"khwaja mere khwaja,dil me samaja........when i heard this sufi number in 'jodha akbar' i went into a trance. and it continues to haunt me.what beautiful words and how brilliantly converted into a song by the great music director a.r.rehman.the picturisation of this number was unforgettable.and no wonder that rithik roshan got up and joined the singers and went into the turkish whirl.
"i am neither christian nor jew,neither persian nor muslim.i am neither the east nor west,neither from land nor from water." " i am concealed,secret,sometimes,sometimes i appear,and become obvious.sometimes i am a muslim,sometimes i am in the faith of moses,sometimes i am christian.in order to be a model to everyone,i manifest differently in every time."-jallaluddin rumi,the sufi poet and mystic.
sufism has been of great interest to me of late. i have read a few books on its main ideas and about jalaluddin rumi the founder of this cult.currently i am reading a book on rumi by will johnson.i even attended a a sufi evening last year during the kalaghoda festival.as i was particularly interested in the song set to music in jodha akbar. a.r.rehman is a devotee of gharib nawaz chisthi,a sufi saint. no wonder that he has composed such a beautiful song.
gharib nawaz khwaja moinuddin chishti was born in seistan, iran in 1138 in a well-respected syed family. his family was well-off and he led his childhood in comfort. however, when first his father and then his mother died in his teens, his economic condition deteriorated. for a while he subsisted on the income from the orchard he had received as inheritance. he was initiated at the age of 18 and for the next 22 years served merely as the water-boy for his convent. during that period, he was not allowed to attend the exclusive circle of his murshid. eventually when he reached the age of 40, one day khwaja uthman harooni called for him to his court, showed him his two fingers, and asked him what he was seeing in between those two fingers. gharib nawaz khwaja moinuddin chishti replied, “I am watching 18 thousand Galaxies.”
after performing Hajj, he visited the masjid-ul-nabawi (holy tomb of the prophet) in Medina. there he meditated at the tomb for several days. during meditation, he met the prophet muhammad, who commanded him in these words:
"o, moinuddin! thou art the helper of the faith. we hath granted thee the land of india. go there and stay, at ajmer. thy stay shall remove the faithlessness and glorify the truth."
from the land of paganism i.e. ajmer, khwaja moinuddin started the spiritual movement of the propagation of the truth. his efforts bore fruit and within a short period of sixteen years, ajmer was traansformed. It became the nerve center of moral and spiritual leadership in India,paved the way for a grand religious and social revolution, and provided opportunity to countless people to lead a life of equality and honor.
he was kind and forgiving. once a man came to him with the intention of murder. he read his intention spiritually, and treated him very kindly, and asked him, to do what he had intended. the man was ashamed and requested to be punished. khwaja moinudin replied, “the mendicant's habit is, whoever does evil to them, they treat him well." he forgave the man who later became his follower.
in spite of his renunciation of worldly things, his monastery was famous for his generosity and magnanimity. an enormous amount of food was cooked in his kitchen. no one ever went hungry from his gate. he is also known as Gharib Nawaz (patron of the poor). a large kitchen even today serves the hungry and the poor of all faiths from the campus of his monastery. his tomb is one of the holiest places in India where pilgrims, Muslims as well as Hindus come from every corner of South Asia to pay their homage. unfortunately,the terrorists did not even spare this holy place.
one night gharib nawaz khwaja moinuddin chishti went into his chamber after prayers and closed the door. he did not allow anyone to enter. all night long, the people outside heard a mystical sound coming from inside. at the crack of dawn, the sound stopped. sensing that there was something wrong because the door remained closed at the time of morning prayers, his devotees opened the door and found him dead. the year was 1229 A.D.
i am reproducing a translation of the song 'khwaja khwaja' which i found in the web for the benefit of those who may be interested. i thank the author profusely for the excellent translation.
