Abdur Rahman Baba was a Pashtun poet from Peshawar in the Mughal Empire (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). He, along with his contemporary Khushal Khan Khattak, is considered one of the most popular poets among the Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.[1]
His poetry expresses a peaceful mystical side of local culture which is
becoming increasingly threatened by less tolerant interpretations of
Islam.
Rahman's lineage
Rahman was a member of the Ghoryakhel Mohmand sub-tribe of the Pashtuns, a group which migrated from the Hindu Kush
mountains to the Peshawar valley, from the 13th to the 16th century. He
grew up in a small pocket of Mohmand settlers on the outskirts of Peshawar.[3]
Rahman apparently lived peacefully in the area, and never mentions his
involvement in the fierce inter-tribal conflicts of his day.
Opinion is divided about Rahman's family background.[4] Several commentators are convinced that his family were village Maliks (chieftains).[4]
However, Rahman Baba was more likely to have been a simple, though
learned man. As he himself claimed: "Though the wealthy drink water from
a golden cup, I prefer this clay bowl of mine."[5]
Abdur Rahman Baba died in 1715 CE, and his tomb is housed in a large domed shrine, or mazar,
on the southern outskirts of Peshawar (Ring Road Hazar Khwani). The
site of his grave is a popular place for poets and mystics to collect to
recite his popular poetry. In April each year, there is a larger
gathering to celebrate his anniversary.
Religious background
Rahman Baba was an ascetic but various unfounded theories have been
made about who Rahman's guide may have been, and to which order he was
attached. Sabir suggests that Rahman had a Naqshbandi Sufi tariqa initiation in Kohat, as well as training from the sons of Pir Baba. Schimmel and Saad Ahmed Baksh casually assign Rahman to the Chishti order. Aqab, himself of the Qadiriyyah order, claims Rahman was a Qadiri.
Published work
A collection of Rahman's poetry, called the Dīwān ("anthology") of Rahman Baba, contains 343 poems, most of which are written in his native Pashto.
The Dīwān of Rahman Baba was in wide circulation by 1728. There are
over 25 original hand-written manuscripts of the Dīwān scattered in
various libraries worldwide, including ten in the Pashto Academy in
Peshawar, four in the British Library, three in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, as well as copies in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, the Bodleian Library
in Oxford and the University Library Aligath. The first printed version
was collected by the Anglican Missionary T.P. Hughes and printed in
Lahore in 1877.[3] It is this version which remains the most commonly used to this day.
Reputation
Rahman Baba has received a large amount of praise. His work is
regarded by many Pashtuns to be far more than poetry and next only to
the Quran. The Pashtun Sufi master Saidu Baba
said "if the Pashtuns were ever asked to pray on a book other than the
Quran, they would undoubtedly go for Rahman Baba's work."[6]
Selected verses from Rahman Baba's Diwan translated into English rhyme
About 111 verses were translated into English Rhyme and published by
Arbab Hidayatullah, himself a Ghoryakhel Mohmand, in 2009. The original
Pashto version has been transliterated into the Roman alphabet in order
to make it easier to read for those who can not read the Pashto
alphabet. This translation, with a tilt to the romantic side of Rahman
Baba's poetry, has been very well received.[citation needed]
Shrine
On 8 March 2009, "militants" bombed Rahman Baba's tomb in Peshawar.
"The high intensity device almost destroyed the grave ... and the gates
of a mosque, canteen and conference hall situated in the ... Rehman Baba
Complex. Police said the bombers had tied explosives around the pillars
of the tombs, to pull down the mausoleum".[7] The shrine reopened in November 2012 after Rs. 39m reconstruction.[8]
Recommended reading
- H. G. Raverty, The Gulistan-i-Roh: Afghan Poetry and Prose
- H. G. Raverty, Selections from the Poetry of the Afghans, from the 16th to the 19th Century
- Rahman Baba, Abdu'l, Robert Sampson, and Momin Khan. The Poetry of Rahman Baba: Poet of the Pukhtuns. Translated by Robert Sampson and Momin Khan. Peshawar: University Book Agency, 2005.
- Robert Sampson. "The Poetry of Rahman Baba: The Gentle Side of Pushtun Consciousness." Central Asia 52 (2003): 213–228.
- Robert Sampson and Momin Khan. Sow Flowers: Selections from Rahman Baba, the Poet of the Afghans. Peshawar: Interlit Foundation, 2008.
- Robert Sampson. "The War on Poetry: Snuffing out Folk Tradition Along the Pakistan-Afghan Border." The Frontier Post, 7 December 2008.
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