Perso-Arabic-Muslim content or Hindu-Muslim refs

Introduction

Everybody knows that “Kabir” is a Muslim name and that he was at least raised by Muslim Julahas/ weavers, in Varanasi. Almost certainly he was born a Julaha. Two popular legends about him suggest that he had a Hindu guru and that he had both Hindu and Muslim followers. The great Ramananda was the purported guru, and a well-known story shows Hindus and Muslims fighting over his corpse, each side claiming the right to dispose of him according to their religious customs. Based on the collections we have, old and recent, we can call him an equal opportunity critic of both the two great religions (as well as others grazed in passing). The character sketch by Nabha Das (early 1600s) strongly emphasizes his antinomian spirit. In seven lines we hear almost exclusively about his refusals. (My translation has more words & lines.) He rejects conventional religious forms, beliefs, and texts. His rejections are explicitly aimed at both Hindus and Muslims, though the specific examples of what he rejects are associated more with Hindu practices.

Kabir didn't care about caste or the rules on what you should do when you're young, middle-aged, and old, or the six philosophical schools. Religion without devotion was for him no religion at all. Yoga, ritual, fasting and charity were beneath contempt without a heartfelt song. To Hindu and Muslim alike, he told his truth through poems, songs, and couplets. He never took sides but shared his words for the good of all. He was firm, never tried to please the world. Kabir didn't care about caste or the rules on what you should do when you're young, middle-aged, and old, or the six philosophical schools.

When we read through large numbers of poems attributed to Kabir—whether gleaned from older or more recent sources--the relation of Hindu and Muslim content appears quite lopsided. There is much more lore and language used approvingly from Hindu/Buddhist (and later Sikh) than from Muslim traditions. Hindu & Sikh communities have adopted Kabir and made him their own much more than Muslim ones. The major divisions of the Kabir Panth have adopted Hindu terms and practices—not Muslim ones--in their institutional forms. They often appear to be and even call themselves Vaishnavs. See David Lorenzen: 1987 "Traditions of Non-caste Hinduism: The Kabir Panth," Contributions to Indian Sociology 21: 264-83.

1 1981 "The Kabir Panth: Heretics to Hindus," in David N. Lorenzen, ed., Religious Change and Cultural Domination (Mexico: El Colegio de México), 151-71. See also Hess 2015, ch. 7, on debates between the Kabir Chaura and Dharamdasi lineages of the Kabir Panth over chauka arati and other Hindu-derived forms and narratives.

Shabnam Virmani’s documentary film Had-Anhad / Bounded-Boundless: Journeys with Kabir and Ram (2008) explores Kabir’s presence among Muslims in India and Pakistan. A few Sufi singers embrace Kabir, but ordinary citizens seem to consider him an outlier, not really a Muslim, too nonconforming for their taste. Shabnam meets a Muslim cloth merchant in Varanasi, whose shop is named “Kabir.” When asked who Kabir was, he opines that Kabir was some kind of mahant.

Yet it is also common for people to say that Kabir was a Sufi. Perhaps this is more common among educated urban people—I haven’t systematically examined it.

When I decided to put together a session presenting songs and sakhis that had prominent Perso- Arabic vocabulary and other Islamic traces, I discovered that there were not very many such songs.

I have only superficially looked into this. If one wished to go farther, one might single out ways in which Hindu-Muslim (or equivalents) are juxtaposed (which occurs often). One might seek out metaphors that have a genealogy in Sufi literature and lore, like the advice to remove one’s head before entering the door of the house of love, or images of babes in utero making promises (kaul kiya…). One could consider vocabulary that commonly occurs in Kabir songs even if there’s no prominent Muslim/Sufi/Urdu terminology or theme--words like sahib, divana, mastana, nur, hazur. The 1000+ pages of the Mahabjiak would probably provide many examples.

For now, some currently sung songs that do have strong Perso-Arabic language and/or Sufi/Muslim associations.

