis were..
frankly my dears, they dont give a damn about poor
dara shikoh
--- Sukhbir Garewal <sugrewal at hotmail.com> wrote:

---------------------------------

It is not just a matter of historical trivia that
Aurangzeb himself was deeply beholden to and, indeed,
influenced by the (Indian) Naqshbandi silsila of
Sufism. In fact, his adherence to this order of Sufism
created not a little problem for others including Dara
Shikoh.




>From: "Lehar .." 
>To: reader-list at sarai.net 
>CC: Ishtiaq.Ahmed at statsvet.su.se 
>Subject: [Reader-list] Zebunnisa's tear 
>Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 02:06:42 -0700 (PDT) 
> 
>here is a gem.. from a woman all but
fogotten..bearing 
>lessons more powerful than words.. 
> 
>---- 
>Subject: Zebunnisa's tear 
> 
>She was the progressive Sufi daughter of the 
>conservative Aurangzeb.. 
>Zeb-un-Nissa studied not only Arabic but also
Persian, 
>mathematics, and 
>astronomy, under the chief scholars of the realm. She

>was closer to her Sufi 
>aunt Jahanara, who dispapproved of her father.. 
>and wrote some exquisite verse..in Persian..She is
the 
>reminder of a time 
>when Indian women were accopmlsihed in the arts and 
>sciences and lived 
>relatively independent lives, regradless of the 
>intrigues at court..Zeb was 
>unfortunate enough to be born at the the coutrt of
the 
>most conservative 
>Mughal ruler..she retains her indepedence regardless 
>of it all.. 
> 
>When Zeb-un-Nissa was 21 years old, her father seized

>the throne from his 
>father, Shah Jahan. Zeb-un-Nissa never married, 
>although some tradition 
>gives her an unwanted engagement and various love 
>affairs. She had her own 
>court, to which scholars and poets came; at least
some 
>of her own 
>poetry---in Persian and in Arabic---appears to be
from 
>this earlier period 
>of her life. She established a library and had 
>classical Arabic and Sanskrit 
>texts translated into Persian. She also built
numerous 
>astronomical 
>observatories, schools and sarais. 
> 
>Aurangzeb was a conservative Sunni and, once in
power, 
>became increasingly 
>severe in his requirements for the observance of his 
>interprattions of 
>Islamic law. However, his eldest sister Jahanra was a

>Sufi, a Moslem who 
>gave less emphasis to religious ritual and more to a 
>personal devotion to 
>Allah. Perhaps through the influence of her aunt, 
>Zeb-un-Nissa eventually 
>also chose the path of devotion. The Sufis held only
a 
>marginal place in 
>Aurangzeb's society, but unless they allied
themselves 
>with Aurangzeb's 
>opponents, they were tolerated. 
>Her poetry, written under the pen-name "Makhfi" ("the

>hidden one") 
>circulated among her contemporaries; 22 years after 
>her death over 400 poems 
>were collected and published in Persian as the 
>Diwan-i-Makhfi. Most of the 
>poems are ghazals, the poetic form used to declare 
>human love. 
> 
>there are many legends about how aurganzeb tried to 
>stop her poetry and 
>astronomy.. but to no avail.. 
> 
>"I bow before the image of my Love," 
>-------------------------------------------- 
> 
>[Here love rejects both Moslem and Hindu convention:]

> 
>No Muslim I, 
>But an idolater, 
>I bow before the image of my Love, 
>And worship Her. 
> 
>No Brahman I, 
>My sacred thread 
>I cast away, for round my neck I wear 
>Her plaited hair instead. [p.22] 
> 
>---- 
>Zubeunnisa's tear 
>Aurangzeb grew weary of her fame and renown through 
>the land and decided to 
>teach her a lesson. 
>He invited Nasser ALi, a handsome Persian noble to
his 
>court a contest with 
>his daughter. Ali was one of the most Arden suitors
of 
>Zebunnisa..and one of 
>the best poets in the land. but he decided to take
the 
>challenge.( he was 
>later brutally murdered at Auranngzeb’s behest due to

>his love for Zeb) 
>The challenge was that Ali would recite the first 
>misra/line of a sher.. and 
>Zeb would have to complete it within three days.. if 
>she failed she would 
>have to renounce her poetry forever. 
>Aurangzeb had instructed Ali to compose such a 
>difficult sher that no one in 
>the kingdom could complete it. Ali went ahead and 
>composed the follwing 
>sher: 
> 
>Durre ablaq kase kam deeda maujud 
>Rare it is to find a black and white pearl.. 
> 
>When Zeb heard this she was distressed.. no one
seemed 
>to able to help her 
>.. indeed ..where would one find a black and white 
>pearl, let alone compose 
>a sher on it.. 
>She felt humiliated and crushed.. a poet as 
>accomplished as her not being 
>able to complete one sher.. 
>At the end of three days.. and still no sher..She 
>preferred to die than give 
>up her poetry, so she prepared for her last moments
by 
>calling her best 
>friend. a beautiful kaneez girl (some sources say she

