SUFI MUSIC FOR PEACE AND HARMONY

enlightenment. It has the power to liberate the body and mind from the consciousness and help the Sufis to achieve spiritual perfection. Sufis everywhere have taken a keen interest in music and get totally lost while listening to the Sufiana verses on love and truth. A leading medieval theologian Abu Hamid Al- Ghazali ( 1058- 1111) in his writings highlighted the spiritual effects of music and its ability to produce a state of ecstasy by stirring up greater love towards god and experience spiritual visions.

Hazrat Inayat Khan ( 1882 - 1927), a renowned Sufi scholar and an accomplished musician, describes the sacred ecstasy that is wajd, which the Sufis experience at sama, the congregational music as union with the divine beloved. It is in this stage that the Sufi hears the abstract sound called Saut- eSarmad. The vibrations of this sound are too fine to be either audible or visible to the material ears or eyes. This enables the Sufi to know the past, present and future about all things in life. The knower of the mystery of sound knows the mystery of the whole universe. When the abstract sound is audible, all other sounds become indistinct to the mystic.

The North Indian music has been greatly influenced by Sufism and its interaction with Vaishnavism of the Bhakti movement. Both were very much similar in their concept and approach since they rejected empty ritualism and formulated the idea of personal god who could be approached directly by everyone. We find that many music styles and forms were developed from the common concept of ‘ the lover and the beloved’. In the Sufi tradition, the aim of the spiritual music is to touch the mystic soul and to gradually induce ecstasy during the course of singing bringing him closer to god.

Among instruments, we find special importance being given, by both Sufism and Vaishnavismm, to the flute which is considered a symbol of the call of the soul. The special significance of the reed flute is expressed in metaphor by the leading founding father of Sufism – Maulana Jalalu- D’Din Rumi in the following couplets:

Hearken to the reed- flute, how it complains,

Lamenting its banishment from its home:

Ever since they tore me from my osier bed,

My Plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears.

I burst my breat, striving to give vent to sighs,

And to express the pangs of my yearning for my home.

The first great Sufi master to visit the subcontinent was Ali El- Hujwiri, popularly known as Data Ganj Baksh ( 1000- 1071), the patron saint of Lahore. He was the first to speak of fana ( Ann- ihilation or the complete merger of oneself with the Almighty). In his view, the true meaning of Islam could be found in Sufism. He was followed by Khwaja Mueenuddin Chishti ( 1142 - 1256), one of the founding fathers of the Chishtiya Order who settled in Ajmer. He came in contact with Indian music which occupied a pride of place and played a vital role in the social and religious life of the country. Impressed by this, Khwaja, also called Garib Nawaz, invented a fascinating blend of Arabic/ Persian spiritual music known as qawwali. This new music style had an instant appeal for the people and soon became the most powerful mode of preaching the tenets of Sufism and the peaceful message of Islam. A qawwali mehfil is claimed by Sufis to transcend their observations and experience to the spiritual plane in a state of wajd, created by musical hypnosis. Khwaja Quttubuddin Bakhtyar Kaki, the chief disciple of Khwaja Chishti at Delhi, is said to have passed away in the blissful state of wajd while listening for four days to the qawwali:

‘ Sarod cheest ke Chandin Fasoon- e- ishq dar- oast Sarod mehram- e- ishq Asto- ishq mehram- e- oast’

( What is music? Why is it so enchanting? Music is the secret of love, and

Love, the secret of God.)

Khwaja Bakhtyar Kaki was succeeded by his disciple Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya who emerged as the most renowned and revered Sufi saint. He established an extensive Khanqah at Delhi and Amir Khusrau was his devoted disciple. It was during this period that the Sufi silsilas ( orders), namely, Chishtiya, which held the pre- eminent position, Qadriya, Suhravardiya and Nakshbandiya were established in the subcontinent. Some of the best Sufi poetry is from this period. The foremost poet was Jalaluddin Rumi ( 1207 - 1273), who is said to have dictated his ecstatic love poems in a trance- like state. He was followed by Amir Khusrau ( 1253- 1325) who was not only a remarkable poet but an extraordinary musician and composer. Khusrau wrote not only in Persian but also in Hindavi and Brajbhasha, then the common language of the masses. His intensive knowledge of Indian and Persian music enabled him to produce new forms and compositions blended with traditional classical ragas. He is also said to have invented the musical instrument sitar.

While exalting secular love, the poet fully identifies himself with the beloved but at the same time the verses signify, a state of fanaa in the soul’s journey of life. Amir Khusrau’s novel experiment was the mixing of Persian The first great Sufi master to visit the subcontinent was Ali El- Hujwiri, popularly known as Data Ganj Baksh ( 1000- 1071), the patron saint of Lahore. He was the first to speak of and Hindi in one of his most famous ghazals, which is a masterpiece of linguistic and poetic creativity. Khusrau metaphorically celebrates his own love for his mentor, Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya. The lyric is as follows:

Ze hal- e- miski Makun Taghaful Dar aie naina bana- e- batian Ke tab- e- hyna na daram- e- ja Na leho kahe laga- e chatia

Do not ignore the dispossessed When thou weavest tales with thine eyes

O Love I can no longer bear the separation

Why dost though not hold me to thy bosom?

Khusrau remains the most sung Sufi poet in the subcontinent. His immortal lyric, babul, on the ceremonial departure of the bride is a metaphor for the man’s demise and the soul’s exit for merging with the divine:

Kahe ko biyahi bides sun babul mere Bhaio ko dene mahal do mahal- e Mujh ko dia pardes

Re sun babul mere Hamtore babul angina ki ciriya

Ren base ur jae

Re sun babul mere

Ham tore babul belay ki kaliya

Ghar ghar mange jae

Re sun babul mere

Kahe ko biyahi bides sun babul mere Ye dekh khusrau yu mukh bole Jam jam raho suhag re

Sun babul more

Why hast thou married me in a foreign soil, listen, O my father?

To my brother thou gave palaces, And many, too

To me thou gave the foreign soil Listen, O my father

I am, O father, like the little birds in the courtyard,

When night falls, they fly away Listen, O my father

I am, O father, like the little buds in thy Arabian jasmine

Every home seeks them Listen, O my father

Why hast thou married me in a foreign soil, listen, O my father? Having seen this Khusrau says

‘ May thou always be blessed in matrimony’

Listen O Father

Another great Sufi saint of this period was Shaikh Farid- al- Din Ganj- iShekar ( 1175- 1265) popularly known as Baba Farid. He set up his khanqah at Pakpatan ( in Pakistan) and devoted his life to helping the poor, destitute and the suffering multitude. He wrote in Persian but more in Punjabi and adopted a simple style in poetry which could be understood by the common folk.

Towards the later part of the 17th century, another great Sufi saint Bulleh Shah ( 1680- 1758) spread the message of love and spirituality. Acclaimed as the greatest Sufi poet of Punjab, his poetry is both simple and enchanting and also widely sung even today at Sufi gatherings. He learnt dance and music for seven years to win back his mentor Shah Inayat who was fond of music. The following famous verses often sung in the qawwali tradition recount his acting as a dancing girl:

Menu tilk lagavan de Kajiri bania meri zat na ghat di Te menu nach ke yar manavan de

Let me put the mark on the forehead To become the dancing girl affects not my caste

Dance I will to win my beloved, my

Mentor . . . . . Menu yar de zimme lavan de Tere ishq nachaya thya thya Menu pir di odhi lavan de

Ve sai Bulle- a te rab jane

. . . . .

Let me make my beloved, my master, responsible for me

Thy love has made me dance

Let me pay the tribute to my master O mystic Bulle, only God knows.