Rahman Baba

Abdur Rahmān Mohmand (1632–1706)[1] (Pashto: ‫ﻋﺒﺪاﻟﺮﺣﻤﺎن‬

Abdul Rehman Mohmand
‫)ﺑﺎﺑﺎ‬, or Rahmān Bābā (Pashto: ‫)رﺣﻤﺎن ﺑﺎﺑﺎ‬, was a renowned
Pashtun Sufi Dervish and poet from Peshawar in the Mughal
Empire (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). He, along with his contemporary
Khushal Khan Khattak, is considered one of the most popular
poets among the Pashtuns..[2] His poetry expresses a peaceful
mystical side of local culture which is becoming increasingly
threatened by less tolerant interpretations of Islam.[3]

Contents
Portrait of Rahman Baba
Rahman's lineage
Native ‫ﻋﺒﺪاﻟﺮﺣﻤﺎن ﺑﺎﺑﺎ‬
Religious background name
Published work Born 1653CE (1042 AH)
Reputation Bahadur Kelay,
Hazarkhwani,
Selected verses from Rahman Baba's Diwan Peshawar, Mughal
translated into English rhyme Empire
Shrine Died 1711 CE (1118 AH)
Urs Mubarak (aged 74–75)
Peshawar
Recommended reading
Resting Peshawar
See also place
References Home Peshawar
town
External links
Genre Pashto poetry
Subject Sufism

Rahman's lineage Notable

works
Dīwān

Rahman Baba was a Mohmand sub-tribe of Ghoryakhel Pashtun, Relatives

Abdus Sattar
a group of people who migrated from the Hindu Kush mountains Ghoryakhel (father)
to the Peshawar valley, between 13th to tskirts of Peshawar. [4]

Rahman apparently lived peacefully in the area, and never mentions his involvement in the fierce
intertribal conflicts of his day.

Opinion is divided about Rahman's family background.[5] Several commentators are convinced that his
family was village Malik (chieftains).[5] However, Rahman Baba was more likely to have been a simple,
though learned man. As he himself claimed: "Though the wealthy drink water from a golden cup, I prefer
this clay bowl of mine."[6]
Abdur Rahman Baba died in 1715 CE, and his tomb is housed in a large domed shrine, or mazar, on the
southern outskirts of Peshawar (Ring Road Hazar Khwani). The site of his grave is a popular place for
poets and mystics to collect to recite his popular poetry. In April each year, there is a larger gathering to
celebrate his anniversary.

Religious background
Rahman Baba was an ascetic but various unfounded theories have been made about who Rahman's guide
may have been, and to which Sufi order he was attached. Sabir suggests that Rahman had a Naqshbandi
tariqa initiation in Kohat, as well as training from the sons of Pir Baba: while Schimmel and Saad Ahmed
Baksh assign Rahman to the Chishti order.[7] Aqab, himself of the Qadiriyyah order, claims Rahman was
a Qadiri. Some people claims that he (Rahman Baba) was a pure Hanafi

Published work
A collection of Rahman's poetry, called the Dīwān ("anthology") of Rahman Baba, contains 343 poems,
most of which are written in his native Pashto. The Dīwān of Rahman Baba was in wide circulation by
1728. There are over 25 original hand-written manuscripts of the Dīwān scattered in various libraries
worldwide, including ten in the Pashto Academy in Peshawar, four in the British Library, three in the
Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, as well as copies in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, the
Bodleian Library in Oxford and the University Library Aligath. The first printed version was collected by
the Anglican Missionary T.P. Hughes and printed in Lahore in 1877.[4] It is this version which remains
the most commonly used to this day.

Reputation
"Rahman Baba has received a large amount of praise. His work is regarded by many Pashtuns to be far
more than poetry and next only to the Quran."[8]

Selected verses from Rahman Baba's Diwan translated into

English rhyme
About 111 verses were translated into English Rhyme and published by Arbab Hidayatullah, himself a
Ghoryakhel Mohmand, in 2009. The original Pashto version has been transliterated into the Roman
alphabet in order to make it easier to read for those who can not read the Pashto alphabet. This
translation, with a tilt to the romantic side of Rahman Baba's poetry, has been very well received.

Shrine
After his demise, poets, musicians and singers flocked to his gravesite annually. This annual
congregation attained a festive status over the years which has carried on as part of Peshawar's rich
cultural tradition to this day. However, on 5 March 2009, "militants" bombed Rahman Baba's tomb in
Peshawar.[9] "The high intensity device almost destroyed the grave, gates of a mosque, canteen and
conference hall situated in the Rehman Baba Complex. Police said the bombers had tied explosives
around the pillars of the tombs, to pull down the mausoleum".[10] The shrine reopened in November 2012
after Rs. 39m reconstruction.[11]
Urs Mubarak
Every year on 4 April people from different part of Pakistan and
Afghanistan visit Shrine of Rehman Baba to celebrate Urs
Mubarak. During the Urs well-known poet remember Rehman
Baba with poetry, two times langar (lunch/dinner) for guest and
homeless as well as a session of Rabab and Sufi music.

