Ghubar-e-Khatir (Sallies of Mind) is the last of Maulans’s writings and perhaps the most unique. Whereas his earlier writings whether journalistic or academic dealt with either religion or politics, here he takes leave of both the preoccupations and uses the solitude of political incarceration to give expression to his innermost thoughts on various phenomenon of life. Not intended to be published when written but the published work shows that whoever persuaded the Maulana to allow publication deserves gratitude not oly of his personal admirers but all those who care for flights of fancy rooted in erudition and close observation of human and natural phenomenon. The reflection on personal life provide a mine of information about his character which would prove highly valuable for a biographer; nowhere else the psyche of Maulana is revealed as intimately as here because it is a volume of uninhibited sallies of his mind. The account of his passage from an orthodox background to the wilderness of doubt and ultimate arrival at faith that transcends boundaries of sects provide enlightenment to the seekers of Truth and pave the way to respect for diversity. When he talks about his tea habit he throws a flood of light on the origin of the weed, its varieties as well as various tastes of tea drinkers. For him tea is not a substitute of wine but itself an intoxicating drink that transports him into the world of imagination where past, present and future merge into eternity. There is rich stuff for loves of plants and flowers and exceedingly rewarding information for those inclined towards music. His reaction to Aurangzeb’s strong aversion to music would on the one hand warm the hearts of hedonists and on the other open the eyes of the killjoys who think that pleasures and delights of the world of eye and ear are impious indulgence. All in all it is both delightful and instructive.
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