Hasrat’s syncretic spirituality

One of the Indian mystics who celebrated divine love and syncretic devotion was Maulana Hasrat Mohani. In his own words, he was a Sufi mo’min (Sufi believer), ishtiraaki Muslim (secular Muslim), Aashiq-e-Rasool (lover of the holy Prophet) and at the same time, a Krishna bhakt (devotee of Krishna). The ultimate path he enlightened for his country’s freedom and his soul’s liberation was his conception of inqilab (revolution) and darweshi (asceticism). He says in his Urdu poetry:

“Darweshi-o-inqilab maslak hai mera Sufi momin hoon, ishtiraaki muslim”

He composed several munajat (spiritual supplications) and na’at (poetry in praise of Prophet Muhammad), for instance:

Khyaal e yaar ko dil se mita do Yaa Rasool Allah Khird ko apna diwaana bana do Yaa Rasool Allah (Purge my heart of all worldly thoughts, O Allah’s Apostle Turn my mind a devotee of yours, O Allah’s Apostle)

But he did not forget about the earlier prophets who were sent down to different territories, particularly India. An incarnation of compassion Krishna is greatly revered as “Hazrat Krishna” in his poetry. Some poems on Krishna are in Urdu:

Irfan-e-ishq naam hai mere maqaam ka Hamil hoon kis ke naghma-e-nai ke payaam ka Labrez-e-noor hai dil-eHasrat, zahe-naseeb Ik husn-i-mushkfaam ke shauq-i-tamaam ka

(I stand where love’s perfect knowledge is found. Whose is the flute whose melody fills me? What good fortune, Hasrat that your heart brims with a glowing love for that musk-hued beauty!)

Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is an alim (classical Islamic scholar) and a Delhi-based writer.