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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2016
Ginans are devotional songs rooted in the musical and poetic matrix of Indian culture. The term “ginan” carries a double significance: on the one hand, it means “religious knowledge” or “wisdom,” analogous to the Sanskrit word jnana (knowledge). On the other hand, it means “song” or “recitation,” suggesting a link to the Arabic ghanna and the Urdu/Hindi ghana, both verbs meaning “to sing.” For the past seven hundred years, Ismailis from the Indian subcontinent (Satpanth Khoja Ismailis) have been reciting ginans as a part of their daily religious devotions at the congregational hall (Jamat Khana).
1 From Sadardin, Pir, Mahan Ismaili Sant Pir Sadaradin Racit Ginanono Samgrah [Collection of Ginans Composed by the Pir Sadardin, Great Ismaili]. (Bombay, 1969), p. 61Google Scholar; English translation by Asani, Ali, Ecstasy and Enlightenment: The Ismaili Devotional Literature of South Asia (London, 2002), p. 25.Google Scholar
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5 Ibid., p. 1.
6 Kassam, , Songs of Wisdom and Circles of Dance, p. 1.Google Scholar
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