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By Rajan Mahan, “No one goes hungry in Ajmer during Ramadan” - NDTV - New Delhi, India
Posts Tagged ‘sufi’
On Damadam Mast Qalandar
The unrelenting terror trail across India recalls young Pakistani author Raza Rumi’s wistful remark that Hindu-Muslim amity seems like “a fairy tale from Never-Never land”. But surely India can wake up and recall how she managed things? Here’s an old story about one of modern India’s favourite songs, Damadam Mast Qalandar. Runa Laila of Bangladesh, Reshma of Pakistan and the Wadali Brothers of India have all sung it. The song came back this month with Ruby, Reshma’s daughter, who was in Delhi to sing at a Deepavali party held in a Muslim gentleman’s house.
The fact is that Jhuley Lal and Lal Shahbaz Qalandar are the patron saints of both Hindus and Muslims. Jhuley Lal (or Udero Lal/Amar Lal/Lal Sain) is said Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: India, Indus, Lal Shahbaz, pakistan, Qalandar, Saint, Sehwan, sufi, Sufism, terror
When compassion fills my heart
I am happy
when I am sad
I am together
when fallen apart
like earth
when I am silent
I have thunder
hidden inside
– Translation by Nader Khalili
“Rumi, Dancing the Flame”
Cal-Earth Press, 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mystic, poem, Poetry, Rumi, spiritual, sufi, Sufism
My soul has come on my lips
Amir Khusrau’s Khabaram Raeeda translated by Annemarie Schimmel
Tonight there came a news that you, oh beloved, would come –
Be my head sacrificed to the road along which you will come riding!
All the gazelles of the desert have put their heads on their hands
In the hope that one day you will come to hunt them….
The attraction of love won’t leave you unmoved;
Should you not come to my funeral,
you’ll definitely come to my grave.
My soul has come on my lips (e.g. I am on the point of expiring);
Come so that I may remain alive -
After I am no longer – for what purpose will you come?
(trans. A. Schimmel)
sent by JZ via email
Tags: Amir, Delhi, India, Khusrau, mystic, poem, Poetry, spiritualism, sufi, Sufism, Sultanate
What is this?
One day Rumi was sitting in his personal library with a group of his
students gathered around him for his lecture. Suddenly, Shems
entered uninvited. He pointed to the books that were stacked in a
corner and asked Rumi, “What are these?”
Rumi, who judged Shems from his appearance to be a beggar,
answered, “You would not understand.” He had not even finsihed his
sentence when flames of fire started to rise from the books in the
corner. Frightened, Rumi cried out, “What is this?”
Shems replied calmly, “Nor would you understand this,” So
saying, he left the room.
***** Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mystic, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
I am only the house of your beloved
Rumi again…
“I am only the house of your beloved,
not the beloved herself:
true love is for the treasure,
not for the coffer that contains it.”
The real beloved is that one who is unique,
who is your beginning and your end.
When you find that one,
you’ll no longer expect anything else:
that one is both the manifest and the mystery.
That one is the lord of the states of feeling,
dependent on none:
month and year are slaves to that moon.
When He bids the “state,”
it does His bidding;
when that one wills, bodies become spirit. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
Baba Bulleh Shah’s gift
Dr Manzur Ejaz writing for the TFT
According to myth, if perfectly sung by a master, the classical raga Malkauns can set a river on fire. And if you want a description of Malkauns personified, it would be the tall red-eyed jogi or Ustad Chote Ghulam Ali Khan. In a freshly laundered, blazing white and starched kurta-pajama, Khan Sahib was a well dressed and handsome man even in old age. Despite his appearance, Khan Sahib was at heart a jogi who had wandered and meditated in the limitless jungle of classical music his entire life.
Both Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Chote Ghulam Ali Khan belong to this gharana. They were cousins with identical names but because one was older he was known as precisely that, Bade, and the younger as Chote. The classical singers of the Qasur gharana are sometimes called “Qasur kay qawwal bankay” (children of Qasur qawwals) because their forefathers were traditional qawwals at the shrine of Baba Bulleh Shah.
Khan Sahib worked hard to enhance Samina Hussain Syed’s skills in classical music because she had a very powerful, deep and melodious voice that constitutes the core of a classical singer. In fact, she had more potential than anyone else in the world of music at that time. Khan Sahib knew her potential and that is why he would come daily for her training; it was never just for the money.
Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, whom Khan Sahib romanced
Tags: Bulleh Shah, mystic, Punjab, Punjabi, sufi, Sufism
Amir Khusro’s lasting tryst with love
PRANAV KHULLAR writing here
At the heart of the Sufi mystical experience lies the Zikr or remembrance of God.
In its musical expression through the Qawwali , it has become synonymous with the name of Amir Khusro, whose musical idiom facilitated a unique synthesis of the Persian and Hindu-Braja cultures. His prodigious literary and musical experimentation is a unique effort at creating a universal Sufi language of Love and he forged a new mystical Sufi consciousness. This could have been a forerunner of the Nirguna Bhakti movement.
Khusro’s compositions are rooted in the theme of separation from the Beloved, a metaphor for the God within. His verses bring out the intense Sufi longing to merge into this state of mind. His Qawwali music touches that inner space in every listener, transporting him to a different dimension beyond the outer world of duality. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Amir, Delhi, India, Khusro, Music, sufi, zikr
In this game of chess
I was first seduced by love
then put in a fire of agonies
as i won the mastery
of the beloved
the beloved dropped me
and was gone
–Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame
Cal-Earth Press, 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First, he tempted me
with infinite caresses.
He burnt me in the end
with pain and sorrow.
In this game of chess
I had to lose myself
in order to win Him.
– Translation by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1999
Tags: Love, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
The Breeze at Dawn
Courtesy Isa Daudpota
Tags: Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
This Love — Quatrain from Rumi
This Love is the king,
yet a throne cannot be found.
It is the essence of the Koran
yet a verse cannot be found.
Any lover hit by the Hunter’s arrow
will bleed all over,
yet a wound cannot be found.
– Version by Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva
“A Garden Beyond Paradise”
Bantam Books, 1992 Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Divine, God, Love, mystic, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
Fana: When the ego gets annihilated
Source
Sufi thought is centred around the two fundamental doctrines of the Transcendent Unity of Being or wahdut al-wujud and the universal or perfect man, al-insan al-kamil. The concept of fana or annihilation of ego is at the very heart of Sufi theosophy.
Among all species, a human being has the potential of evolving to the highest level of consciousness and becoming a siddha or saint, one who has attained spiritual perfection through sadhana. According to S H Nasr: “To become a saint in Islam is to realise all the possibilities of the human state, to become the universal man. The mystic quest is none other than the realisation of this state, which is also union with God, for the universal man is the mirror in which are reflected all the divine names and qualities.”
How to attain the exalted state of ahsan taqwim, of becoming the total of all the divine names and qualities and to rise to the stature of al-insan al-kamil? Sufi mystic Abu Yazid Bistami explained that a seeker could attain to lofty spiritual heights in meditation through fana. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: fana, Islam, mystic, sufi, Sufism, Unity of Being, wahdut-al-wujud
No One Is Left Hungry at Ajmer
By Rajan Mahan, “No one goes hungry in Ajmer during Ramadan” - NDTV - New Delhi, India
For Muslims of south Asia, the Sufi Dargah at Ajmer stands second only to the sacred one in Mecca.
And in the holy month of Ramadan people from all corners of the subcontinent seek the blessings of the Dargah’s immortal 13th century saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
Popularly called Gareeb Nawaaz, the Protector of the Poor, the Khwaja is still revered for his compassion and empathy for those desperate and needy. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Ajmer, Chishty, Ghareeb Nawaz, India, Khawaja, MUinuddun, ramzan, sufi, Sufism
The Verge of Tears
You make our souls tasty like rose
marmalade. You cause us to fall flat
on the ground like the shadow of
a cypress still growing at its tip.
Rainwater through a mountain forest,
we run after you in different ways.
We live like the verge of tears inside
your eyes. Don’t cry! You trick some Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: poet, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
Sachal Sarmast’s sufi kalaam - live recording
Cross posted from here
I recorded a few bits of performances of sufi siant Hazrat Sachal Sarmast’s kalaam (poetry) at his tomb in Daraza Sharif, some 50 kms outside Khairpur Mirs.
A trip to Khairpur cannot be complete without exploring many of its spiritual treasures. Khairpur itself is a calm, quiet city. You can feel the stillness of the air.
