He is the recipient of the highest literary award bestowed upon any Indian citizen by the Islamic Republic of Iran for his outstanding contributions to Persian language and literature in India. Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Wani is a source of pride not only for Kashmir, but for the entire country, for his unrivalled literary contributions to one of the ancient languages, Persian.
From creating an Android app to translating multiple works into Persian, a 35-year-old Persian instructor from Ohangam in the Budgam district is promoting the Persian language in Jammu and Kashmir while assisting Persian students, aspirants, andreaders in their pursuit of one of the oldest languages.
Dr Wani was conferred upon the prestigious Sheikh Sadi award by Iran in March last year. His contributions also include translation of several Satish Vimal works into persian language also.
“When I visited Iran in the year 2018, I wrote a travel vlog, “Iranian Sageer: Iranian KabeerTak.” The senior poet and broadcaster Satish Vimal has written a poetry book named “Khoye Hue Prishth” in Hindi, English, and Kashmiri. The books consist of 100 short Hindi poems about spiritual, philosophical, religious, and peace topics. This is the first time that a Satish Vimal Book has been translated into the Persian language by myself. “The name of the book, which I titled in Persian, is BurghiGumshudang,” he said.
Wani said that this book was published and released by the Iran Culture House, New Delhi Embassy of Iran, in the year 2022. “This book has gained popularity not only in India but the people from Iran have also liked this book, which I have translated into the Persian language,” he said.
While talking to Rising Kashmir, Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Wani said that after the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed across India, the education system was shifted from offline mode to online mode prompting him to do something for the students.
“When I saw the difficulties of the poor students who were not available to get the proper study material during the lockdown, I got an idea to develop an application that could benefit the Persian students, lovers and readers, to get access to free study material without spending money on the books,” Wani said .
“During that time, I developed an Android application, ‘Ibrahim.Persian’ which I have made available in the Play Store free of charge for everyone,” he said.
Ibrahim said that this is the first Persian- Subject related application available at the Google Play store throughout India.
He said that in this application, the study material for the 11th and 12th classes has been made available as per the prescribed syllabus of JKBOSE, while the material is reviewed and recommended by Professor Aleem Ashraf Khan from the University of Delhi and Dr. Zakir Tasaduq Hussain, who is the Senior Lecturer in Persian.
“The study material for both classes has been divided into three portions, which include the language portion, the prose portion, and the poetry portion, along with the photos,” Wani said.
Ibrahim said that this is the first Persian- Subject related application available at the Google Play store throughout India. The reader can open the portion of his choice anytime, anywhere. Once the readers install the app, they don’t even need to have a Persian text book, as text has also been provided in the app. They can use it without an internet connection after installing it. Not only Persian students but every Persian lover and readers can install the app, and they can learn some basics of the Persian language and enjoy some beautiful Persian prose pieces and selected poetry of Rumi, Saadi, Khusru, and others.
“My researchers’ papers have also been published in national and international journals on various topics regarding the Persian language and literature.
Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Wani is the resident of the Ohangam village of Beerwah Tehsil in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. After completing his basic education from Beerwah, Ibrahim did his post-graduation in Persian subjects from the University of Kashmir followed by a doctorate from the Department of Persian at Delhi University.
According to Ibrahim, Persian is not the only language. But it is cultural, which is based on humanism, mysticism, and language. Persian is an old language that has been used by various poets and scholars who have written various poetry and topics in the Persian language.
If people really want to revive the Sufi ideology, “it cannot be achieved without the revival of the Persian language,” said Wani.
Presently, Ibrahim is working as a lecturer in the same school where he did his basic education.
While recalling his dreams as a student, Ibrahim said, “When I was studying at the boys’ higher secondary school in Beerwah, I would think about how I would carve a career in the Persian language. Presently, I am working as a lecturer at the same school, where I would think about my dreams and future goals.”
