No Place for Chatter: Abida Parveen

Poetry of Shah Hussain

So much to love about this selection (Golden Collection number 5, according to the Rawalpindi-based music shop from which it was procured). 

Each song is an explication of the Unseen Reality.  Of the Lover. Of Rab. Of Love. Of the Master and Lord.

Words filled with worlds of the heart and soul.  Sung by the burly voiced Abida Parveen.

Here are some of the words you’ll discover here.

Mujhe bekhudi yeh tu ne, bhali chaashni chakhai

Kisi aarzo ki dil mein, nahi ab rahi smaai

You have given me such a taste that pales all worldliness.

In this heart filled with submission, no desire remains!

Na hazar hai nay khatar hai, na reja hai nay dua hai. 

Na khayal-e-bandagi hai, na tamanna-e-khudai

Neither distance nor fear... neither hope nor prayer,

neither thoughts of servitude, nor desire of godliness.

Na maqaam-e-guftugu hai, na mehal-e-justujuu hai,

Na wohan hawaas puhnchain, na khirad ko hai rasaai

No place for exchange of words... no occasion for further quest,

Where neither consciousness reaches, nor thoughts reach its realm.

Na makeen hai nay makaan hai, na zameen hai nay zabaan hai. 

Dil-e-benawa ne meray, wahan chhawni hai chhaii

Where no one resides.. neither habitation exist

This wandering heart has come to camp there.

Na visaal hai na hijraan, na suroor hai na gham hai. 

Jise kaheyye khwab-e-ghaflat, so woh neend mujh ko aayee.

Where there is neither union...nor separation

neither sorrow... nor joy

What is said becomes an endless oblivion,

I have entered in such holy suspension!

Raba mera hal da mehram tu

Andar tu hain /bahir tu han

Tu hain tana /tu hay bana /sabh kuch meran tu

Kahe Hussain faqir namana main nahi sab tu.

O God you are aware of my true condition, as you are within me and outside of me and present everywhere. You are the Cause and Creator of everything.  I have no existence without you

As you wake this day, play this and let the spirit of the poetry penetrate your soul.

            Track Listing:

            01 Main Nara-e-Mastana

02 Hum Ko Ya Dar Dar

03 Mein Hosh Mein Tera Hun

04 Khamosh Rah Kar

05 Takleef-e-Hijar de Gayi

06 Mujhe Bekhud

07 Raba Mere Haal Da

08 Sohna Sajan Ghar Aaya

here

The Quiet Side: Abida Parveen

The first Abida Parveen music I heard was the tape I post tonight. It is a collection of 6 ghazals from the early 1980s. Though she is known to most of her international fans as the mighty empress of Sufi kalam like all artists in the 80s she recorded a number of ghazals and geets which were by far the most popular genre of non-film music in South Asia for nearly 20 years.

I was studying in Lahore at the time and one of the pleasures of our days off were shopping for music. The kaset wale (cassette men) would ply their trade off the back of bicycles, or spread their thousands of titles out on cloth by the side of the road. These were where you found the truest of folk, devotional and local musicians signing in their native dialects.  The art work was dire (photocopied more often than not) and the tape quality pretty poor.  But the price was right (rarely more than Rs. 20) and the variety endless.

What I loved most about the messy way in which music traded hands was the ridiculous titles: Tearful Friendship. Vol. 15.  Censored Folk Songs. Vol 67. Tragedy Duets. Vol 37.  Best of  (fill in the blank).  Vol 104.

I think I picked up tonight’s treat either in Sadr Bazar in Pindi, or around Anarkali in Lahore.  I had been sent on a mission to find it after hearing Abida singing the opening track (and huge hit at the time), Jab Se Tu Ne Mujhe Deewana Bana Rakha Hai (Ever since you’ve made me mad with love) on a television variety show.  For months I listened to it over and over, hardly giving the other songs on the tape a listen.  It is indeed a nice ghazal.

jab se tu ne mujhe deewana bana rakha hai

sang har shakhs ne haathon par utha rakha hai

us ke dil par bhi kadi ishq main guzree hogee

naam jis ne bhi mohabbat ka saza rakha hai

pathharon aaj mere sar par baraste kyon ho

main ne tum ko bhi kabhi apna khuda rakha hai

pee ja ayyam ki talkhi ko bhi hans kar naasir

ghum ko sahne mein bhi qudrat ne maza rakha hai

The image (in verse 3) of being bombarded with stones as punishment for considering your beloved a God is one that has stayed with me for years. The cruel injustice of Love!

But once I did get around to listening to the rest of the tape I found other delights, like Rang Batein Karein aur Baton se Khushboo Aye, which she delivers with such graceful lightness you’d never imagine her preferred style was to sing with the fury of a freight train crashing through the dark midnight.

Well, all in all it is a neat little treasure this 83^rd Volume! The quiet side of Abida.  And just to keep the local bazaari flavor I’ve not edited out the ‘filler’ music at the end of tracks 3 and 6.

