7. Ashqar broke his fetters: Ashqar Devzad breaks his fetters by himself when aid arrives. Throughout the dastan, the champions of Amir Hamza’s camp similarly are able to set themselves free when their friends arrive at their imprisonment to save them.
8. qadi: in Muslim culture, the person who reads the wedding sermon and solemnizes the nuptials.
9. Rustam-e Peel-Tan: literally, “elephant-bodied Rustam.” It should be noted that the word peel-tan connotes great physical strength and is a title reserved only for the greatest of champions. The title does not signify that the person is of an elephantine size.
10. Sher-e Saf-Shikan: the Rank-Destroying Lion.
11. Book of Ibrahim: the Holy Book that Prophet Ibrahim received from God.
12. Samandoon Hazar-Dast Dev had escaped Qaf In Book Three, Amir Hamza is shown to have killed Samandoon Hazar-Dast Dev. Here the narrator recounts another tradition, according to which Samandoon Hazar-Dast Dev escaped Qaf and the deadly encounter with Hamza. However, the manner in which Samandoon Hazar-Dast Dev is subsequently killed in this passage is similar to the one in which he is killed in Book Three.
13. holy Khizr had identified: In this passage it is Hamza who plugs the Fountain of Life. In Book Three, however, it was Khizr who stopped it, which resulted in Samandoon Hazar-Dast Dev’s death. See also note 12 above.
14. hareesa: a kind of stew made of crushed wheat boiled to a thick consistency, to which is added meat, butter, cinnamon, and aromatic herbs.
15. the Last Prophet: This is a reference to Muhammad bin Abdul Muttalib, the Prophet of Islam (ca. 570–632 C.E.).
16. Qaza-va-Qadar: In this instance the term Qaza-va-Qadar is a geographical location. It should not be confused with the Islamic concept of predestination also described by this term.
17. When Hurmuz … on some pretext: Some Zoroastrians interpret their religion as advocating the avoidance of pork and beef, and it is perhaps on account of this that Hurmuz avoids eating pork on this occasion.
18. Sufaid Dev lives there: In an earlier passage in Book Three, Sufaid Dev was killed at Landhoor’s hands. See note 13 (Book Two) and note 6 (Book Three).
19. filled with gunpowder: The use of gunpowder in the times described by the dastan seems anachronistic. It should be noted that the dastan genre did not observe verisimilitude too strictly. The incorporation of contemporary reality in artistic creations was evident in the Indian visual arts of the time as well. Several illustrations of the Hamzanama (another name for the Dastan-e Amir Hamza) commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar in the mid-sixteenth century also depicted characters wielding and firing firearms.
20. “I would leave Zulmat”: The reference to Zulmat (literally, “the Land of Darkness”) is also found in the Iskander-Nama (“The Romance of Alexander”). However, in the dastan, Zulmat is often depicted as a land populated by sorcerers and magicians.
21. he took out his gun: See note 19.
22. Sura-e Jinn: the seventy-second chapter of the Quran, which mentions the jinns.
23. this translator: This is a reference to Ghalib Lakhnavi, the author of this version of the Dastan-e Amir Hamza, who called his work a translation. See also A Note on the Text.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
MUSHARRAF ALI FAROOQI is an author and translator. He has translated works by the contemporary Urdu poet Afzal Ahmed Syed and is currently working on the Urdu Project (www.urduproject.com), an online resource for the study of the Urdu language and literature.
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The Adventures of Amir Hamza Page 62