Posted by Ginans are a vast collection comprising several hundred poetic compositions which have been a central part of the religious life of the Nizari Ismaili community of the Indian subcontinent that today resides in many countries around the world. Derived from the Sanskrit gyan, meaning contemplative knowledge, ginans refer to the poetic compositions authored by Ismaili da’is, known as pirs, who were sent to the Indian subcontinent by Imams residing in Persia, beginning in the late eleventh or early twelfth century, to teach the Ismaili interpretation of Islam. These da’is composed ginans in local languages to explain the message of Revelation to non-Arabic speaking people. The literature is also shared by the Imamshahi community in Gujarat, who are believed to have split off from the Nizari Ismailis in the sixteenth century.
At the time that pirs went to the Indian subcontinent, the field of devotional poetry was flourishing, with figures such as Narasimha Maeta (15th century), Mirabai (1498-1557), and Narhari (17th century), Kabir (1440-1518), and Guru Nanak (1469-1539). Additionally, a tradition of mystical poetry was developing among the Sufis in the subcontinent. Vaishnavism (devotion to Vishnu and his many incarnations, avatars) was one of the dominant Indic streams of religious life in northern India. Pirs introduced their teaching “without totally rejecting the conceptual and even social framework of the society” (Nanji, The Nizari Isam’ili Tradition p 102). Many traditions incorporated indigenous framework into their teachings; for example, “among Sunnis in Bengal, Prophet Muhammad was regarded as the ‘incarnation of God himself.’ He was seen as the last, tenth incarnation of Vishnu, the avatara of Kali-yuga,’ superseding the nine previous incarnations. (Esmail, A Scent of Sandalwood p 29). Pirs integrated Ismaili teachings within the Vaishnava framework.
Through the poetic medium of ginans, Pirs provided guidance on a variety of doctrinal, ethical, and mystical themes for the community while also serving to explain the inner (batin) meaning of the Qur’an to the external (zahir) aspects. In his pronouncement, Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah explained: ‘In the ginans which Pir Sadardin has composed for you, he has explained the gist of the Qur’an in the language of Hindustan’ (Asani, Ecstasy and Enlightenment p 30).
More on Ginans
Whatever of good befalleth thee (O man) it is from Allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself…. (Qur’an 4:79)
Whatever of misfortune striketh you, it is what your right hands have earned. And He forgiveth much (Qur’an 42:30)
These ayats are explained in Pir Hasan Kabirdin’s composition Aash tamari shri ho:
Aash tamari shri ho kaaem saami,
Saaheb chinta kijiye ya Shah
Sab gatie Shah ke khadere umaayo
Shah raaj rikhisar ghar dejo ………1
O Qaim Lord! In you alone we have hopes.
O Lord! Think of us.
All the jamat stood in the presence of the Lord and entreated:
O Lord! Grant kingdom to the houses of believers.
Eji karun sreva tamari shri ho kaaem saami
To mune sarve budh aave ya Shah
Sohi vachan maaraa mukhmaahe thi kaadho Shah
Jo Saheb tuj bhaave …….4
O Qaim Lord! I serve you
Whereby I obtain all understanding. O Lord!
Make me utter from my mouth
Only those words which please you.
(Tr. M & Z Kamaluddin)
Bhali bataavo ya Shah, buri tajaavo,
Hardoi haath tamare ya Shah,
Tere tarfko karam hamesha
Paap dosh hamera …….. 5
Show me the Good, my Lord,
And make me quit the Bad
For both are in your hands.
From you there’s always Grace,
Mine are sin and error.
(Tr. Aziz Esmail, A Scent of Sandalwood p74).
“There is absoluteness about this utterance: absolute simplicity, absolute concentration, absolute sincerity. The words are straight from the spiritual core of life. They must surely count among that class of religious lyrics, in the collective heritage of mankind, which moves us because they speak from and to the soul, bypassing all psychological and intellectual digressions.
‘Show me Good! Make me quit the Bad!’ This is not ‘ethics,’ nor ‘morality.’ It is the core from which all ethics and morality flow. In comparison to this cry for knowledge of good and evil, all ethical discourse seems feeble and derivative. Only a mind in tune with the essentials, one which is ‘naïve’ in the best sense of the word, unencumbered by emotional or intellectual ‘sophistication,’ can find its way so quickly and so directly to the core of humanity’s spiritual neediness.
There is no perceived need here to define the ‘Good’ and the ‘Bad,’ no need to interpret; no need to qualify, explain, elucidate. There is merely the cry, the call, the prayer, to show, to reveal…. This cry, this form of speech, rests on the gift of a relationship, a bond between man and his God. If these words speak of a need, the need for the ‘Good’ and the ‘Bad’ to be shown, they are not the words of a soul enclosed on solitude, but a soul confidently linked in a relationship with the soul of the universe. ‘Show me’ implies something which is wanting. But the ability to say ‘show me’ implies the prior presence of a secure relationship. It is the ‘givenness’ of this bond between the soul and its Maker, which enables a plea for knowledge of good and evil, a knowledge which gives to human life its final meaning, to be uttered in such minimal terms, and in such a direct voice.
And this voice is a collective one, where the burden of individuality is, however momentarily, put aside. The entire congregation becomes a single subject, giving voice, in the moment of collective utterance, to the soul’s cry for knowledge and deliverance. ..It is a voice which in its time came from the inner depths of a people who were inspired by men with the gift of the spirit.”
Excerpts from A Scent of Sandalwood by Aziz Esmail, Curzon Press, Surrey, UK, 2002 p 74-76
Further reading:
Pirs composed Ginans to teach the Ismaili interpretation of Islam
Satpanthi Ismaili tradition interacted with local cultures and folk traditions
Ginan composers were acquainted with an already well-developed set of Ismaili beliefs
Pir Shams composed the largest number of the garbi form of ginans
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