The Role of Afghans in Astan Quds Lithographic Printing / ‘Tufan al-Buka al-Jawahari’; The First Book by an Afghan Immigrant in Iran

According to the correspondent of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) in Qom, Seyyed Mohammad-Aref Mousavinejad, at the unveiling ceremony of the book “Maqboolak” organized by the Afghanistan Book House in the Qom Publishers Complex, reviewed the history of printing and publishing, stating: “Any country that saw the late introduction of the printing industry lagged behind the caravan of civilization, and this has been one of the reasons for the progress of Western countries compared to Muslim countries.”

He added: “They printed books in large quantities and made them available to their societies and researchers, but Islamic countries adopted this industry late due to various cultural and political reasons.”

This researcher of documents and manuscripts stated: “The first book by an Afghan immigrant published in Iran is ‘Tufan al-Buka al-Jawahari’. The writing of the book was completed in 1250 AH. The author was born in Herat. He was threatened in Herat and came to Mashhad, then traveled to the holy shrines (Atabat-e Aliyat). Upon returning from the holy shrines, when he reached Qazvin, the son of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar chose him as the poet laureate of the city. He finished ‘Tufan al-Buka’ in Qazvin. This book was published in Tehran in 1258 AH, five years after the author’s death and about eight years after its composition, and has since gone through multiple editions.”

Mousavinejad further explained: “The introduction of lithographic printing to Astan Quds Razavi was around 1294 or 1296 AH, and this printing house was active until 1344 AH. During this period, 28 volumes of books were printed in this lithographic printing house, and Afghans played a role in 12 of them, either as financial supporters, calligraphers, or introducers.”

He continued: “The first dated book printed by Afghans outside Astan Quds is ‘Yanabi’ al-Mawaddah’ by Mohammad Ibrahim Qunduzi, which was in Arabic and written in praise of the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt. In the Pahlavi era, the first printed book was ‘Tarikh-i Bayhaqi’ by ‘Adib Pishawari’ in Tehran in 1307 SH. He was a scholarly figure with many books, such as an primary explanation of Naser Khosrow’s literature, and about 8,000 verses of his poetry remain as manuscripts in the Sepahsalar Library of Tehran (Shahid Motahari School).”

This researcher clarified: “We do not have many printed books from the Pahlavi era, only about 15 volumes. Three books are by ‘Abdul Hay Habibi’, including ‘Art of the Timurid Era’. All three books were published by the Iran Culture Foundation. There are also two books by Seyyed Reza Mayel Heravi. Books by Seyyed Ali Ghaznavi and Khalilullah Khalili are also available.”

Writing about the Afghan community is very limited

In another part of this meeting, Zahra Abdi discussed the book “Maqboolak” and explained the difficulties in preparing the content for the novel, stating: “Novels and stories about the Afghan community are very limited, and even the immigrants themselves refrained from providing information.”

Abdi added: “I painstakingly gathered memories of border crossings and other matters so that I could use them in the book.”

She further said: “The novel ‘Maqboolak’ is about a girl named Mahnaz who, due to war, comes to Iran with her family from Afghanistan. Mahnaz faces various emotional and financial challenges, but by entering a library and becoming familiar with books, she begins to write stories.”

Abdi stated: “In fact, literature calms and gladdens the main character of the story, but suddenly she discovers secrets in their lives that once again change her circumstances.”