1. Haman hai ishk mastana

A. Sung by Madhup Mudgal, his composition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXHMj42N7BQ (5 min)

हमन ह इक मताना, हमन को होशयार या रह आज़ाद या जग से, हमन दु नया से यार या (टेक) जो बछु ड़ े ह पयारे से, भटकत े दर-ब-दर फ़रते हमारा यार है हम म, हमन को इंतजार या [MM, not SM] खलक सब नाम अपने को, बहुत कर सर पटकता है हमन गुनाम साँचा है, हमन दु नया से यार या [SM,not MM]

2 न पल बछु ड़ े पया हम से, न हम बछु ड़ े पयारे से उहं से नेह लागी है, हमन को बेकऱार या कबीरा इक का माता, दईु को दरू कर दल से जो चलना राह नाजकु है, हमन सर बोझ भार या

B. Sung by Shubha Mudgal (no direct relation to Madhup) – her composition, 10.5 min. As always, slight differences in words & lines from one performance to another. http://mio.to/album/Shubha+Mudgal/Haman+Hain+Ishq

C. Sung by Shafi Muhammad Faqir, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPE3xZ1FKfI (15.5min) From notes of Ajab Shahar/Kabir Project at this site: “This popular song of Kabir is composed in his own style by Shafi Sahab, a beautiful Sufi singer from Umarkot, Sindh, who sings in a folk yet highly classical idiom, bringing home the voices of Kabir and several Sufi poets in Sindhi, Punjabi, Urdu, Siraiki and other languages. He belongs to the deeply musical Manganiar community that inhabits both sides of the border between India and Pakistan.” This performance begins with a number of dohas and comments from Shafi sahab. The song “Haman hai ishk mastana” starts at about 9 minutes. But don’t skip the beginning! Even after he starts singing “Haman hai ishk…”, Shafi goes off into whatever dohas he feels like singing, not necessarily related to this song as it is widely known. See comments on this way of mingling dohas under no. 5 below.

2. Man lago mero yar faqiri men We find many examples of this bhajan, sung with roughly the verses below. Lines may be added or subtracted, but the overall song is easily identifiable. I first heard it from Kaluram Bamaniya in Malwa (performance described in Hess 2015:195-96). General audiences recognize it when I mention it (urban more than rural? worth checking). Besides the main theme of fakiri, the other lines are chock full of Perso-Arabic words. The name of Ram is there, but some singers substitute the generic nam.

A. Malwa text मन लागो मेरो यार फ़क़र म जो सखु पावो राम (नाम) भजन म, वह सखु नाहं अमीर म हाथ म कु ट बगल म सोटा, चार दसा जागीर है भला बरु ा सब का सनु लजे, कर गुजरान गरबी म आखर यह तन खाख मलेगा, कहाँ फरत मगर म कहत कबीर सनु ो भाई साधो, साहब मले सर (साबरू ) म

B. Abida Parveen, the ultra-famous and great Pakistanti Sufi singer, put out a CD of Kabir in 2005, with introductory commentary by Gulzar, who produced the album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhmuA61cNSs

3 The first track is called Man lago yar fakiri men. I eagerly got ready to transcribe it for this workshop, assuming it would highlight Islamic language and themes. But it didn’t! See below under no. 5 for more on this.

C. Mooralala Marvada of Kutch - Mero man lago re fakiri ma See this fabulous performance, in which the well known refrain leads to a female-gendered song attributed to Mirabai. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJwoIrFy8Zg The speaker addresses a mother, “Mā” and repeats that she will not go to her husband’s house, does not want jewels and fine clothes, prefers prayer beads, renunciant garb, simple food, etc.-- because “mero man lago fakiri ma.” It is a lovely, recognizable transformation of the more familiar version—keeping the theme of rejecting wealth and embracing fakiri, all transformed into a female idiom. Lively and humorous!

3. Murshid naino bich nabi hai

Madhup Mudgal sings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH6Nx8at3go This clip from Shabnam Virmani’s film “Koi sunta hai” provides subtitles in English and Hindi and a lovely short conversation with Madhup about how he composed it. In 1977, he found the words in a notebook of Kumar Gandharva’s while Kumarji was away. He composed this melody but never dared to sing it to Kumarji. They also briefly discuss the meaning of some lines. मु शद ननै ो बीच नबी है याह सफ़ेद तल बीच तारा, अवगत अलख रबी है मु शद ननै ो बीच नबी है आँखन मधे वारा पांखी चमकै , पांखी मधे वारा, ते ह वारे दरू बीन लगा कै , उतरे भवजल पारा मु शद ननै बीच नबी है सु न सहर म बास हमारा, तहुँ सरवगीं गावे साहब कबीर सदा के संगी, शद महल ले आवे मु शद ननै बीच नबी है

