Samad Mir ( 1893 – 9 January 1959) was an Indian

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

poet from

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. His works reflected Sufi traditions and explored themes of divine beauty, truth, and spiritual guidance.

Early life

Mir was born in Alam Sahib Narwara,

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

. His parents, Khaliq Mir and Noor Khaliq Mir, were

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

followers originally from Nambalhar, a small village in

Budgam Budgam (), known as Badgom (; ) in Kashmiri, is a town in Budgam district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. In the 2001 census, it was recorded as having a notified area committee,This gives the population of Budgam adga ...

, Jammu and Kashmir, a northwestern Himalayan state. They moved to

in search of a livelihood. His father, Khaliq Mir, who was also a Sufi poet, died between 1893 and 1894. Mir had two brothers, Rahim and Mohammad. Rahim remained in Narwara, while Mohammad died in his twenties. Mir was the only one who returned to his native village, Gwalior. Mir worked as a laborer at the

Hari Niwas Palace The Hari Niwas Palace is a palace in Jammu, India. It overlooks the Tawi river on one side and on the other side the Trikuta hills. History The palace was built for Sir Hari Singh, the last reigning Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir (1895 - ...

(commonly known as The Grand Palace) in Srinagar. He had three sons and one daughter.

Poetry and Sufism

Mir was illiterate, having had no formal education. His poetry was transcribed by Ali Shah of Wagar,

. Mir's poetry was compiled in a collection titled ''Kulyaat-e-Samad Mir'' by Moti Lal Saqi. The

Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary source ...

has published and revised the collection four times. Mir is noted for incorporating Sanskrit and Hindi words in his poetry, distinct from other Kashmiri Sufi poets. A monograph on Mir has been published by the

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

, Government of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, in both

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, the language of the Kashmiris ethnic group People with the nam ...

. Mir is credited with writing more than 200 poems. In line with

tradition, Mir's poetry often addresses concepts such as beauty and truth. A common theme is the praise of

Prophets In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

Wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

s, and the

Sufi saints Sufi saints or wali (, plural ʾawliyāʾ أولياء) played an instrumental and foregrounding role in spreading Islam throughout the world. In the traditional Islamic view, a saint is portrayed as someone "marked by pecialdivine favor ... ...

of Islam.

Death

Mir died on January 9, 1959, at his residence in Nambalhar (also known as Nambalhard). He was buried at Agar, Nambalhar (

Budgam district Budgam district is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kash ...

), where a shrine has since been erected in his honor.

Works

* ''Aknandun'' (''"The Only Son")'' * Praran Praran Tarawatiyay * Islamic Poetry ( Na'ats)

References

External links

Kuliyat-e-Samad Mir
on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Kalam-e-Samad Mir
sung by Abdul Rashid Hafiz on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mir, Samad Year of birth uncertain 1890s births 1959 deaths 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian poets Kashmiri poets Sufi poets Writers from Srinagar