            Track Listing:

            01 Jab se Tu Ne Mujhe Deewana Bana Rakha Hai

            02 Rang Batein Karein aur Baton se Khushboo Aye

            03 Ghungrawa Baja Chinne Chinne Chinne

Part one here,

            04 Woh to Na Mil Sake Ham Rusawainya Mile

            05 Der Lagi Aye Tum ko Shukar Hai Phir Bhi Aye To

            06 Kis Ka Ne Bhi Dekha Na Aank Bhar ke Mujhe

Part two here.

Triple Shot: Abida Parveen Sings Kabir

They say you should never mix your nasha (intoxicants). On the one hand, you have Kabir the great poet-philospher whose timeless verses are given voice by the Sufi Empress Abida Parveen. One nasha on top of another.  (Gulzar)

What a treat. The poetry of Kabir sung by Abida Parveen introduced by the legendary writer/poet/director Gulzar.  In his introduction to the song, Sahib Mera Ek Hai (My Master is One), Gulzar could have added that his spoken interludes are in fact a third nasha. But he is too humble.

Gulzar

The combination of this artistic trio makes perfect sense. Kabir, perhaps the greatest of the bhakti poets, composed concise pithy couplets whose essence is purely mystical, a language and approach Abida has spent her entire life promoting.  Gulzar, has distinguished himself by working only with artists and on projects that he knows can deliver quality and uphold human dignity. 

Abida Parveen

This collection is in wide circulation but it deserves to be given as much promotion as possible.  The music and Abida’s voice are perfectly balanced, which is often not the case on her recordings. Her voice is simply so powerful it often renders accompanying music irrelevant.   But on this album Abida exercises a restraint that allows the tasteful arrangements to add color and atmosphere. It is indeed a heady mixture of drugs.

If you love Kabir, or Abida or simply a fan of straight ahead contemporary South Asian Sufi music you should have this in your collection.

            Track Listing:

01. Maan Lago Yaar

02. Sounn To Sapna Milum

03.  Sahib Mera Ek Hai

04. Bhala Hua Meri Matk

Listen here.

The Dictator's Favourite: Abida Parveen (Fresh Link)

Abida Parveen

Before I run off to another side of the musical universe for a while I just have to share a set of Abida Parveen songs with you.

It goes without saying that if you’re reading a blog and have even the slightest of interest in the music of Sufi Asia, Abida Parveen needs no introduction. Like her male alter ego, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, she has left a giant size imprint on the musical landscape of Pakistan and South Asia generally.

Born in the Sindhi lands of the Bhuttos, she studied with her father who operated a music school in Larkana. She travelled with him to the many urs celebrations through Sindh and Punjab where she was mesmerised by the Sufi poetry she heard sung by famous and anonymous itinerant musicians. She later spent time under the tutelage of the grand ustad Salamat Ali Khan before crashing onto the musical scene with her full voiced, enrapturing and highly animated singing.

Gen. Zia  ul Haq in poster commemorating his grisly death in a plane crash 1988.

An instant hit,  her most famous fan was President General Zia ul Haq, iron-gripped leader of Pakistan throughout the 1980s. Rather ironic that considering Zia’s promotion of strict Islamic mores and Abida’s obvious ‘un-Islamic’ stature as a female singer of religious kafian (Sufi songs).

I once had the stunning pleasure of attending one of her performances in what was then the Holiday Inn in Islamabad. It was at a rather odd hour, 4 pm. The audience looked like they were out of high tea.  Well, she nearly popped every speaker in the small hall and paralysed the high society attendees with the power of her voice and gesticulations.  We wandered out afterwards not quite sure what had hit us.

This is a collection from the Music Pakistan series and covers wide range of styles, tempos and poets.  Another fine job.  A few years ago I wrote an article in which I identified Ghoom Charkhra Sayan Da as one of the ten best South Asian songs of all time.  Ten years on I see no need to retract that statement. This is elemental music of the heart that hits you in the gut!

            Track Listing:

        01 Sohney Yaar Di Ghadoli (Sachhal Sarmast)

02 Ghoom Charkhra  Sayan Da (Baba Shah Hussein)

03 Yaar Sajjan Ji Faraqon Mari (Shah Abdul Latif)

04 Tunhjan Waran Khunda Karam (Pir Asghar Ali)

05 Jinhan Ji Aahiyan Doongar (Shah Rasidi)

06 Munjhi Dil Ohasaan (Shah Abdul Latif)

07 Ishq Achhi Mosan (Janan Fakir)

08 Khay Doongar Dakh (Khush Khair Muhammad)

09 Pasi Garrha Gul [Rano] (Shah Abdul Latif)

10 Likh Naz Sakhyo Nawan (Shah Abdul Latif)

11 Ishq Jo Dis Israr (Khush Khair Muhammad)

Listen here.