Birthday update: Prince Sinan, second child of Prince Rahim and Princess Salwa Aga Khan, celebrated his 4th birthday on January 2, 2021. He has an older brother Prince Irfan who will turn six on April 11, 2021. The photos shown in the piece below were reproduced in Barakah in March 2017 from the Ismaili website. The picture shown above was taken in Lisbon in July 2018 during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Mawlana Hazar Imam. In the photo, Prince Sinan, then 19 months old, is seen holding Prince Rahim’s hand.

The Ismaili, the official website of the Ismaili community, has just released the first official photos of two-month old Prince Sinan Aga Khan pictured with his parents, Prince Rahim and Princess Salwa, and his older brother Prince Irfan.

Prince Rahim and Princes Salwa were married in a nikkah ceremony in September 2013. Their first son, Prince Irfan, was born in Geneva on April 11, 2015. Irfan is an indirect Qur’anic name for boys and means “wisdom”. It refers to all that is good and true of thoughts and deeds. It is derived from the Ain-R-F root (to know, to recognize), which is used in many places in the Holy Qur’an.

Prince Sinan in the arms of his father Prince Rahim, and Princess Salwa carrying his big brother, Prince Irfan. Photo: The Ismaili.

Prince Sinan was born in London, England, on January 2, 2017. Sinan is an Arabic name for boys meaning spearhead and is derived from the root word S-N-N which is used in the Qur’an. Sinan is pronounced [(SI)mple] + [(NA)p + (N)ew] with emphasis on the second syllable. In Ismaili history, the name Sinan is associated with the revered personality of Rashid al-din Sinan, one of the greatest and most valiant of the Syrian Isma’ili da’is of the thirteenth century A.C.

The birth of Prince Sinan in January was celebrated with great joy throughout the Ismaili world. We celebrated his birth with a poem on our sister website, Simerg. Barakah is pleased to reproduce the poem with the release of these beautiful photos made available to The Ismaili website by Prince Rahim and Princess Salwa.

A Child

BY SHARIFFA KESHAVJEE

A miracle, a gift today a child that comes to us
Our bending is of gladness in the archers hand to us
He loves the arrow that flies, the bow so stable for us
The archer sees the mark upon the path for us
Bends it with his might, the arrow goes far for us

The name of Sinan brings the memory of
Aleppo and Masyaf to us
His philosophy as dai forever imprinted on us
The balance of the zahir and batin as it come to us
A reciprocal social relationship of balance within us
Weaving a tapestry of din-dunia

In this our Diamond Jubilee year, your birth bring to us
Great tidings of gladness and joy within us
Our many faceted diamond is aglow for us.

Date posted: March 4, 2017.
Last updated: January 5, 2021 (Click here for link to meaning of Irfan).

This website has an excellent array of thoughtful articles and beautiful photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam. Do not leave this website before checking out Barakah’s Table of Contents.

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Photo credits: http://www.theismaili.org, the official website of the Ismaili community.

About the writer: Shariffa Keshavjee is a philanthropist and an entrepreneur with an objective to help women empower themselves. Raised in Kisumu, she considers herself a “pakaa” Kenyan. She is now based in the nation’s capital, Nairobi. Her other interest is in visual arts where she delights in painting on wood, silk  and porcelain using water colours, oils and acrylics. She also likes writing, especially for children, and bird watching.

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