Recommended reading
H. G. Raverty, The Gulistan-i-Roh: Afghan Poetry and
Prose
H. G. Raverty, Selections from the Poetry of the
Afghans, from the 16th to the 19th Century
Abdur Rahman Baba, Robert Sampson, and Momin
Khan. The Poetry of Rahman Baba: Poet of the Rehman Baba Tomb located in Hazar
Pukhtuns. Translated by Robert Sampson and Momin Khwani Peshawar
Khan. Peshawar: University Book Agency, 2005.
Robert Sampson. "The Poetry of Rahman Baba: The
Gentle Side of Pushtun Consciousness." Central Asia
52 (2003): 213–228.
Robert Sampson and Momin Khan. Sow Flowers:
Selections from Rahman Baba, the Poet of the
Afghans. Peshawar: Interlit Foundation, 2008.
Robert Sampson. "The War on Poetry: Snuffing out Folk
Tradition Along the Pakistan-Afghan Border." The
Frontier Post, 7 December 2008.
Abdur Raḥmān Baba, Jens Enevoldsen, "The
Nightingale of Peshawar: Selections from Rahman
Baba." Interlit Foundation, 1993.
Abdur Raḥmān Baba. "Rahman Baba: A Few Verses
from His Deewan." Translated into English Rhyme by
Hidayatullah Muhibkhel Arbab Mohmand.

A view of Lunger, free food for

See also homeless and guests.

Khushal Khan Khattak

Abdul Ghani Khan
Ameer Hamza Shinwari

References
1. "Journal of the University of Peshawar" (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=xBFwAAAAIAAJ&q=rahman+baba
+birth+death+date&dq=rahman+baba+birth+death+dat
Rahman Baba High School in Kabul,
e&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3w6eHsp7SAhWHA5o
Afghanistan
KHelsCFUQ6AEIJjAD). 3 (8). 1954: 92. Retrieved
20 February 2017. "The exact dates of his birth and
 death are not known, but it is conjectured that he was
born in 1042 H and died in 1118 H."
2. Sampson, Robert. "Abdu'l Rahmān Bābā: The Legacy
of His Poetry in Expressing Divergent Islamic Theology
in Pushtūn Society." M.A. Thesis, University of
Nottingham, 2003.
3. Sampson, Robert. "The Poetry of Rahman Baba: The
Gentle Side of Pushtun Consciousness." Central Asia
52 (2003): 213–228.
4. Rahman Baba, Abdu'l, Robert Sampson, and Momin
Khan. The Poetry of Rahman Baba: Poet of the
Pukhtuns. Translated by Robert Sampson and Momin
Khan. Peshawar: University Book Agency, 2005.
5. RB-P (http://rahmanbaba-poetry.com/rahmanbabas-life)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2009040307312
1/http://www.rahmanbaba-poetry.com/rahmanbabas-lif
e) 3 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
6. D 135/9.
7. Annemarie Schimmel, 'Der Sufische Pakistanie', 1974,
p 109 & etc
8. "Rahman Baba: Poet of the Pashtuns" (http://news.bbc.
co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4273915.stm). BBC News.
21 February 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
9. Imtiaz, Saba (26 June 2010). "Revisiting Rahman
Baba's shrine" (https://tribune.com.pk/story/23782/revisi
ting-rahman-babas-shrine/). Express Tribune. Retrieved
20 February 2017.
10. And now Sunni vs Sunni (http://www.viewpointonline.ne
t/Old/fullstory.php?t=And%20now%20Sunni%20vs%20
Sunni&f=full-2-july-16.php&y=2010&m=july) Riaz ul
Hassan| circa July 2010
11. Khan, Javed Aziz (21 November 2012). "Rahman Baba
shrine re-opens" (http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/ar
ticles/caii/features/pakistan/main/2012/11/21/feature-0
1). Central Asia Online. Retrieved 5 March 2013.

External links
Rehman Baba biography (https://web.archive.org/web/20121115021545/http://pashtoacade
my.edu.pk/poet/rehman-baba.html)
Rahman Baba's Kalaam Dase Makh de Manawwarr (translated) (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=sch1wM02hI0) on YouTube
The Life of Rahman Baba (https://web.archive.org/web/20070313141113/http://www.rahma
nbaba-poetry.com/rahmanbaba.htm)
Biography and Information (http://www.virtualafghans.com/culture/poetry/rahman_baba/)
Abdur Rahman Baba (http://www.afghanan.net/poets/abdurahman.htm/)
Mohammad Zarin Anzor about the life and works of Rahman Baba (http://en.qantara.de/we
bcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-632/i.html)
Interlit Foundation (http://www.interlitfoundation.org/)
Pashto Poets by Dr Tanvir Orakzai (https://web.archive.org/web/20091027112609/http://geo
cities.com/dastaaan/) at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 October 2009)
 [1] (https://web.archive.org/web/20080507064222/http://www.rahmanbabadiwan.com/index.
htm)
The Afghan Pashto Poet Rahman Baba: Philosopher and Poet of the Heart (http://en.qantar
a.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-632/i.html)

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