Sufi Music - The Intoxicant.

I have spent the last 5 hours listening to Sufi music, not consciously; I just couldn’t stop and went on to hear qawwali after qawwali. And this hold that Sufi music commands over the listener is in essence the spirit of Sufi music. Sufi music is a ‘spiritual intoxicant’.

The music is the wine, the sound is the drug, and the aura, created by the rhythm and beat of the instruments, the power in the qawwal’s voice and the robust poetry leads to the intoxication of the soul and the spirit.

One loses all worries, thoughts and slowly drifts into a peaceful state; this quality of Sufi music is identical to that of meditation. No wonder than Sufi music is considered nothing more than a prayer by many.

The poetry may tell the most romantic of tales, the story of two lovers or of one lover seeking his beloved but if one listens carefully and understands the depth of the music and the words being sung, you will notice that the singing is more chanting, and the romance is nothing more than a devotee seeking the Almighty. The narration of a man’s love for a woman or such is nothing more than a metaphor used by the poets to show the desperation a believer has to meet his ‘beloved’ and the eternal strife of finding and witnessing God.

If one leaves the spiritual side to this form of music aside and one views it in a simple manner, you will still fail to ignore the enchanting quality of Sufi music and qawwali. The tempo of a ‘mehfil’ lifts to incomprehensible levels due to the power of the music. The fevour with which the qawwals perform is inspiring. People forget about the past, stop worrying about the future, for that period the moment is now and nothing else. And this is truly the most beautiful and powerful quality of Sufi music.

Whether it is the fevour of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the robustness of Abida Parveen, the softness of Jafar Husain Badauni or the magic in Amir Khusroo’s poetry or the strength in Kabir’s words or the truth in Rumi’s rhyme, all the same, the message is of peace, love and unity, for me this is the greatest quality of Sufi music.

“Jab hai sab Aashiq tumhare naam ke,
Kyon yeh jhagde Rahim aur Ram ke,
Tum ek Gorakh Dhanda ho”
(Qawwali: Tum ek Gorakh Dhanda ho.)