Giver of blessings

Abdul Jalil, 52, from Nayanpur in Dinajpur municipality is well-known throughout the district town, but not always by name. For the last twenty-five years Jalil has been roaming the streets every day providing town-dwellers with a dab of free attar, often associated with purity in Muslim prayer. It's his way of offering a blessing to all in the community.

“We often call him attar-wallah,” says Shamim Reza of Dinajpur Satellite Town. “Wherever he goes, people gather around him to receive a dab of the perfume.”

“I leave home at about 9:00am,” says Jalil, “and return after almost twelve hours. It's my daily routine and I never feel tired from it.”

He walks around twenty-five kilometres daily with his basket of pint-sized attar and surma oil bottles, which cost him about Tk 70 to buy. He dabs the wrists of up to six hundred people with attar per day, more than double as many on Fridays.

At prayer times Jalil will position himself outside any of the town's mosques to bless Muslims headed for prayer.

Jalil also sells attar if people wish to buy a bottle. It's his only income source. “I only earn money when someone buys a bottle of attar from me,” he says.

Despite financial hardship, the father of four children who built a small house for his family on two decimals of land has never considered taking up a more lucrative profession, says his neighbour Julfiqar Ali.

“There are still people in society who can't afford even a tiny bottle of attar,” says Jalil. “I am here for them. It brings me spiritual satisfaction to do this. I hope to continue this work until my last breath.”

“I am proud of my father,” says his younger son Jahidul Islam.