>a Hindu girl she was 
>in love with) to her quarters. 
>As Zeb prepared to eat her own diamond ring, her 
>beautiful friend clung to 
>her and wept profuse tears of distress.. 
>As she was wept, Zeb began to smile..and clasped to 
>her breast and said.. 
>Weep no more, dear one.. for I have found the second 
>misra of the sher. 
>She summoned Aurangzeb immediately to her palace.. he

>came rushing, 
>expecting to see a defeated and forlorn Zeb . 
>I have your sher Majesty, she said: and recited 
>recited 
>Durre ablaq kase kam deeda maujud 
>Rare it is to find a black and white pearl.. 
>and then.. 
>Bajus ashqe butane surma aabud 
>Except the surma mingled tear of a beauty 
> 
>Needless to say, she never gave up her poetry.. 
> 
>--- 
>Zeb's mirror 
> 
>Zebunnissa was the daughter of the Moghul Emperor 
>Aurangazeb. She was not 
>only beautiful and charming but a great scholar and a

>poetess. She was an 
>ardent lover of Indian Culture. 
> 
>Once, Aurangazeb gave her a beautiful mirror as a 
>birthday gift. Zebunnissa 
>loved the mirror very much. One day her maid was 
>holding the mirror to her 
>while Zebunnissa was combing her hair after her bath.

>The mirror just 
>slipped from the hand of the maid and broke into 
>pieces. The maid was 
>mortally afraid. She knew that the mirror was a 
>precious gift, given to the 
>princess and how much she loved the mirror. The maid 
>was prepared to accept 
>any punishment her princess may give her. She fell at

>her feet. But the 
>princess very calmly said with a smile. "Get up. I am

>glad the instrument of 
>flattery is broken. Why worry over the broken mirror?

>Even this body to 
>which all these articles cater is liable to damage
and 
>destruction". Is this 
>not a lesson in detachment? 
> 
>Source: Chinna Katha II, 208 
> 
>http://www.tl.infi.net/~ddisse/zebunn.html#anchor148244

> 
>Many of Zeb-un-Nissa's poems are clearly expressions 
>of her Sufi belief, 
>expressing personal praise of and devotion to Allah. 
>With others it is 
>difficult to tell whether the love described is human

>or divine or a mixture 
>of both. Only a fraction of her poetry has yet been 
>translated into English, 
>but what we have reveals her vision of love---of 
>whatever kind. 
> 
>d) "When from my cheek," adaptated Sarojini Naidu to 
>Zeb-un-nissa's lines 
>THE SONG OF PRINCESS ZEB-UN-NISSA IN PRAISE OF HER
OWN 
>BEAUTY 
>(From the Persian) 
> 
>WHEN from my cheek I lift my veil, 
>The roses turn with envy pale, 
>And from their pierced hearts, rich with pain, 
>Send forth their fragrance like a wail. 
> 
>http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=NaiGold.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=26&division=div2

> 
>---- 
>Today's Beautiful Gem: `Things of Love' by 
>Zeb-un-Nissa Makhfi (1638-1702), 
>translated by Willis Barnstone. 
> 
>"Though I am Laila of Persian romance, 
>my heart loves like ferocious Majnun. 
>I want to go to the desert 
>but modesty is chains on my feet. 
>A nightingale came to the flower garden 
>because she was my pupil. 
>I am an expert in things of love. 
>Even the moth is my disciple!" 
> 
> 
>NOte from transaltor: 
>one has two close relatives as poets in the immediate

>family, 
>one would consider himself very fortunate and even 
>blessed. But, 
>not so in the case of Emperor Aurangazeb! He branded 
>his brother 
>Dara Shikoh as a heretic and got him executed. He did

>not approve 
>of his daughter Zeb-un-Nissa's love towards a court 
>noble and got 
>him too executed. As for Zeb-un-Nissa, he didn't kill

>her, but he 
>imprisoned her. She was a talented poet among the 
>women of her 
>time and wrote lyrical songs and ghazals. 
> 
> 
>---- 
>She had a gargen at Lahore. She had great love for 
>Lahore. Addressing the 
>waterfall in the Shalimar Garden she sang: 
> 
>“O waterfall why are you lamenting, 
> 
> And what grief wrinkles your face? 
> 
> What was your pain, that all through the 
>night 
> 
> You were striking your head on the rocks 
>and crying?’ 
> 
> 
> 
>Some of her poems have been rendered into English and

>published in the 
>“Wisdom of the East” series. The editors also tell 
>that Zeb-un-Nissa died 
>in 1689 at Lahore and was buried at Nawankot, Lahore.

>Jadu Nath Sarkar has 
>shown that Zeb-un-Nissa died at Delhi on 26th May
1702 
>and was buried in the 
>garden of ‘Thirty Thousand Trees’ outside the Kabuli 
>gate. When the railway 
>line was laid out at Delhi her tomb was demolished, 
>and the cofflin and the 
>inscribed tombstone were shifted to Akbar’s mausoleum

>at Sikandara, Agra. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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