Bâbâ Farîd’s Hymns in Granth Ṣâhib with Qur’ânic Backdrop: A Review

Bābā Farīd al-Dīn Ganj-i-Shakar, considered as the first Punjābī Sūfī poet, not only exercised his skill but also conveyed Qur’ānic and Prophetic (PBUH) message through his Punjābī poetry. His poetry is a rich source of Islamic teachings in lingua franca of the Punjab. The research intends to explore that whether the inclusion of his poetry in the Sikh scripture is recognition of Muslim mysticism or the poetry itself. The study attempts to examine the relation of the hymns of Bābā Ṣāhib with the teachings of Holy Qur’ān. Bābā Farīd, because of his high stature as an originator of Punjābī poetry, got a place in Granth Ṣāhib. The goal of this research is to highlight the pivotal position of Bābā Ṣāhib in connecting the two major religions of the world. The paper not only substantiates the historic position of Bābā Ṣāhib but also gives an insight to the services rendered by his poetry in promoting the interfaith harmony in the Sub-continent. This article focuses on Bābā Farīd as a literary and moral Canon, which led his work to be included in Sikh scripture. Moreover, it hints at the nuances of religious tolerance, mutual respect and love for knowledge, which lacks otherwise in a multi-religious society. In this article some of Bābā Ṣāhib’s verses in Granth Ṣāhib will be traced and analysed, taking into account their Qur’ānic interpretations. The comparative and somewhat historical approaches have been adopted to lay out a vivid analysis of his hymns in relation with the verses of the Holy Qur’ān and hence a message is extracted. Thus, he, evidently becoming part of one of the greatest anthologies of Punjābī poetry, attracted a huge outreach. The research question of this article is, whether the Holy Qur’ān is a basic source of Bābā Ṣāhib’s poetry or otherwise. It is strongly recommended that in order to attain actual harmony in our society, Bābā Ṣāhib’s work should be published in Shah-Mukhi script for the contemporary readership.

Synthesis, Spectral Characterization and Biological Evaluation of 1, 3, 4-Oxadiazole and Morpholine Bearing Heterocycles

The presented research work in this dissertation comprises of synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial, hemolytic and enzyme inhibition studies of some new acetamides/sulfides bearing substituted-1,3,4-Oxadiazole and morpholine moieties. The acetamide, 1,3,4-oxadiazole and morpholine moieties are important functionalities because of their broad range of known pharmacological activities. Synthetic approaches (scheme-1-11) were utilized to synthesize poly-functional compounds. In first scheme, twenty three 5-substituted-1,3,4-Oxadiazol-2-thiols were synthesized by converting multifarious organic acids consecutively into the corresponding esters and hydrazides. Further the intermolecular cyclization of various carbohydrazides with carbon disulfide and potassium hydroxide yielded subsequent 5- substituted-1,3,4-Oxadiazol-2-thiols. Moreover, the reaction of different 5- substituted-1,3,4-Oxadiazol-2-thiols (scheme-2 & 3) with electrophiles, 2-bromo-N- [4-(4-morpholinyl)phenyl]acetamide and 2-bromo-N-[2-(4-morpholinyl)phenyl] acetamide yielded thirteen, N-[4-(4-morpholinyl)phenyl]-2-[(5-aryl/aralkyl-1,3,4- Oxadiazol-2-yl)thio]acetamides and fourteen N-[2-(4-morpholinyl)phenyl]-2-[(5- aryl/aralkyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)thio]acetamides respectively in the presence of N,N- dimethylformamide and sodium hydride. Sixteen novel benzyl sulfides (scheme-4) bearing 1,3,4-oxadiazole moiety and sulfo- morpholine functionality were synthesized (bromomethyl)phenyl)sulfonyl)morpholine with by the different reaction of 4-(4- 5-substituted-1,3,4- Oxadiazole-2-thiols. Nucleophilic substitution reaction of free thiol group in 1,3,4- Oxadiazoles with 4-(2-chloroethyl)morpholine hydrochloride yielded thirteen, 4-[2- [[5-aryl/aralkyl-1,3,4-Oxadiazol-2-yl]thio]ethyl]morpholine derivatives (scheme-5) in the presence of acetone and potassium carbonate . A series of nineteen electrophiles (scheme-5), N-substituted-2-bromoacetamides was developed by the reaction of different substituted/unsubstituted aryl/aralkyl/alkyl amines with 2-bromoacetyl bromide by using DCM or basic aqueous medium as solvent. Seventy one (71) acetamides were synthesized by the reaction of 5-(2-chloro/3- chloro/4-chloro/4-nitrophenyl/phenyl)-1,3,4-Oxadiazol-2-thiols with different electrophiles by simple stirring in the presence of DMF solvent and NaH base at the room temperature. The structures of all the synthesized compounds were characterized by using IR, 1H- NMR and mass spectral data. In addition, 13C-NMR technique was also used in some cases to support the structural analysis. A rational mass fragmentation pattern of some of the compounds is also proposed. Some of the 1H-NMR, 13 C-NMR and EIMS spectra of synthesized compounds are also presented for the obvious perceptive of signals. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for antibacterial, antifungal, hemolytic and enzyme inhibition activities. Some of compounds were found to be active and showed interesting results in different studies declared above. The biological activity data in comparison of each scheme with the reference standard drugs is presented in biological activity section.