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« A MYSTICAL JOURNEY » THE MUSICAL CONCERT IN PARIS, THE GOLDEN JUBILEE INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME TO COMMEMORATE 50 YEARS OF IMAMAT OF 49TH IMAM.

In Paris on 8th and 12th December,2008, it was a historical concert of the Sufi music which was performed by the 60 talented artists from the Muslim world, Pakistan, Algeria, Bosnia, Iran, Syria, Tajikistan and also from North America to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Imamat of Mawlana Hazir Imam. It was a unique occasion in Paris which is the capital of the Europe for the culture and artistic world, that such flair performance from rich diversity of the Muslim world in the form of Culture, language and traditions, in which they expressed devotion although in different form, but find unity and harmony in their peaceful search for the spirituality and divinity. This programme was contributed for a better understanding of the diversity and pluralism of the Muslim world, it has also provided a unique musical and cultural experience. The vital importance of the music all over the Muslim world and also in Europe and North America, and it is also evident that the music is not only source of entertainment and pleasure for the diverse Muslim communities but also as a way to express the spirituality and devotion and also as a medium for strengthening and harnessing the cultural values and traditions and also a source of sensitiveness of being close to Allah.

According to the Sufi and other esoteric tradition of Islam who manifests their belief through diverse forms of devotion ranging from ecstatic movements in dance to meditative exercise in the solitude. These offer paths to enlightenment, a divinely grace vision, moral clarity and an all-encompassing love which words can not easily convey. Thus, music, poetry and dance become important forms of expression. (Extracted from “ A mystic journey” Sufi music and others expression of devotion of the Muslim world)

MAULANA RUMI ON MUSIC, DANCE ,AND THE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE.

By ALI SASANI, who is professor of the practice of Indo Muslim Languages and Culture at Harvard University and recipient of the Harvard Foundation, Medal for promoting intercultural and interracial harmony through better understanding of Islam.

According to the professor Ali Sasani, an important element of contemplative practice among the Muslims groups such as Sufis is the sama, a ritual that integrate prayers, poetry, singing, music and dance. The sama, which is a Arabic word literally meaning is “listening” is the notion that the ear is conduit providing access for sacred sound to penetrate a person’s inner being. The various elements of the sama, namely poetry, music and dance, either individually or in combination, become aids that enrapture a person and, through a heightened state of consciousness, release him or her temporarily from the world of the senses and the bondage of the nafs or ego-self. If effective, sama results in a state of (wajd,) “ectasy” which mean literally connecting with the divine in the depths of one’s self.

The dance which is considered an important feature by a major Sufic group the Mevlvis of the Turkey, as they themselves are popularly known the dancing whirling Dervishes. According to Professor Ali Sasani, it is difficult to know the exact date of such remarkable ritual, when it took place, as it is affiliated to Maulana Jalal- Din Rumi who was born in 1207, in Balkh which is presently in Afghanistan, was the founder of sufic music and spontaneous dancing, who is also known the most influential exponent of the Islamic mysticism. The most of Muslims regard his poetic epic, the Mathnawi-e-m’anawi “the spiritual couplets” to be a wonderful, and insightful commentary in Persian about the deeply hidden spiritual meaning of the holy Quran; The main theme of Maulana Rumi is the eternal yearning of all creation for the creator. The passions of Rumi for the sama was such that his poetry was permeated with vast number of symbols and allusions to music and dance. Maulana Rumi also connects different musical instrument as symbols of his own spiritual or mystical experience. The most famous expression of his love for music is reflected in the song of the Reed with which he begins the Mathnawi:-

LISTEN TO THE REED, HOW IT TELLS A TALE,

COMPLAINING OF SEPARATION………..

According the narration of professor Ali Sasani of this poem of Rumi in which the reed flute is the symbol of the soul which has been cut off from the eternal ground of existence, like the reed flute from the reed bed. Maulana Rumi’s predilection and particularly fond of portraying the human lover of God as a musical instrument which comes to life only the hands of the Divine Beloved, when He blows the wind into them: string instruments when He plucks or caresses them and percussion instruments when He beats them;

The professor further explains about the vision of Maulana Rumi “that all creation within the context of an event that occurred in pré-eternity, with reference of of the holy Quranic Surah 7:171; God addressed the yet uncreated creation with the words “ Alastu bi Rabbikum?”( Am I not your lord?) Creation replied “bala shahina” (yes we witness it). This event interpreted by most sufi as the the establishment of the primordial covenant between God and creation called the day of alast in sufi lore is one that dominate the conscience of the Muslim mystic.

