Kashf ul-Mahjub
Also called: Unveiling of the Veiled · Topic: Bhakti and Sufi Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions"
Meaning
The Kashf-ul-Mahjub, or "Unveiling of the Veiled", is a Persian treatise on tasawwuf. Tasawwuf is the Islamic word for Sufism, the mystical, love-based path to God. A treatise is a book that explains a subject step by step. It was written by Abu'l Hasan al Hujwiri, who died in Lahore in c. the 1070s. It is a manual, or guidebook, of sufi ideas and practice. It shows how sufi traditions from outside the subcontinent, from Central and West Asia, shaped early Indian Sufism.
Example
Hujwiri settled in Lahore in the 11th century and wrote the Kashf-ul-Mahjub there. He is still honoured as Data Ganj Bakhsh, and his tomb, the Data Darbar, draws pilgrims today.
Don't confuse with
- Fawa'id al-Fu'ad: a malfuzat, meaning the recorded conversations of Nizamuddin Auliya, written down by a disciple. The Kashf-ul-Mahjub is a teaching book written by the author himself.
- Chishti order: Hujwiri lived about a century before the Chishtis came to India in the late 12th century. He was not a Chishti.