The glossary at the end gives two meanings for “Alam” – the world, and the battle standard used in Muharram by Shi’as. In fact, these are two different words: ‘aalam عالم = world ‘alam علم = standard BTW, ‘alam refers to battle standards in general.
Also in the glossary, “firangi” is translated as “foreigner”. In fact, the term refers only to Europeans, and is derived from “Frank”. Non-European, non-white foreigners would never be called “firangi”..
A truly startling error in the translation of the term “Id” عید in the glossary, which says that “Id-ul-Zuha” (actually “Id-al-Azha”) “commemorates the delivery of Isaac”. Muslims celebrate the deliverance of Isma’il (Ishmael), NOT Isaac…..
Again in the glossary, “Masnavi” is defined as “Persian or Urdu love lyric”, which is incorrect. “Masnavi” refers purely to the form of a poem, where both lines of each couplet rhyme with each other but each couplet has its own rhyme…..
The term comes from “ithnan”, the Arabic word for “two”, indicating the dual rhyme pattern. The most famous Masnavi in the world – by Rumi – is emphatically NOT a “love lyric”. The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi is also a masnavi, but not a love lyric…..
There are fanous masnavis in Persian by Nizami, Khusraw, Jami and many others. In Urdu by Mir Hasan, Daya Shankar Naseem and Nawab Mirza Shaoq. All these great masnavis are book length poems, which is the typical use of this genre …..
“Muharram” is not a “great Shi’a festival”; it is the first month of the Islamic calendar. Shi’as (and many Sunnis) mourn the martyrdom of Inam Hussain in this month, but not as a “celebration” and certainly not with “gusto”! It is a solemn – if often passionate – occasion…..
There are many short masnavis in Urdu, notably Iqbal’s “Saqi Nama”. Ghalib wrote a whimsical masnavi on mangoes, and another one complaining about his financial problems. Offhand, I can’t think of any masnavis that can be considered love lyrics, though there must be some….
