Longing as Devotion: Spiritual Desire and Hallajian Fanâ in the Ghani Khan’s poems The World and Heaven, and the Pious Priest and Madman
Wah Academia Journal of Global Religions March 30, 2026 Salvia Islam, Hamza Bin Anees, Aiman Aiman
Spiritual longing in Ghani Khan's Pashto poetry functions as a form of devotion rather than emotional yearning, according to a qualitative thematic analysis. The study identifies patterns of desire, separation, and ecstatic suffering that align with Mansur al-Hallaj's doctrine of fanā (self-annihilation). Ghani Khan sustains longing as an existential condition that destabilizes the ego and guides the self toward fanā, rather than resolving desire through symbolic union. The paper reconfigures longing as worship, where devotion is enacted through sustained yearning, self-dissolution, and spiritual risk, contributing to Pashto literary studies and comparative mysticism.