"Khwaja ji.. Khwaja
-[Khwaja, O Khwaja]
Khwaja ji.. Khwajaji
-[Khwaja, O Khwaja]
Ya Ghareeb-un-Nawaaz
-[O supporter of the poor]
Ya Ghareeb-un-Nawaaz
-[O supporter of the poor]
Ya Ghareeb-un-Nawaaz
-[O supporter of the poor]
Ya Moin-ud-deen
-[O helper/assistant of the Faith]
Ya Moin-ud-deen
-[O helper/assistant of the Faith]
Ya Khwajaji, ya Khwajaji
-[O Khwaja, O Khwaja]
Ya Khwajaji, ya Khwajaji
-[O Khwaja, O Khwaja]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, you are the beloved of Ali( R.A).]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samajaa
-[Khawaja, 0 Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, your are the beloved of Ali(R.A ).]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samajaa
-[Khawaja, O Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samajaa
-[Khawaja, O Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Bekassoun ki taqhdeer, Tune hai sawaari
-[The fate of helpless/needy/poor, you have changed]
Bekassoun ki taqhdeer, Tune hai sawaari
-[The fate of helpless/needy/poor, you have changed]
Khwaja, mere Khwaja
-[Kwaja O my Kwhaja]
Tere darbaar mein Khawaja, Noor to hai dekha
-[In your court Khwaja, we have seen the spiritual light(aura)]
Tere darbaar mein Khawaja, Sarr jhukate hain auliyaa
-[In your court Kwaja, you are held high by all other Valiees(Saitns/Mystics)]
Tu hai Mutawwalli Khawaja, rutbaa hai pyaara
-[You are the Caretaker Khwaja, you have a beautiful title]
Chahane se tujhko Khwajaji, Mustafa(PBUH) ko paaya
-[If we love you(also), we may get the love of Mustafa(prophet Muhammed PBUH)]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samajaa
-[Khawaja, 0 Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, the beloved of Ali(R.A).]
Mere peer ka sadkha, Mere peer ka sadkha
-[Thanks to my Peer(saint/priest), Thanks to my Peer(saint)]
Hai mere peer ka sadhka, Tera daaman hai thaama
-[Thanks to my Peer(saint/priest), through whom, I have come to know about you]
Kwajaji..
-[O Khwaja]
Talli har balaa hamari, chaaya hai qhumaar tera
-[All our worries/bad omens are gone, we are under your euphoria]
Jitna bhi rashque karein beshaq, to kamm hai aye mere Khwaja
-[No matter how much we envy you, it will be little]
Tere khadmoun ko mere rahnumaa, nahin choddna gawaara
-[It doesn't feel right to leave your side, you are our guide]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, the beloved of Ali(R.A).]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, the beloved of Ali(R.A).]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Bekassoun ki taqhdeer, Tune hai sawaari
-[The fate of helpless/needy/poor, you have changed]
Bekassoun ki taqhdeer, Tune hai sawaari
-[The fate of helpless/needy/poor, you have changed]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, the beloved of Ali( R.A).]"
2 comments:
Hey GS, we have quite a few things in common (ie…gopal is my nee name, my son is named Karun and is often called Karunakara. Oddly enough I was supposed to be at the Dargah in Ajmer this week while trekking through Rajasthan – however my father fell ill and is in the ICU so I cancelled my India trip and am at his bedside, while hubby dearest and in laws will be there having fun in the rains on the dunes?)
Khwaja mere Khwaja..is on my playlist, listen it very very often and it always seems to bring about a certain sense of calm. I read about Sufism off and on, and have been intrigued by its relation to mysticism and metaphysics. The Chisti Order is of particular interest as it is believed to have been inspired or may have borrowed from Vedanta principles. (wiki links)
Another interesting thing I heard/read is that ARR is supposed to have converted to the Chisti order of Sufism as he received comfort in the religion/teachings following his fathers illness and subsequent death.
As to the poetry and prose by Rumi….all I can say is that it brings joy to the heart, you may like this book if you can lay your hands on a copy, definitely a good read.
hello
now one more common factor. actually till age three i was called karun. named after lord karunakaran by my paternal grandfather.then my maternal grandfather's wish prevailed and my name got changed to rajagopal after lord rajagopalan at mannargudi. and then that got shortened to gopal in the bengali environment.my uncle's son who was born many years later was then named karun.
was sorry to read about your father's condition. i wish him a speedy recovery.
i hope to finish reading this book soon and then i shall post my thoughts on sufism on my blog. would love to exchange our perceptions on this very lovable subject. i am also parallely reading pico iyer's book on the dalai lama.i have finished reading almost 75% of the book.he and nelson mandela are a few of my heroes!
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