About the Book The present book revolves around the text and translation of select poems of the prominent Kashmiri Sufi poets of the 19th Century Shamas Faqir & Wahab Khar Situating these poets in the Sufi landscape of Kashmir, efforts have been put in to carve out a literary niche for both; Shamas Faqir & Wahab Khar by deliberating on the efficacy of the text of their Sufi verses. The English translation of the select master-pieces is sure to provide a much wider reading class to the otherwise vernacular literature and language, confined to a limited regional space. While translating the original pieces of poetry, the author has tried the level best not to lose sight of the distinctive literary and cultural pulse and metaphor.

About the Author Dr. Saltanat Farooq (born and brought up in Srinagar) after graduating in Science, did her M.Sc and M.Ed from University of Kashmir. After doing her Post-graduation in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University, She completed her Ph.D in English, titled "The Aesthetics of Mystical Poetry--A Comparative Study of Select English Mystic Poetry and Kashmiri Sufi Poetry of the 19th Century" through University of Kashmir in 2017.

The Author has a considerable number of Research papers to her credit published in various refereed Journals of National and International repute that cater to the interests of the Sufi literature especially Kashmiri Sufi poetry. She has presented a lot many papers in the National and the International Seminars as well. She has edited three consecutive editions of Alamdar--A Research Journal published by Markaz i Noor; Centre for Shaikh ul Aalam Studies, University of Kashmir. Apart from this, the Author is a Columnist with the Daily "Rising Kashmir," voicing her concerns about the women and women related issues in the Society.

Foreword It is my pleasure to write a few lines by way of a foreword to Saltanat's forthcoming book Shamar Fair and Wahab Kher: Text and Transla tion. While going through the unpublished excerpts of the anticipated book, my belief that the work in English on Kashmiri literature is more serious for its scope, profundity and range than it is in Kashmiri; Saltanat is one of such serious students of Kashmiri literature who aims at introducing the best in our language to the non-Kashmiri speaking readers. It is interesting to note that most of the enthusiastic translators are young women of remarkable talent.

Introduction Literature, whether written or oral, portrays diverse shades of life. Notwithstanding the post-modern approach to literary criticism which sees less linkages between the text and times and the author, lit erature from time immemorial as an autonomous aesthetic discipline has satisfied the intense urge of the creative human mind intending to explore the secrets of life within limits of a framework. The secret of self has been a major theme in the poetry of the world. Poets across the world have attempted to articulate the secrets of self against the back ground of mystic experiences. Mystic experiences articulated through the poetic medium acquire greater credibility and authenticity. As such Sufis too from the dawn of civilization have penned down their spiritual experiences in words. Bound to their own traditional religious dog ma, their works, however, do not present a biased literature but a free version of their pure experiences. Sufi writings have been encapsulated in various genres yet Sufi feelings have best been captured in poetry by Sufis writing on the sensitive issues of esoteric truths.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages