A Seent of Sandalwood Thispageintentionallyleftblank A Seent of Sandalwood Indo-Ismaili Religious Lyrics (Ginans) Volume 1 SELECTED AND TRANSLATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION, INTERPRETATIVE ESSAY AND NOTES Aziz Esmail I ~ ~~o~J~~n~~~up LONDONANDNEWYORK First Published 20112 byCurzon Press Richmond, Surrcy Publtshed 2013hyRoutlcdgc 2ParkSquare, Mi!tonPark,Abtngdon,OxcnOXI44RN 71l 1hirdAvcnuc,NewYork,NY 10017,USA ROlJtledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor& PrandsGroup,aniniormabusiness © 2002 Islamit Publications Ud. Allrightsrcscrvcd. No pari ofthisbook may bc rcprinred 01'rcprod uced 01'utilised in anyform 01'hyanyclecrronic,mechanical, 01'other means, now kno.....n or hercancr invented,induding photocopving and record ing,01'in any information storage or retrlcval system,...-ithout penutsston in .....riting from thc publishers. Typeset in New Baskerville byLaserScript LId, Mireharn.Surrey British l.iomryultalo(!;uingin Pubtimtionnosa Acatalogue rccord ofrhis book isavailable from the Bririsb Libraty Lilnary0/(,'ongrrss Cataloguingin PIlolim/imlDuta A catalogue rccc«! for thisbook has been requesred ISBS978.0.7(1).71768.2(pbk) The Institute ofIsmaili Studies The Institute of Ismaili Studies was established in 1977 with the object of promoting scholarship and learning on Islam, in the historical as weil as contemporary contexts, and a better under standing ofits relationship with other societies and faiths. The Institute's programmes encourage a perspective which is not confined to the theological and religious heritage of Islam, but seeks to explore the relationship of religious ideas to broader dimensions of society and culture. The programmes thus encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the materials of Islamic history and thought. Particular attention is also given to issues of modernity that arise as Muslims seek to relate their heritage to the contemporary situation. Within the Islamic tradition, the Institute's programmes seek to promote research on those areas which have, to date, received relatively little attention from scholars. These include the intellectual and literary expressions of Shi'ism in general, and Ismailism in particular. In the contextofIslamic societies, the Institute's programmes are informed bythefull range and diversityofculturesin which Islam is practised today, from the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Africa to the industrialised societies ofthe West, thus taking into consideration the variety ofcontexts which shape the ideals, beliefs and practices ofthe faith. These objectives are realised through concrete programmes and activities organised and implemented by various departments of the Institute. The Institute also collaborates periodically, on a programme-specific basis, with other institutions of learning in the United Kingdom and abroad. The Institute's academic publicationsfall into several distinctand interrelated categories: I Occasional papers or essays addressing broad themes of the relationship between religion and society in the historical as weIl as modern contexts,with special reference to Islam. 2 Monographs exploring specific aspects of Islamic faith and culture, or the contributions of individual Muslim figures or writers. 3 Editions or translations of significant primary or seeondary texts. 4 Translations ofpoetic or literary texts whieh illustrate the rich heritage of spiritual, devotional and symbolic expressions in Muslim history. 5 Works on Ismaili history and thought, and the relationship of the Ismailis to other traditions, communities and schools of thought in Islam. 6 Proceedings of conferenees and seminars sponsored by the Institute. 7 Bibliographical works and eatalogues which document manu scripts, printed texts and other source materials. This book falls into category four listed above. In facilitating these and other publications, the Institute's sole aim is to encourage original research and analysis of relevant issues. While every effort is made to ensure that the publications are ofa high aeademie standard, there isnaturally bound to be a diversityofviews,ideas and interpretations. Assuch, the opinions expressed in these publieations must be understood as belonging to their authors alone. Contents PrefaceandAcknowledgements ix Introduction 1 Interpretative Essay 53 Miscellaneous Ginans 77 From the SalokoNano (Pir Sadardin) 151 'A Plea' (Pir Hasan Kabirdin) 181 Notes on Ginans 186 Appendix 1: Note on Transliteration 218 Appendix 2: SourcesandIndex 0/First Lines 220 Appendix 3: SelectBibliography 224 VB Thispageintentionallyleftblank Preface and Acknowledgements AsI sayin the Introduction, these translations from the corpus of religious poetryknown as the Ginans have a twofold inspiration: a long familiarity dating back to childhood, which ensured their poetic, emotional and musical appeal; and an enduring interestin the English language and its literature. The genesis of these translations, however, was purely circumstantial. While at the Committee on Social Thought at the University ofChicago, I had occasion to observe and appreciate the work of the late A. K Ramanujan, distinguished by his equally perceptive feel for the pulse ofEnglish as weIlas South Indian poetry, and for the art of literature asweIlas the scientific discipline oflinguistics. Conversa tionswith hirn led to mytryingatranslationofafewverses from the Ginans. Ramanujan's pleasure at these was encouraging, as was also, similarly, the positive commentsofWendyDonigerO'Flaherty. And so the ambition to extend the attempt took root. Several years later, thanks to the interest of its then Director, ProfessorJohn Carman, the Centre for the Study of Religion at Harvard Universitysponsoredmystaythere to enable the projectto be completed. Professor Carman's enthusiasm for the translations was a great boost to the project. And although the work was later laid aside for various reasons, I was fortunate to find that the translations stayed in Professor Carman's memory. Whenever our paths crossed duringsucceedingyears, he never failed to press me, with hischaracteristicgentlenessandwarmth, to letthework see the light ofday.Itiswith great pleasure that this memory has returned to my mind as the work begun in his presence now approaches fruition, so that I can at last thank hirn, through this book, for the kindness and supportwhich provided the crucial, initial impetus to IX