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Four stories in one
The book is a combination of four stories narrated in Urdu by Meer Aman Dehlvi (1802 AD), a renowned writer two centuries ago.
It was published in the form of a book of almost 800 pages and was called Bagh-o-Bahar alias Qissa-i-Chahar Durwaish. It is considered a master piece of Urdu literature so much so that it is still prescribed as an important book for general reading in the M.A. course prescribed by several universities of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent.
Perhaps our present generation may not know that a book as fascinating and exciting such as this exists. In an age of technology a brief review of a book that tells the tale of a fascinating ancient time with imaginary events narrated in a way that makes one wonder if it is mere fiction or the truth is hard to believe.
The story revolves around four kings/princes of four different countries — Iran, Turkey, China and India.
These affluent people are confronted with a number of problems such as childlessness, a desire to marry a princess or any other beautiful damsel and more. Seeing no solution to their problems, they disguise themselves as beggars — known as a Durwaish in Urdu — and after abandoning their Kingdom, family wealth and comforts, come out of their respective magnificent palaces to roam and reside in jungles where no human dwells.
Years pass and one day all the four beggars who did not know one another happen to meet by chance and tell their tragic tales.
Besides disguising themselves as beggars (Durwaish) another thing which was common to all the four was their faith in God. Day and night they resolutely stood in prayer.
After learning of each other’s problems, they departed and started moving in different directions. Tired and exhausted one day each of them prayed to God asking His forgiveness for their misdeeds.
God almighty in his mercy ... showers his blessings on each of them. An angel descends from above to each of the beggar separately and asks them what they wanted. They narrate their problems to the angel. To their greatest joy the angel tells them that God has chosen to forgive their misdeeds and that now they ought to go back to their magnificent dwelling places where they would find the desires of their heart.
All the four Durwaish obey the angel’s orders and go back to their homes. Here they find their problems solved and wishes fulfilled.
The moral of the story is that one should not be disappointed and must not lose heart when in trouble, as God only helps those who help themselves.
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