Agar firdaus bar roo-e-zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o-hameen-ast-o- hameen-ast
If there is paradise on earth
It is this, it is this, it is this
Who has not heard this immortal verse? Now get ready to hear more of the same. Two days from now, Hyderabad will get washed over by the Sufi music of the highest order. The ‘Jashn-e-Khusro’ beginning here on December 28 promises to provide the best of the ‘Sufiana kalam’ (mystical poetry) of Hazrat Ameer Khusro.
The medieval poet-musician was a disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, the great Sufi saint of Chisti order. Khusro was associated with Delhi sultanate and is credited with introduction of sitar and tabla. No wonder these instruments will be much in play during the upcoming festival. The Jashn-e-Khusro will see sitar maestro Ustad Saeed Zafar Khan present some of the rare and unheard of ragas of Arabi, Irani and Hindustani music composed by the legendary poet. Akbar Latif Khan, a young tabla exponent of Dilli gharana, will play solo tabla.
The three-day programme will commence at Jubilee Hall with ‘Man qunto Maula’, the popular qawwali penned by Khusro. It will be rendered by a Sufi ensemble headed by Dr. Anees Ahmed Khan.
A well-known Sufi singer, he has done thesis on the life and music of Khusro. This will be followed by Persian and Hindavi melodic compositions of Khusro such as bandishes, wedding song sehre suhaag, sawan geet and sufi songs.
The All-India Markazi Majlis-e-Chistia, a body of Sufi elders, which is hosting the show has lined up some of the best artistes of Dilli gharana. They include Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan Nizami, head of the Dilli gharana, and his team comprising Sonia Saraswat (USA), Saad Iqbal, Mohit Raj, Ram Shankar Mishra, Yashpreet Kaur, Leena, Anju and Ritupriya. They will be part of the ensemble.
The Ustad himself will mesmerise the audience with Khusro’s composition like khayal, qalbana, taranas, naqshogul, tirwat and dhamaal.
On the second day the venue will shift to Lalitakala Thoranam where the ragas, folk songs and Hindavi poetry of Khusro will form part of ‘Rang-e-Khusro’. The programme will conclude the next day with ‘Mehfil-e-Khusro’ at a Khankhah at Urdu Shariff, Patherghatti.
Where words leave off, music begins. Why not give into the outburst of soul?