Another recording of Madhup singing this bhajan. The person who posted it on youtube has included his transcription in Hindi & English. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAazhrSOZcM

4. Hamare Ram Rahim

We could make a category in which Hindu-Muslim names and terms are juxtaposed back and forth to make the point that God or true knowledge is beyond them. There would be a large number of songs and sakhis in this category. A beautiful example is this song, composed and rendered by Shubha Mudgal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v49gYX6VGJE

4 हमारे राम रहम करम केसौ, अलह राम सत सोई बिमल मेट बसभर एकै , और न दजू ा कोई (टेक) इनके काजी मलु ां पीर पैगबर, रोजा पछम नवाजा इनके परू ब दसा देव दज पजू ा, यारस गंग दवाजा तरु कन महिजद देहुरे हद,ू दहु ूंठा राम ख़दाई जहां मसीत देहरा नाहं, तहाँ का क ठकु राई कहै कबीरा दास फ़करा, अपनी राह चल भाई हद ू तरु क का करता एकै , ता गत लखी ज जाई

5. Comments on Pakistani Sufi singers

Singers of qawwali and Sufi kalam mostly sing Kabir in a different way than non-Muslim and non-qawwali Indian singers. They tend to take one doha as a repeated refrain, then drop in any dohas they feel like singing. There is no clear thematic relationship among the dohas, or between the various verses and the refrain. Aside from the “fakiri” refrain in Abida’s performance discussed above, there is no interest in highlighting Muslim/Sufi themes or vocabulary. All the other dohas she sings are popular ones well known in India. The same holds true of the other 3 titles on the album. They are assorted collections of dohas strung together with no apparent relationship except the singer’s (or producer’s) associations.

Farid Ayaz Qawwal speaks vividly and fascinatingly of his connections with and understandings of Kabir in Shabnam Virmani’s film Had-Anhad/ Bounded Boundless (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr83axn1IbM) The scenes of Farid Ayaz & his family come in at about 1 hour 3 minutes & continue on and off till the end of the film. In one conversation he talks of affinity between Rumi & Kabir (short clip available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXC-Dwixlg8 ). Elsewhere he characterizes the power of Kabir in his own inimitable style, and sings dohas joyfully and passionately with his ensemble. Again, the dohas do not constitute a recognizable “song” that might be sung by others in roughly the same form, but are strung together apparently at the whim of the singer.

Sakhis

कबीरा सोई पीर है जो जाने परु पीर जो परु पीर न जाने, सो काफ़र बेपीर

कंकर पथर जोड़ के, मिजद लई चनु ाए तापर चढ़ मु लाह बांग दे, या बेहरा हुआ खदु ाई

गगन मंडल के बीच म, जाहाँ झलके है नरू

5 नगु रा महल ना पावया, पहुचेगा कोई सरू

साहेब तमार सहेबी, सब घट रह समाय य मेहद के पात म, लाल लखी नहं जाय

कहे कबीर घट चेत ले, तरे े म तरे ा नरू है नरू पर जहूर सस, साहब ह भरपरू है

गज राजा तो वारे झूलता, वह राजा जहूर है उस मरु शद के शद त ू चेता नहं, तो गाफ़ल ू र है

हद ू कहूं तो है नहं, मसु लमान भी नाहं गैबी दोन दन मे>, खेलँ ू दोन माह ं

राम रहमा एक है, मत समझो कोई दो अतर टाट भरम क, यासे सझू े दो

राम रहमा एक है, और काशी काबा एक मदै ा एक पकवान बहू, बठै कबीरा देख (SV has ?)

इस बोलते को याद कर ले, और िजसका इलाह नरू है िजसने इस पड और ाण को रचया, सोई यहाँ हाल हजरू है

मिदर म तो बतु बसता है, और मिजद म सफ़म सफ़ाई है ईस दल दरगाह को खोज ले यारे, वहाँ झलकता नरू खदु ाई है

मंदर तोड़ो मिजद तोड़ो, इस म नहं मजु ाका है दल कसी का मत तोड़ो यारे, वो घर खास खदु ा का है (A similar couplet is often attributed to Bulleh Shah. PT uses it often in performances, as a Kabir sakhi, and always gets a big response. He usually uses it when he’s announced that he’s singing a last bhajan, and someone begs him to sing more. He recites this couplet and sings more.)

Note Shabnam’s “Kabir in Pakistan” has large proportion of non-Kabir poets

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