Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah Firishta (d. circa 1623) was a Persian historian who served the Sultanate of Bijapur in the Deccan. His seminal work, the "Gulshan-i Ibrāhīmī" (The Garden of Ibrahim) is a long history of the Muslim conquest of India. It was named after his patron, Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II. The essay featured in this episode is based on an excerpt from the book's first volume. It tells the story of the famous trial of Nizamuddin Auliya (d. 1325) in the court of Sultan Ghyasuddin Tughluq at the Tughlaqabad Fort in Delhi. Displeased with Nizamuddin for failing to return an endowment, Sultan Tughluq convened a court to try him for his Sufi practice of samā' (listening). The excerpt was translated into Urdu by Khwaja Abdul Hameed Yazdani and published in 1966.

Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari (1904-1975) was a pioneering broadcaster, as well as a poet and musicologist. Born in Peshawar, Bukhari was among the earliest administrators of All India Radio, and the founder of Radio Pakistan. In this essay, excerpted from his autobiography that was serialized in an Urdu newspaper between 1962 and 1966, Bukhari recalls the days of Hindu-Muslim disputation over All India Radio airtime. He talks about his resentment for the harmonium, the origins and instant popularity of Muharram programming. Written many years after Partition, the essay’s tenor recalls the political atmosphere of 1940s British India, and the familiar trappings of Urdu musicology.Featured music and recitations:1. Ustad Shahid Parvez - Des2. Ustad Habibuddin Khan - Harmonium3. Agha Maqsood Mirza Dehlvi - Aye salami hashr ke din4. Aftab Ali Kazmi - Behek rahay ho kyun

Muhammad Hasan Askari (1919-1978) was a critic, essayist and short story writer. Born in Bulandshahr, Askari spent his most productive years in Delhi, Lahore and Karachi. The essay featured in this episode was written circa 1956-57 as an ode to the sarangi legend Ustad Bundu Khan. Keeping Bundu Khan's person as a centerpiece, Askari meanders through his various intellectual preoccupations with Indo-Islamic culture, drawing upon Urdu musicology, Sufi practices, and his reading of Hindu metaphysics.Featured music:1. Bundu Khan - Yaman Kalyan2. Gundecha Brothers - Bhopali3. Salamat Ali Khan, Nazakat Ali Khan - Bhopali