The Dating Season
I have heard that this stillness becomes slightly oppressive at around this very time of the year - the hot summers - when the area transforms into a gigantic dates bazaar. In the heat and stillness, dates - the prime agricultural product of Khairpur - come to ripen. Temporary shack cities spring up in the area as pickers and traders come in droves. Many use the by-products of the dates industry - the barks and the gigantic leaves - to make woven baskets, sweepers, and other handcrafted products.
Sufi Music - Live Recording at the Tomb
But I digress. I recorded several bits of music and this one is my favorite. I used an iRiver MP3 player+radio+recorder to capture the music. The night was calm and beautiful, and our small circle sat with their heads one their knees and eyes closed - in a state of absorption. in our group was Sindh’s popular activist Amar Sindhu, her faithful friend the gentle-natured Arfana Mallah, my journalist friend Afia, and our kind hosts the Joyos.
The Real Sufi was Standing Up
I shouldn’t forget to mention that I went to the tomb to learn more about “sufis.” I found that we had a Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Music, pakistan, recording, Sachal Sarmast, Saint, Sindh, sufi, Urs
Thou art the sky and the deep sea (Rumi)
When you fall asleep,
you go from the presence of yourself
into your own true presence.
You hear something
and surmise that someone else in your dream
has secretly informed you.
You are not a single “you.”
No, you are the sky and the deep sea.
Your mighty “Thou,” which is nine hundredfold,
is the ocean, the drowning place
of a hundred “thou’s” within you.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mystic, mystical, poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufism
O my Lord, if I worship you
Today I was directed to this excellent blogsite devoted to Rabia Basri’s poems - found this bold poem by Rabia, an early Sufi from Iraq and one the better known women Sufi poet:
O my Lord,
if I worship you
from fear of hell, burn me in hell.
If I worship you
from hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.
But if I worship you
for yourself alone, grant me then the beauty of your Face.
Tags: God, mystic, Mysticism, poet, Poetry, Rabia, rabia al basri, sufi, Sufism
Know the true definition of yourself
Rumi on knowing ourselves
Suppose you know the definitions of all substances
and their derivatives,
what good is this to you?
Know the true definition of yourself.
That is indispensable.
Then, when you know your own definition, flee from it,
that you may attain to the One who cannot be defined,
O sifter of the dust.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mystic, poem, Poetry, Rumi, sufi, Sufi poetry, Sufism
The sway of the Bauls:Oblivious minstrels of soul
Out of the Quagmire
“By Ratnadeep Banerji “The sway of the Bauls:Oblivious minstrels of soul” - Organiser - New Delhi, India
Weekly issue: August 17, 2008
Baul etymologically arises from Sanskrit batul or byakul that literally means divinely inane or fervently eager
The Charyapadas (Buddhist hymns) which gave rise to Bengali bear references to the precepts of Baul. It is conjectured that around 6th century AD, Mahaprabhu Chaitanya, culled this esoteric coterie of Bauls as a formal community though the word ‘Baul’ appeared in Bengali texts around 15th century.
Bauls are essentially mystic minstrels hailing from the hinterland of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Baul is not just a music tradition but it’s also a syncretic religious sect out of Vaishnavite Hindus, Sufi Muslims and Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas as well as Tantric Buddhist schools like Sahajia. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bauls, Bengal, mystics, Soul, sufi, Sufism
“Better than Cabbage Soup”
Rumi on the deeper meanings of fasting in Ramzan
What sweetness lies in an empty stomach!
Man is like a lute: no more, no less.
If the lute is full
it cannot sing a high or low note.
If your mind and stomach
burn with the fire of hunger
it will be like a heavenly song for your heart.
In each moment that fire rages
It will burn away a hundred veils
And carry you a thousand steps
toward your goal. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: fasting, Islam, Muslim, mystic, Poetry, ramadan, ramzan, Rumi, sufi, Sufi poetry, Sufism
Urs of Bulleh Shah in Kasur
The annual Urs of Bulleh Shah, the Punjabi mystic poet, commenced yesterday in Kasur yesterday. Bulleh’s poetry reflected his rejection of orthodox hold of mullahs over Islam, the nexus between the clergy and the rulers and all the trappings of formal religion that created a gulf between man and his Creator. A common theme of his poetry is the pursuit of self-knowledge that is essential for the mystical union with the Beloved. Among Bulleh’s timeless verse, I love this one Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bulleh Shah, Kasur, mystic, pakistan, poet, Punjab, Punjabi, sufi, Sufism, Urs