Overheard in the din at Chowk:

"Also: baab . Arabic word. Noun. gate, chapter, division. If we take the Saqi e Kawthar to be Hazrat Ali then this word ’baab’ is also an allusion by Ghalib to the hadith: ’I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its gate [Ana madinat al ’ilm wa ’Aliyyun baabuh.a]. "


"Baab mein: yaa’ani unkee babat yeh kaha jataa hai. Quoting Ilm ka drvaza is accentuating it a bit.

Maikasho aaO aaO madinay chalaiN
dUst-e Saqi-e-Kausar sey peenay chalaiN. ...sabri brathraan. "


"I am aware of the word "baabat" but my dictionary on "baab" did not make things clear.

"Eureka! All this seems to be that what is being said in " [Ana madinat al ’ilm wa ’Aliyyun baabuh.a]" is that the knowledge of Self is through passing through the "gate" known as Ali.

"This seems to be a very interesting intersection of Hindu Monism and Islamic Sufism. In the Vedanta Self and God are the same. It is this point of intersection which is reached by the Jivanmukta."

What do you think? Should we spread the rumor??