View source for Ghubar-e-Khatir

{{Short description|Collection of letters by Abul Kalam Azad}}
{{italic title}}
'''''Ghubar-e-Khatir''''' ({{langx|ur|غُبارِ خاطِر|translit=ġubār-i xāt̤ir|lit=dust of memories}}) is one of the most important works of [[Mawlānā|Maulana]] [[Maulana Azad|Abul Kalam Azad]]. It was written primarily between 1942 and 1946 while he was imprisoned in [[Ahmednagar Fort]] in [[Maharashtra]] by the [[British Raj]]. He had traveled to [[Bombay]] (now [[Mumbai]]) to preside over the meeting of [[Congress Working Committee|All India Congress Working Committee]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ian Henderson Douglas|title=Abul Kalam Azad: An Intellectual and Religious Biography|year=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195632796|pages=226–234}}</ref> The book was later translated into [[English language|English]] as ''Sallies of Mind''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad|title=Sallies of Mind: English Translation of Ghubar-e-Khatir|year=2003|publisher=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata|isbn=81-7541-146-5|translator=D.R. Goyal}}</ref>

The book is a collection of 24 letters he wrote addressing his close friend, [[Maulana Habibur Rahman Khan Sherwani]]. The letters were never sent, as prison regulations did not permit it. After his release in 1946, Azad gave all these letters to his secretary, Muhammad Ajmal Khan, who published them for the first time that year.

==Contents==
Although the book is a collection of letters, all but one or two letters are unique and most of the letters deal with complex issues such as the existence of God, the origin of religions, the origin of music and its place in religion, and other topics. Abul Kalam means eloquent and the book is particularly appreciated because of its beautiful language. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's hypnotic description of his morning routine of brewing and drinking tea is notably remarkable in the book.

The book is primarily in [[Urdu]] but there are over five hundred couplets, mostly in [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Arabic]]. This is because Azad was born in a family where [[Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] were used more frequently than [[Urdu]]. He was born in [[Mecca]], given formal education in [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Arabic]] languages but was never taught [[Urdu]].

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1946 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian books]]