Nuzhat al-Khawatir

Nuzhat al-Khawatir wa Bahjat al-Masam' wa al-Nawazir (Arabic: نزهة الخواطر وبهجة المسامع والنواظر, lit. 'Promenade of Thoughts and Delight of the Ears and Eyes'), commonly abbreviated as Nuzhat al-Khawatir, is an 8-volume Arabic historical account of Greater Indian Muslim figures, primarily scholars, spanning the 1st to 14th centuries AH, corresponding to the 7th and 20th centuries CE. It was originally published by Dairatul Maarifil Osmania between 1931 and 1968, comprising approximately 4,500 entries. Authored by Abdul Hai Hasani, the work is widely regarded as his magnum opus, with seven volumes completed before his death in 1923, and the final volume left unfinished and later completed by his son, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, after which the entire series was republished under the title Al-I'lam biman fi Tarikh al-Hind min al-A'lam' (Arabic: الإعلام بمن في تاريخ الهند من الأعلام). The second volume of the series was published first, as a supplement to Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Al-Durar al-Kaminah. Compiled using 300 sources in Persian, Urdu, and Arabic, the work distinguishes itself from traditional Indo-Persianate historical narratives by adopting a methodical and objective approach to religious personalities. Aimed at introducing the role of Indian Muslim figures to the Arab world, the work is organized chronologically: the first volume covers the 1st to 7th centuries AH, while each subsequent volume focuses on a specific century from the 8th century AH onward.