Jahan-e-Khusrau: A Musical Journey To The Heart Of Sufism

Jahan-e-Khusrau is an echo of the heart – a voice trying to reach the lost soul in every human being. Music in the Realm of the Heart, in the Durbar of the Chishtis has to be reinvented: music has to be forgotten to be found yet again. As the world prepares for yet another edition of this festival from 27th to 29th March at Delhi’s Purana Qila, its creator, Muzaffar Ali dives deep into a spiritual realm where Sufism and the universe merge into one.

Moheapne hi rang mein rang le mebboob
tu sahab mera mehboob Illabi
Humari chunarya piya ki pagaria
dono basanti rang de mebboob
Colour me in your hues My beloved, my master,
O beloved of the Beloved
My scarf as well your turban Colour them in divine yellow
Colour me in your hues

The colour of Oneness is the colour of inner ecstasy, bekhudi. To be one with the Beloved is the aim of the Sufi. In this state, one sees bekhudi all around. And people like you and I get a taste of it through the Sufi. The parched human race is quenched by this message. Who brings about this ecstatic union? Who is this divine architect of bliss? The Pir, Guru or Master.One sees brilliant flashes of bekhudi in all faiths. All art has to go through this ecstasy to create ecstasy.

Man tu shudam tu man shudi,
man tan shudam tu jaan shudi
Taa kas nagoyad baad azeen man
deegaram tu deegari
I have become you and you have become me,
in my body is your soul.

May none say hereafter that you and me are different beings.

This inner ecstasy in art through the Divine Beloved is a stirring new concept. It looks to protect purity and innocence. And evolves when one’s senses are tuned in to beauty and unconditional surrender. For the Sufi this is barakab. He receives it from his Pir, and puts it in all his actions and all his art.

When bekhudi makes one soar into the realm of the heart, one sees Truth and Beauty move and mingle from one state to another – unscathed and free. Everything in one’s existence becomes the sacred rhythm, the sacred word and the sacred dance in which the body moves, overwhelmed with inner ecstasy and surrender. From this, the sacred image is born – an image beyond human comprehension. Purity, however, is the one criterion for this comprehension. And this purity of mind comes only from complete submission.

To realize the Oneness of the Creative Force is to believe in the Oneness of the human race. Everything is a manifestation of the same Truth, the same Radiance and the same Divine Light. The first is the last, the last is the first; the hidden and the revealed are all one.

It is through love that all this is unveiled. The artiste, too, in this path of love is one, with different names. Khusrau is Rumi, Rumi is Hafez, Hafez is Kabir, Kabir is Bulley Shah. They all talk of the same Beloved, the same love, the same surrender with the same submission. The artistes in this path have felt the same Truth, once they have put away their egos and subjectivity.

Inner ecstasy is the basic right of every human being. It is, however, easy to keep him from it, by appealing to his baser self – with narrow religious concepts. This feeling of bliss is also misused in music and sacred imagery. The Sufi artiste is in a continuous struggle to cleanse his heart of impurities so that it is fit for the Beloved to reside in.

Jahan-e-Khusrau is reinforcement of this universal Truth. It is the coming together of such artistes. It is the coming together of Fakir who receive and scatter His Grace without any distinction or discrimination. It is a tribute to the pure Word, the pure Sound of the pure Heart, in a world torn by inner contradictions that are heightened by modern communication.

Also Read: Events Calendar: Must See Art And Craft Exhibitions To Tick Before March Ends