PARCHĪ MANSŪR JĪ KĪ is a versified account, in an episode mould, of the life of Mansūr, the famous Sūfī saint. The authorship of the work is not known for certain, though it is generally attributed to Bhāī Sahaj Rām, a Sevāpanthī saint. A manuscript copy of this still-unpublished work is held at the Central Public Library, Paṭiālā, under MS. No. 2916 (ff.441-50). The work is in Sādh Bhāṣā, Punjabi vocabulary predominating, and has dohirā-chaupaī as the meters. Mansūr was born in Persia where he spent the first 18 years of his life and where he received his early education. Then occurred his meeting in Baghdād with Junaid, another well-known Sūfī who initiated him into the Divine mystery. His preaching tours of India and China are followed by the account of his death by stoning for his slogan of analhaq I am God" which was considered to be a blasphemous statement. Only those incidents have been chosen from Mansūr's life which reflect his spiritual eminence. The author has discussed in this work the concepts of God, self, jīva, māyā, etc. Realization of God is put forth as the principal aim of human life and meditation on His name as the means to it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Gurmukh Siṅgh, Sevāpanthīāṅ dī Pañjābī Sāhit nūṅ Deṇ. Patiala, 1986

Gurmukh Siṅgh