Contributed articles on the Urdu and Persian poet Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253-1325.

This anthology is a collective endeavor of scholars from India and Pakistan devoted to Sufi mystics, literature and shrines with a detailed introduction. The essays explore the methods adopted by the Punjab Sufis to popularize the mystic ideology and praxis in the medieval socio-cultural milieu. These writings also delve into the different genres of Sufi literature, both in the elite and vernacular languages, intending to appreciate the nuances of Punjab Sufism. Apart from the architectural features of the Sufi shrines, the anthology attempts to illumine the organic linkages between these institutions and the Punjabis and, thus, underscore the Sufi non-communitarian devotion as a primary ingredient of the Punjabi cultural fusion. This title is co-published with Aakar Books. Print editions not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)

India has always been a region of multiple cultures and ethnicities comprising a multifaceted, colorful and genuinely diverse civilization of innumerable peoples, beliefs and languages. The political domination of Muslim dynasties from Central Asia from the Ghaznavid conquests onwards led to "Persian" being grafted into the Indian subcontinent as the official language of governance and high culture. As classical Persian culture fell into abeyance during the Middle Ages and the Islamic West disintegrated into chaos, India fostered a Persian cultural renaissance of unparalleled literary achievement by émigrés to India as well as by Indians themselves. However, from the beginning of the seventeenth century. "Urdu" began to form around the lower echelons of society as a common tongue to enable communication between the myriad ethnicities of the Mughal Empire, ultimately restricting Persian to a refined language of culture and courtly life in the Mughal court and becoming a vibrant and dynamic language in its own right thus becoming the first literary language with a substantial original contribution from Indians since ancient Sanskrit. Presented in this book are proses, minstrelsy and parnassus straight from the kings emperors, saints, prisoners and outlaws of the Mughal court and jurisdiction, as well as the beau monde and aristocracy of the Mughal India.

Sufism is a religion which emphasizes direct knowledge of the divine within each person, and meditation, music, song, and dance are seen as crucial spiritual strides toward attaining unity with God. Sufi paths of mysticism and devotion, motivated by Islamic ideals, are still chosen by men and women in countries from Morocco to China, and there are nearly one hundred orders around the world, eighty of which are present and thriving in the United States. The Chishti Sufi order has been the most widespread and popular of all Sufi traditions since the twelfth-century. Sufi Martyrs of Love offers a critical perspective on Western attitudes towards Islam and Sufism, clarifying its contemporary importance, both in the West and in traditional Sufi homelands. Finally, it provides access to the voices of Sufi authorities, through the translation of texts being offered in English for the first time.

Amir Khusrau, one of the greatest poets of medieval India, helped forge a distinctive synthesis of Muslim and Hindu cultures. Written in Persian and Hindavi, his poems and ghazals were appreciated across a cosmopolitan Persianate world that stretched from Turkey to Bengal. Having thrived for centuries, Khusrau’s poetry continues to be read and recited to this day. In the Bazaar of Love is the first comprehensive selection of Khusrau’s work, offering new translations of mystical and romantic poems and fresh renditions of old favourites. Covering a wide range of genres and forms, it evokes the magic of one of the best-loved poets of the Indian subcontinent.