Bhai Nand Lal ji was beloved devotee of Guru Gobind Singh ji. He was a great scholar of many languages such as 'Farsi' (Persian), 'Arbi' (Arabic) , Sanskrit etc.. He wrote many books and most of his writings were in Farsi (Persian) language and Zindaginama is one of the beautiful compositions of Bhai Nand Lal ji. Actual name of Zindaginama was Bandginama and Bhai Nand Lal ji presented it to Guru Gobind Singh ji who checked it, blessed Bhai Nand Lal ji, changed it's name to Zindaginama and said 'whosoever read this will be spiritually enlightened and his life will become fruitful'. Ganjnama is another book by Bhai Nand Lal ji wherein he has praised Guru Gobind Singh ji in 108 phrases which starts with "Nasuro mansoor Gur Gobind Singh". Bhai Nand Lal ji was one of the 52 poets of Guru Gobind Singh ji. Zindaginama is poetry based and it has total 510 short compositions which are now translated to Punjabi language. Books which were written by Bhai Nand Lal ji in Persian are-:
- Gazliyat arthath diwan-e-goya
- Zindaginama
- Tauseef-e-Sanaf
- Ganj Nama
- Dastoor-ul-insha
- Arzul alfaaz
- Khatimaat
- Jot Bigaas
- Rehit Nama
- Tankhay nama
Book "Zindaginama" by Bhai Nand Lal Ji
Bhai Nand lal ji was born in Ghazni Afghanistan in 1633 A.D and his father's name was Munshi Chaju Ram who was great scholar of Arabic and Persian language used to work for emperor of Afghanistan Dara Sekhon. Mushi chaju ram used to teach Bhai Nand Lal ji Persian and Arabic. After his father's death Bhai Nand Lal ji leaved Ghazni and came to Delhi and got married to a Sikh girl. Bhai Nand Lal ji was a teacher of Bahadur Shah Zafar, son of Aurangzeb who was emperor of Delhi at that time. His knowledge was so impressive that Aurangzeb insisted such a man should be made a Muslim, after hearing Bhai Nand Lal's interpretation of a Quran verse. Refusing to convert Bhai Nand Lal Ji thus seeked refuge. He found himself in Anandpur in the court of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who on his first vision of the Guru was so impressed by his being that he decided to stay in his court for years. He became a Sikh of the Guru and was one of Guru Gobind Singh's prized poets. As there is 'rangreta guru ka beta' for Bhai Jaita ji who brought the head of Guru Teg Bahadur ji to Guru Gobind Singh ji, Likewise Bhai Nand Lal ji was blessed by Guru Gobind Singh ji as 'guru ka lal' (beloved of guru).
GURU GOBIND SINGH JI