Sufi night: Soulful aura rekindles Khusro’s magic

Music and poetry enthrall audience, acquainting them with the saint’s work.

ISLAMABAD: Mesmerised by poetry and soulful music, students paid homage to Amir Khusro, a musician, scholar and poet of the Indian subcontinent at SZABIST on Friday, said a press release.

Over 10 emerging bands from across the country, presented select verses of Khusro at the Sufi night. A band “Shabi Sayen” chose simple poetry to go with their catch musical compositions.

Although the Persian and Sanskrit verses were not completely decipherable for the audience, yet the music keep many engaged. The rendition of “Mohay apnay hi rung mein rung lay, rangilay, Tu to saaheb mera Mehboob-i-Ilaahi” was relatively easier to comprehend for the Sufi music lives.

Some students joined in with the band numbers to recite and sing poetry. Meanwhile, others chanted the beats and started dancing.

In the finale, the event enlightened them with regards to understanding Sufism and the essence of Khusro’s messages. They said the reason why young generation is not so well versed with the sayings and great services of Sufi saints is that these figures are only kept confined to the books.

The students pointed out that practical demonstration and dissemination of Sufism is actually what kindles their interest towards Sufism and help them understand how incredibly rich legacy these saints carry.

This initiative is intended to make the youngsters aware of the messages of the Sufis and also apprise them of the great role these figures played to disseminate Islam in the subcontinent. The programme involves performances on poetry, music and literature of Sufi saints of the subcontinent.

In future, SZABIST plans to hold similar events to pay tributes to other Sufi saints of the subcontinent including Baba Bulleh Shah, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri, Hazrat Sultan Bahu, Waris Shah and Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2013.