THE SPIRITUAL GODDESS OF MUGHAL KINGDOM JAHAN ARA
DAUGHTER OF AN EMPEROR LIFE DEDICATED TO COMMONERS
MOTHER BURIED IN TAJ MAHAL, SHE BURIED IN SINGLE GRAVE

Books can be written on Jahan Ara and books have been written, but she herself wrote books and also wrote verses. No Diwan has come out so far, but her takhallus was BEGUM SAHIBA and verses have been recovered from various sources. Some of her books are found here and there, mostly on Muslim Saints of our region. Chughtai Museum is proud to possess one of her books, written probably by Dara Shikoh himself and the final copy, her presentation to her father Emperor Shah Jahan in Jamia Masjid, Delhi. All this is recorded on the manuscript itself.

The calligrapher is AINEE. No Ainee is known, but we do know that due to her love for brother Dara Shikoh, she used to call him Ain, or in more personal terms as Ainee. The reference to Dara Shikoh in the book is written simply and she in her own hands has corrected the attributes, which shows that Dara did not regard his name in a royal way and she corrected it.

The Manuscript of Munis Arwah is only one of three 17th century manuscripts known to exist. As the book was written in 1049 AH 1640 AD, the two others found are different. An Autograph copy is known to exist in Lucknow but of a later date. There is a beautiful Ms in Azamgarh dated 1068 AH. But ours is the earliest Manuscript known and is dated 1051 AH, although the presentation part to Emperor Shah Jahan is later, both in Ajmer as well as in Jamia Masjid Delhi. Ours stands as the rarest and very very beautiful and elegantly written.

A lot is said about Jahan Ara and we will write more but where we introduce a rare manuscript of hers, we also reproduce the verses she wrote on the death of her father:

“Oh thou Sun of mine that hast hidden thyself from my eyes,
Will there ever be a morning to this night of separation.
Thou monarch of the world and qibla of existence,
Open thine eye of mercy and behold our condition.
I cry in sorrow and it availeth me nothing,
I burn like the candle in anguish and there is smoke in my head.”

Jahan Ara is the epitome of our women hood and to this days fathers love to name their daughters after the spiritual goddess of Mughal kingdom.

THE 167TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF SALAH MIMAR CHAUGHATA – 
THE CREATIVE LEGACY IN LAHORE OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI

The ancestral background is amazing in its perspective. Two architects of Herat, namely Yusuf Mimar and Isa Mimar, sought guidance under Mimar Sinan of Turkey. Historians speak of their journey to Hindustan with Emperor Zaheer ud din Baber. Infatuated with Lahore, they sought their residence here and moved to other areas of the region. However Ahmad was born in Lahore and the affix Lahori was attached to his name forever. Our archives are full of facts about this creative family. A whole almarih of manuscripts and documents on them.

This is pay homage on the 167th death anniversary of Mian Salah Mimar Chaughata, who was born in Lahore and died here on 11th May, 1858. He was reputed to have attained the age of 120 years plus. Many Sikh buildings as well as of later Mughal period are attributed to him. References are there. Khalsa Darbar Records also tells us the obvious. But his two sons Mian Raheem Baksh and Natha (Mian Elahi Baksh) were also amazing in their own rights. Mian Raheem Baksh also an able architect, carries as a record certificates of many English administrators and engineers. Mian Raheem Baksh was father of Mian Kareem Baksh, again a hardworking Mimar, as also the father of Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mussawar e Mashriq, National artist of Pakistan, and Modern Master of Twentieh century Islamic Civilization.

Fathers and sons leaving a legacy of creativity. A house in Chabuk Sawaran where only one portion is left, and the land still there, with a blue plaque on it, courtesy of a Lahori organization, and sensitive architect, Ms Fauzia Quraishi. Where we find so many unconcerned persons, there is pride in the fact that sensitive people still exist and surely keep the flag flying of creative endeavours anywhere. Lahore may not remember in its official organizations, but  certainly people keep things alive. 

