Death Before Dying - The Sufi Poems of Sultan Bahu (English, Panjabi, Hardcover, Bilingual ed)

These 115 poems introduce readers in English to Sultan Bahu (d. 1691), a Sufi mystical poet who continues to be one of the most beloved writers in Punjabi. Bahu, whose name translates as "With God", remains highly popular in Pakistan and India today - even illiterate Punjabis can recite his poetry by heart.;Jamal J. Elias's translation of Bahu's famous work the "Abyat" offers a glimpse into the Sufi mystical tradition and the religious lives of rural Muslims during the period of the Mughal Empire. With its emphasis on unrestricted devotion to God, and its scepticism toward the legalistic, institutionalized elements of organized religion, Bahu's poetry embodies many characteristic elements of the mystical tradition.;Translations of the poems are presented alongside the Punjabi script and offer an explanation of a significant but largely neglected South Asian literary tradition. The book also illustrates the great diversity of Islamic cultural voices throughout the world.