Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai

Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai
Born	(1917-05-17)17 May 1917 Pakistan
Died	(2017-01-15)15 January 2017
Occupation	Scholar, writer, poet
Nationality	Pakistani

Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai (17 May 1917 – 15 January 2017) was a Nizari Ismaili Pakistani scholar, writer and poet, known for his work on Islam, Nazi, Ismailism and the Burushaski language.

Early life

He was born in 1917 in Hyderabad Hunza, to a Burushaski speaking religious family. In his early childhood, he was inclined towards the esoteric meanings of Islam. He was inspired by the preachings and teachings of Pir Nasir Khusraw.

Allamah Nasir was also a Sufi poet and writer. He has written numerous books on the topics of the Quran, Islam, Sufism, Isma'ilism and spirituality in general. His books have been translated into English, French, Swedish, Persian, Turkish and Gujarati. He is the first person to have a Diwan of poetry in Burushaski, his mother tongue, and is known as "Baba-i Burushaski" (Father of Burushaski) for his services to that language. He also composes poetry in three other languages: Urdu, Persian and Turkish. His contribution to spiritual science is widely recognised.

The former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf conferred upon Nasir al-Din Hunzai the award of Sitara-i-Imtiaz on 23 March 2001 in recognition of his outstanding services in the fields of literature and scholarship. He developed the first Burushaski-German dictionary in association with Heidelberg University, Germany. He had worked with a group of volunteers from Gilgit-Baltistan in the development of the first Burushaski-English dictionary in association with Heidelberg University, Germany.

Lifetime Achievements

In his 100 years life, overcoming a lack of secular education in the isolated mountain fastness of Hunza, Northern Areas of Pakistan, he left a legacy of over a hundred books related to the esoteric interpretation of the Quran. He has written both prose as well as poetry. He is the first person to have a Diwan of poetry in Burushaski, his mother tongue, which is a language isolated and is known as "Baba-yi Burushaski" (Father of Brushaski) for his services to it.he has composed poetry in three other languages: Persian, Urdu and Turkish. He coined the term "Spiritual Science" and his contribution to it is widely recognized. His work include "The Wise Quran and the World of Humanity", "Book of Healing" "Practical Sufism and Spiritual Science", "Balance of Realities" and "What is Soul?". He co-authored a German-Brushaski Dictionary with Professor Berger of Heidelberg University and ""Hunza Proverbs" with Professor Tiffou of University of Montreal, Canada. He collected and provided the material for a Brushaski-Urdu dictionary, prepared by the Burushaski Research Academy (BRA) and published by Karachi University. He is a recipient of "Sitarah-yi Imtiaz" awarded by the government of Pakistan for his contribution to Literature.

Death

Allamah Nasir died on 15 January 2017 in Texas, United States, at the age of 100. He was buried 23 days later in his hometown of Hyderabad in Hunza.

External links

• Burushaski Research Academy
• The Institute For Spiritual Wisdom
• https://www.ismaililiterature.com/
• Pakistan's Northern Areas dilemma (BBC)
• Map of Central Hunza
• Allamah Nasir Hunzai latest updates on GBee News