Ever since the day I got my hands on the miniature of my great great grandfather, I fell in love with him. Imagine in those difficult days, could he imagine a great great grandson, loving him, with the image in front of him. BABA SALAH I LOVE YOU! And as long as I live your memory will remain fresh in my heart.  

We write about the family all the time. This is a day to remember their contributions to culture of Lahore.

FASCINATION OF THE WEST WITH ALIENS;
YET NO ACCOUNT OF ISLAMIC CONCEPTION.
PAKISTAN FOREVER ENDORSED BY ALIENS.

“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” – 21:107

At times dates are important. This date is important for both the world as well as Pakistan. On 8th July, 1947, is the day that Sir Cyril Radcliffe arrived in India to draw the boundary lines for the Partition of India and Pakistan. And on that same day two alien crafts crashed in the world famous Roswell incident, although one craft was recovered much later. It was surmised that both crashed together. The craft was recovered along with bodies of the aliens. Some say that some of the aliens were alive and died later.It came in the newspaper and then the news was suppressed for reasons unknown. Then bogus stories were made of that incident, although to this day people believe otherwise. Funny that the hoax itself was named Mughal. Roswell incident does not go away.

In the Quran it is clearly written that Allah has placed life on various parts of the cosmos. Allah says that Allah has created humankind as a most superior being, for Allah has given humans the capacity to choose between right and wrong. This favour was not given to others.  

For us Quran is the beacon light. As you know a group of “jinn” declared their eiman after listening to a recital of the Quran from the Rasool, and it is recorded in the pages of the Quran itself. The whole story appears in 72:1-15. Replace jinn with alien and it actually implies that aliens live among humans, and are unable to return to their home world because space is too dangerous for interstellar travel (so this might mean they crash landed on earth with no way back). These jinn say that they have believers and disbelievers in their community, just like humans. They even mention a “foolish one” who misled their people about God, while the Quran makes perfect sense to them. So their “foolish one” must have been a false prophet or equivalent.

The jinn/alien account might not imply an alien crash. It might be a long-distance communication. The surah opens with an instruction to the Rasool to announce to human beings the news that the jinn have “heard” the Quran. It is not implying that they met the Prophet, but rather that Allah has revealed this information to him, and he has been asked to pass on the message. 

This makes more sense when taken into account another section of the Quran that mentions, quite clearly, that humans will only ever have a limited capacity for interstellar travel. The jinn/aliens too say, in this Quranic account, that they tried to go into “the heaven” (singular) but were stopped. A thought this meant they were prevented from leaving earth, but it more likely means they were prevented from travelling too far beyond their home planet.

More than seventy years, and the West is not ready to offer the secrets. President Donald Trump promised revelation but could not do so at all. Fear of repercussions. Jacques Vallee in a speech as well as in his books clearly say that the lack of revelation is not only due to security reasons but the religious complexities that the revelation will create in our minds. That these beings come from other dimensions or FROM THE FUTURE. Or is it as simple as that, the aliens clear the Islamic conception, and the West could not commit suicide by talking and endorsing Islam in any way. And the whistleblowers are there more to confuse the issue with use of AI, and intent of most losing direction.

It is disclosed that even the Vatican has documents about UFOs, hidden ones, but the surprising thing is that they are in Arabic and have Seal of Muslim rulers on them. Check yourself! Not being revealed because of danger to religion. We can guess dangerous to other religions, not Islamic conception of DEEN, which recognizes Alien life, as ascertained by the Quran itself.

And among His signs is the creative design of the heavens and the earth, and the

living creatures which He has dispersed throughout them. And He is Able to

gather them together when He wills. [Here is an allusion to the existence of

life in other celestial bodies, and to man meeting with the ‘aliens’ someday. 42:29

Indeed, before God, bows in submission all that is in the heavens and all that is on

earth, from all moving creatures to the angels, for none are arrogant. 16:49