Amir Khusro

Amir Khusrau and Nizamuddin Aulia,
painting, Deccan, circa 1725.

Amir Khusru is one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Amir Khusro was a notable poet and musician of the 13th century. He has been termed as the "father of qawwali" (the devotional music of the Sufis). He is also credited with enriching Hindustani classical music by introducing Persian and Arabic elements in it, and was the originator of the tarana style of music. The classical music tradition in both India and Pakistan traces its roots to poet and musician Amir Khusro, who composed the earliest ragas. The invention of the Indian tabla (percussion instrument) is usually attributed to Amir Khusro.

Amir Khusro was a Hindustani Turk, born of a Turkish father and a Rajput mother, in India.

Here is the great Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen singing Khusro's Chhap Tilak Sab. The lyrics, in Urdu:

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Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Prem bhatee ka madhva pilaikay
Matvali kar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Gori gori bayyan, hari hari churiyan
Bayyan pakar dhar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Bal bal jaaon mein toray rang rajwa
Apni see kar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Khusrau Nijaam kay bal bal jayyiye
Mohay Suhaagan keeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay

In translation:

You've taken away my looks, my identity, by just a glance.
By making me drink the wine of love-potion,
You've intoxicated me by just a glance;
My fair, delicate wrists with green bangles in them,
Have been held tightly by you with just a glance.
I give my life to you, Oh my cloth-dyer,
You've dyed me in yourself, by just a glance.
I give my whole life to you Oh, Nijam,
You've made me your bride, by just a glance.

Here's a YouTube clip of the great Pakistani qawwali singers, Sabri Brothers, singing Amir Khusro's Man Kunto Maula.



Man kunto maula,
Fa Ali-un maula
Man kunto maula.
Dara dil-e dara dil-e dar-e daani.
Hum tum tanana nana, nana nana ray
Yalali yalali yala, yalayala ray Man tunko maula...

This song is based on a hadith, i.e. a saying of Prophet Mohammad: "Whoever accepts me as a master, Ali is his master too."

Another YouTube video, of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan singing Man Kunto Maula is accessible here. I cannot describe in words the impact Nusrat's Man Kunto Maula had on me when I first heard this more than 10 years ago ... how it twirled me like a spinning top, and put me on a path to transformation...