Some books are not just books. They are the breath of a nation. Awrad-e-Fathiyya is one such book which was put into English by Late Abdul Rauf Fazli, also known as Ibn e Qadeer, of Bandipora who passed away this summer. 

This book was presented to me by its author almost two decades ago, on 2nd October 2006. Fazili Sb. belonged to a distinguished lineage of scholars and historians. He was a direct descendant of the celebrated Kashmiri historian Maulvi Hassan Shah (Hassan Khuihami), whose monumental Tarikh-i-Hassan remains one of the most important chronicles of Kashmir’s history. He was the son of Abdul Qadeer Fazili who believed that education was not confined to books, it was a way of living, and the brother of Prof. Manzoor Fazili, a noted political scientist and author of many books, Mr. Mansoor Fazili, a scientist, and Mr. Muzaffar Fazili, a broadcaster. What a remarkable family of learning and scholarship. May Allah be pleased with them all and bless them with His mercy. Aameen. 

For the last seven hundred years, there has not been a single morning in Kashmir, Ladakh and Central Asia when this prayer has not been recited. After the Fajar Azan, from the Khanqah-e- Moula in Srinagar to the smallest village mosque in Kupwara, Anantnag, Leh or elsewhere in Kashmir wakes up with one voice - Marhaba-bi-Sabahi Jadid, Welcome to the new morning. 

This is the compilation of Quranic verses and Prophetic supplications gifted to Kashmiris by the great Iranian Saint, Amir-e-Kabeer Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) (1314-1384 AD), who visited Kashmir in 1372 AD along with hundreds of Syeds. Kashmir was then ruled by Sultan Shihab-ud-Din, the fourth Muslim ruler, who had annexed Punjab, Sindh, Kabul and little Tibet to his kingdom. It was Shah-i-Hamdan who made peace between Shihab-ud-Din and Feroz Shah Tughlaq of Delhi. 

When he visited again during the reign of Qutub-ud-Din, he established a school to teach Quran and Hadith at Qutub-ud-Din Pora, Srinagar. This school continued till the Sikhs annexed Kashmir in 1819. Its alumni include Mullah Mohsin Fani, Mullah Tahir Gani and Mullah Johar Nath. Shah-i-Hamdan was a great Sufi saint, author........

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