Hashimi Dihlavi

Hashimi Dihlawi, Mir Muhammad Hashim, well-known as Shah Jahangir, bearing the title Abu ‘Abd Allah, a Persian poet flourishing in India in the first half of the eighteenth century. Born in Delhi in 1662, his lineage traces back to Shah Ni’matallah Kirmani on one side and to Shah Qasim Anwar on the other. His ancestors had departed from Persia for India and had settled in Delhi and had been engaged in propagating the Islamic faith. He had mastery in composing ghazals and mathnawis and composed a mathnawi, entitled Muzhir al-Athar, on the model of Nizami’s Makhzan al-Asrar. The title of the mathnawi has been reported by the author of the biographical work Tadhkira-yi Atashkada as Muzhir al-Asrar. He died in 1737. His divan is extant and his name is reported as Hashimi in Kashf al-Zunun.

The following lines are by him:

The heart, in perplexity at seeing the beloved, is unaware of itself,

Seeing your beauty has rendered us distraught.

Who is he to hand me a wine cup,

Simply hand me the wine, unaware of its being dregs or dazzling.

It is the lot of me and Hashimi to imbibe the blood of our hearts,

Since the cupbearer gives to the lowly the wine of happiness.

Lines selected from the mathnawi of Muzhir al-Athar:

O you! Your generosity is the company of the lonely,

You are the only company to the lonely.

I am alone and you are my company,

To whom may I turn that you are my associate.

O you! You beauty has drowned the world with light,

The light of your inner covers have been the veil of appearance.

Lughatnama-yi Dihkhuda (15/ 23349).