ĀFARĪN LĀHŪRĪ

 

ĀFARĪN LĀHŪRĪ, SHAH FAQĪRALLĀH, Panjabi Persian poet (b. ca. 1070/1660, d. 1154/1741). Born in Lahore where he passed his whole life, he is said to have belonged to the Jūya, a Shiʿite tribe of the Guǰar community (Āzād Belgrāmī, Ḵezāna-ye ʿamera, Cawnpore, 1287/1871, p. 28). He was given a standard education, committing much Persian verse to memory and mastering the Maṯnawī of Rūmī, which he later taught. He had friendly relations with local scholars and Mughal officials, but eventually chose a life of seclusion. His work was respected by contemporary and later taḏkera writers and poets. Volume I of his voluminous Kollīyāt (Lahore, 1967) comprises his lyrical poetry and part of his panegyric verse. Volume II (forthcoming) contains thirty-eight more panegyrics as well as his three maṯnawīs, which have attained a certain fame: Nāz o nīāz, also known as Hīr o Ranǰhā, composed in 1118/1707 during the lifetime of Awrangzēb; and Anbān-e maʿrefat (1143/1730) and Abīad-e fekr (1147/1734), both written during the reign of Moḥammad Shah.

Though a Sufi by temperament, Āfarīn was not attached to any of the major selselas; his verse is charged with Sufi imagery, but reflects his special veneration for the family of the Prophet, the Shiʿite Imams, and the martyrs of Karbalā. According to Wāleh Dāḡestānī (Rīāż al-šoʿarāʾ, Panjab University Library, ms. 1683, fol. 52a), Āfarīn was full of the pain of separation from the Beloved. He cared little for idle pastimes or those who pursued them. Assertive rather than submissive in his love poetry, he rarely seems overcome by the physical charms of the Beloved. His verse is marked by originality and fresh imagery; even common platitudes become suffused with a new warmth and color. He followed the style of Ṣāʾeb Tabrīzī in resorting to comparisons (tamṯīl). Ḵᵛošgū has pointed out some defects in his metrical compositions, while asserting that Āfarīn was both knowledgeable and masterful in the art of versification (Bandrāban Dās Ḵᵛošgū, Safīna-ye Ḵᵛošgū, ed. Š. ʿAṭāʾ-al-Raḥmān, Patna, 1969, p. 238). 

Bibliography:

See also Serāǰ-al-dīn ʿAlī Khan Ārezū, Maǰmaʿ al-nafāʾes, Panjab University Library, ms. 1489, fol. 36.

Āzād Belgrāmī, Sarv-e āzād, Lahore, 1331/1913, pp. 205-07.

Ḥakīm Beg Ḥākem, Taḏkera ye mardom-e dīda, Lahore, 1381/1961, pp. 18-23.

Ṣeddīq Ḥasan, Šamʿ-e anǰoman, Bhopal, 1293/1876, p. 214.

ʿAlī Ḥasan Khan, Ṣobḥ-e golšan, Bhopal, 1295/1878, p. 412.

(Z. Ahmad and W. Kirmani)

Originally Published: December 15, 1983

Last Updated: July 22, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 5, p. 480

Cite this entry:

Z. Ahmad and W. Kirmani, “ĀFARĪN LĀHŪRĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/5, p. 480; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afarin-lahuri-shah-faqirallah-panjabi-persian-poet-b (accessed on 7 March 2014).