Data Darbar – the Urs begins

Originally uploaded by Jahane Rumi “The heart is the seat of knowledge and is more venerable than the Kaaba. Men are forever looking at the Kaaba but God…

Images from Data Saheb’s Shrine

Saw this news item today – “Data Sahib’s 963rd urs concludes: Around 500,000 attend final prayers”.The news item reported that around 0.9 million visited the shrine on Saturday.…

Shaikh Ali Hujwiri – Data Saheb of Lahore

Originally uploaded by Jahane Rumi The shrine of Shaikh Ali Hajweri, Data Ganj Bakhsh, or Data Sahib is a landmark of sorts in the subcontinent. It has been a…

Shanul Haq Haqqee: The Forgotten Literary Giant

“Don’t know whose idea it is and what the target is. My personal goals have been very limited. Nor have I ever made literature my career or adopted…

The sufi solution

“…The Chishti school of Sufism did not exclude any religion and gave way to a plural Indian identity. This is why the extremists in Pakistan, especially the Taliban,…

Living Lohawarana – a Lahori rambling

My piece for Himal Magazine’s October issue There was a Lahore that I grew up in, and then there is the Lahore that I live in now. Recovering…

Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi (1916-2006)

“Ab aik baar to qudrat javaabdeh thehre hazaar baar ham insaan aazmaaye gaye” Now Nature must be held accountable at least once We humans have been held answerable…