Begmaat ke Ansoo is a literary work written and published during the early 1940s by the Sufi scholar and sage, Khwaja Hassan Nizami sb of Delhi .
I originally read this book many decades ago and it is good to re-read it again now , I found it to be still deeply moving and inspirational at the same time .
In this classic work of Urdu literature, Hassan Nizami sb shares some of the true stories that he had heard and collected about the tragedies and difficulties confronting the royal Mughal princesses and some of prominent noble ladies of Delhi , after the end of the Mughal empire in 1857-1858 and the start of full-fledged British colonial rule . The last king Bahadur Shah Zafar and his queen Zeenat Mahal and a couple of sons were exiled to Burma (now Myanmar) while their other relatives and close followers were deposed and dispossessed of their properties, homes and other assets and faced very harsh terms under the new British rulers . The position of the princesses/ladies was the worst , as they had never ever faced any difficulty in all their lives previously but now they turned into paupers and had to fend for themselves in poverty and hardship . This makes very sad reading . We can understand the reality of foreign occupation and rule . We can also draw comparisons today where Muslim women in Palestine , Lebanon , Kashmir and other places around the world, are facing similar dilemmas .
At the same time, there is an inspiring undercurrent in the book. While depicting /recording the plight of the ladies of Delhi, Khwaja Hassan Nizami sb, as a Sufi mystic, is also suggesting that all human wealth , status, dynasties and power etc are finite, sooner or later these will end , as they did for the Mughal dynasty in India . Only Allah is Eternal and forever the One Ruler of all creations . As humans and Muslims , we are shown that the Mughal ladies showed a strong moral character , they showed patience /Sabr and they continued to offer gratitude and thanks /Shukr to Allah taala for whatever little Halal sustenance they received at that time . We can learn lessons from them . Today , people are mostly weak and for the sake of wealth and status they carry out negative deeds and compromises, they forget the Halal principles of our faith , Islam. But these ladies struggled to preserve these principles with quiet dignity .
It's a highly recommended read , a fine literary work and a part of our history as well as bringing us contemporary lessons .
