Amir Khusrow Quotes

Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau , better known as Amīr Khusrau Dehlavī, was a Sufi musician, poet and scholar from India. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. He was a mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, India. He wrote poetry primarily in Persian, but also in Hindavi. A vocabulary in verse, the Ḳhāliq Bārī, containing Arabic, Persian, and Hindavi terms is often attributed to him. Khusrau is sometimes referred to as the "voice of India" or "Parrot of India" , and has been called the "father of Urdu literature."Khusrau is regarded as the "father of qawwali" , and introduced the ghazal style of song into India, both of which still exist widely in India and Pakistan.

Khusrau was an expert in many styles of Persian poetry which were developed in medieval Persia, from Khāqānī's qasidas to Nizami's khamsa. He used 11 metrical schemes with 35 distinct divisions. He wrote in many verse forms including ghazal, masnavi, qata, rubai, do-baiti and tarkib-band. His contribution to the development of the ghazal was significant. Wikipedia  

✵ 1253 – 9. September 1325
Amir Khusrow photo
Amir Khusrow: 23   quotes 0   likes

Famous Amir Khusrow Quotes

“The Hindu happens to be a (wretched) slave in all respects.”

quoted in Lal, K. S. (1999). Theory and practice of Muslim state in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 4
Nuh Siphir

““But see the mercy with which he regarded the brokenhearted, for, after seizing the rai, he set him free again. He destroyed the temples of the idolaters, and erected pulpits and arches for mosques.”67”

About Sultan Jalalu’d -Din Khalji (AD 1290-1296) in Devagiri (Maharashtra) Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own historians, Vol. III, p. 542.ff
Miftahu'l-Futuh

Amir Khusrow Quotes about God

“They have four books in that language (Sanskrit), which they are constantly in the habit of repeating. Their name is Bed (Vedas). They contain stories of their gods, but little advantage can be derived from their perusal.”

Extract trs. in Elliot and Dowson, III, p. 563. quoted from Lal, K. S. (1992). The legacy of Muslim rule in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 5
Nuh Siphir

Amir Khusrow Quotes

“Had not the law [of Imam Hanifa] granted exemption from death by the payment of poll-tax, the very name of hind, root and branch, would have been extinguished.”

Ashiqa of Amir Khusru, translated in Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, Volume III, pp. 545-46.
Context: “Happy Hindustan, the splendour of Religion. where the Law finds perfect honour and security. In learning Dehli can now compete with Bokhara, for IslAm has been made manifest by its kings. The whole country, by means of the sword of our holy warriors, has become like a forest denuded of its thorns by fire. The land has been saturated with the water of the sword, and the vapours of infidelity have been dispersed. The strong men of Hind have been trodden under foot, and all are ready to pay tribute. Islam is triumphant, idolatry is subdued. Had not the law [of Imam Hanifa] granted exemption from death by the payment of poll-tax, the very name of hind, root and branch, would have been extinguished. From Ghazni to the shore of the ocean you see all under the domination of Islam. Cawing crows see no arrows pointed at them; nor is the TarsA (Christian) there, who does not fear (taras) to render the servant equal with Allah; nor the Jew who dares to exalt the Pentateuch to a level with the Kuran; nor the Magh who is delighted with the worship of fire, but of whom the fire complains with its hundred tongues. The four sects of Musulmans are at amity and the very fish are Sunnis.”

“The Turks, whenever they please, can seize, buy or sell any Hindu.”

Trs, in Elliot and Dowson, III. quoted from Lal, K. S. (1994). Muslim slave system in medieval India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 5
Nuh Siphir

“Amir Khusrau writes that under Jalauddin Khalji (1290-96), after a battle, “whatever live Hindu fell into the hands of the victorious king was pounded to bits under the feet of the elephants. The Musalman captives had their lives spared.””

Miftah-ul-Futuh (Aligarh text, 1954), p. 22. quoted from Lal, K. S. (1992). The legacy of Muslim rule in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 4
Miftahu'l-Futuh

“They pursued die enemy to the gates and set everything on fire. They burnt down all those gardens and groves. That paradise of idol-worshippers became like hell. The fire-worshippers of Bud were in alarm and flocked round their idols…”

About Sultan Mubarak Shah Khalji (AD 1316-1320) in Warrangal (Andhra Pradesh) Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians,Vol. III, p. 559
Nuh Siphir

“Amir Khusrau mentions some of the powers “of sorcery and enchantment possessed by the inhabitants of India. First of all they can bring a dead man to life. If a man has been bitten by a snake and is rendered speechless, they can resuscitate him even after six months.””

Amir Khusrau, Nuh Sipehr, Elliot and Dowson, III, p.563. quoted from Lal, K. S. (1992). The legacy of Muslim rule in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 1
Nuh Siphir

“Everyone threw himself, with his wife and children, upon the flames and departed to hell.”

Khazainu’l-Futuh
Source: quoted in (Oxford in India readings, Themes in Indian history.) Richard Maxwell Eaton - India's Islamic traditions, 711-1750-Oxford University Press (2003) 38.

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