Rahman Baba

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Rahman Baba Mohmand (Pashto: رحمان بابا ) known as the Nightingale of Afghanistan and Pakhtoonkhwa, Rahman Baba is a legendary Pashto Sufi poet. His poetry places him alongside Khushal Khan Khattak for his contribution to Pashto poetry and literature.

1 Early life
2 Religious Background
3 Published work
4 Recommended reading
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Early life

(1653-1711 AD)

Qareeb ur Rahman claims was of the Sarban tribe, who are recognized as the ‘true Afghans’ because they can trace their ancestry back to the eldest son of the putative Pashtun ancestor Qais. The Sarban tribe migrated into the Peshawar valley in modern North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century.

Rahman was a Mohmand, of the Ghoriah Khel (tribe), who lived in a small pocket of Mohmand settlers on the outskirts of Peshawar. From 1550 A.D. the Yusufzai tribe had come to dominate the area, following the defeat of the Ghoriah Khel in the battle of Sheikh Tapur. Rahman apparently lived peacefully in the area, and never mentions his involvement in these inter-tribal conflicts.

Opinion is divided about Rahman’s family background. Several commentators are convinced that his family were village Maliks (chieftains). However Rahman Baba did not perceive himself to be of a powerful family.

( the above background information is courtesy of Robert Sampson and Momin Khan)

[edit] 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 order he was attached. Sabir suggests that Rahman had a Naqshbandi Sufi tariqa initiation in Kohat, as well as training from the sons of Pir Baba. Schimmel and Saad Ahmed Baghi casually assign Rahman to the Chishti order. Aqab, himself of the Qadiriyyah order, claims Rahman was a Qadiri.

[edit] Published work

Rahman Baba's only work is his famed Diwan. The Diwan of Rahman Baba is now considered one of the most defining bits of Pashtun literature ever published. Despite its fame amongst Pashtuns it has only recently been fully translated into the English language.

[edit] Recommended reading

Robert Sampson and Momin Khan, The Poetry of Rahman Baba
Jens Enevoldsen, The Nightingale of Peshawar: Selections from Rahman Baba
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