Raqs-e-Bismil (Dance of the wounded)

Nameedanam che manzil bood ke shab jaye man boodam
Bahar su raqs e bismil bood ke shab jaye man boodam
(Amir Khusrau)

I know not of the state
in which I was Last night...
Everywhere the wounded danced in ecstasy
where I was Last night...

Thought and form, poetry and music are integral to Sufism. Sufi music is derived from a state of ecstasy, a dance of the body and soul of those wounded in love...Sufi thought expressed in Persian poetry of the mystic poet mainly Rumi, Khusrau, Saadi and Hafiz, along with Urdu Ghazal is the blending of thoughts in the two genres of mystic expression...

I am quoting a song by Abida Parveen set to music by Muzaffar Ali. It is from my favorite Sufi music album by Abida Parveen called 'Raqs-e-Bismil'. The poetry in this song is mystical and intense to say the least.

Hairat mara ze har do jahan be niaz kard
Een khab kaare daulat e bedaar meekunad
(Rumi)

Bewilderment has absolved me of both the worlds
This is the consequence of awakening from my dreams

Khuli jab ki chashm e dil e hazeen,
to vo nam raha na teri rahi
Hui hairat aisi kuch aankh par ki asar ki be asari rahi
Pari goshe jaan mein ajab nida ki jigar na bejigari rahi
Khabare tahhayyur e ishq sun na junoon raha na pari rahi
Na to tu raha na to main raha jo rahi bekhabari rahi...
(Khamsa by Nazeer Akbarabadi for Siraj Aurangabadi)

The eyes of an anguished heart open...
No longer moist.. Bereft of tears
The perplexed vision
Remained unmoved.. Devoid of response
The soul heard.. An unusual sound
That took the pluck of life away
As wondrous love revealed itself
The fairy vanished..The ecstasy lost
Nor you remained.. Nor I was found
mere oblivion was all there was...

Mujhe bekhudi ye tune bhali chashni chakhayi
Kisi aarzoo ki dil mein nahi ab rahi samayi

O surrender in love,
You have given me a taste that pales all worldliness
No desire remains
In the heart filled with submission

Na hazar hai na khatar hai, na raja hai ne dua hai
Na khayaal e bandagi hai na tamana e khudai

Neither distance nor fear...
neither hope nor prayer
neither thoughts of subjugation
nor desire of godliness

Na muqqam e guftagu hai na mahhal e justaju hai
Na wahan havaas pahunche na khirad ko hai rasai

No place for exchange of words...
no occasion for further quest
Where neither consciousness reaches
nor thoughts transcend its realm

Na makin hai ne makan hai na zameen hai ne zaman hai
Dil e be nava ne mere jahan chhavni hai chayi

No one resides..Neither habitation exist...
Is where this wandering heart has come to camp

Na visaal hai na hijran na suroor hai na gham hai
Jise kahiye khwab e ghaflat so woh neend mujh ko aayi

Where there is no union... No separation
no sorrow... no joy
What is said to be an endless oblivion
I enter such a slumber

(Hazrat Shah Niaz)


Translations by Muzaffar Ali

Painting Credit: Miguel Tio