According to the Sufi the mode of human existence at that point in the time is most perfect and even more true and real than that acquired by creation.The mystical experience actualise this primordial event by returning the human soul to the state of perfection and uniting it once again with Divine essence within originated. The music which gives awareness and awakening to the human soul of which in essence experienced of joy and pleasure for being united to the God, Rumi further states in his poems:-

WE ALL PART OF ADAM AND HEARD THOSE MELODIES IN PARADISE,

THOUGH WATER AND CLAY HAVE COVERED US WITH DOUBT

WE STILL REMEMBER SOMETHING OF THOSE SOUNDS

HENCE IT IS THAT THE SAMA IS THE FOOD OF THE LOVERS FOR

WITHIN IT THEY FIND THE IMAGE OF THE MEETING OF THE BELOVED,

The translation of the professor from Persian of the Mathnawi, that the memory of that day excite the human soul and elevate it to ecstasy; which is manifested in the movements and dance that shake the cage of the human body as the ego-self is being transformed:

DANCE WHERE YOU CAN BREAK YOUR OWN SELF AND PLUCK OUT THE COTON FROM THE WOUND OF SENSUALITY!

PEOPLE DANCE AND FROLIC IN THE SQUARE- MEN DANCES IN THEIR OWN BLOOD

WHEN THEY HAVE BEEN DELIVERED FROM THEIR OWN HANDS,THEY CLAP THEIR HANDS

WHEN THEY HAVE JUMPED OUTSIDE OF THEIR OWN IMPERFECTION,THEY DANCE

According to the translation that Rumi call and urge to participate in the dance of the sama comes from nowhere else but heaven. It is through the sama that the soul can be liberated from the fetter of earthly existence:

WHEN YOU ENTER THE SAMA, YOU ARE OUTSIDE THE TWO WORLDS:

THE WORLD OF THE SAMA IS OUTSIDE EACH OF THE TWO WORLDS:

ALTHOUGH THE ROOF OF THE SEVENTH HEAVEN IS A HIGH ONE, THE

LADDER OF THE SAMA PASSES (EVEN) BEYOND THIS ROOF.

DANCE ON EVERTHING OTHER THAN HIM (GOD) UNDER YOUR FEET!

THE SAMA BELONGS TO YOU AND YOU BELONG TO IT!

Rumi carries even further this explanation alluding to the events on the day of the primordial covenant he sees the process of creation as a great cosmic dance in which all created beings, peacefully sleeping in the tranquillity of state of the non-existence, hear the Divine call and rush into existence in an ecstatic dance.

A CALL REACHED NOT BEING; NOT BEING, SAID “YES I SHALL PUT MY FEET ON THAT SIDE, FRESH AND GREEN AND JOYFUL,”

IT HEARD THE ALAST, IT CAME FORTH RUNNING AND INTOXICATED.

IT WAS NOT BEING AND BECAME BEING (MANIFESTED IN ) TULIPS AND WILLOWS AND SWEET BASIL.

Even after the moment of its actualisation, creation continues its dance in a regulated manner, accounting for the well-established order of the cosmos. The entire creation, from the heavens to the tiniest particles of dust floating in the air, is involved in a perpetual dance around the Divine Beloved, Thus, the sama that the human beings practice on this earth is just a small branch of the eternal spiritual dance in which everything created participates knowingly or unknowingly.

THE SAMA OF THE EARTH IS A BRANCH OF THE SAMA OF THE HEAVEN,

AND THAT WHICH IS THE SAMA OF THE BODY

IS A BRANCH OF THE SAMA OF THE MIND AND HEART.

Rumi’s interpretation of the sama as a ritual that serves to reawaken and excite within humans the nostalgia for the day of the primordial covenant, constituted the basis of later commentaries written among Mevlevis and others to explain the significance of the highly ritualised form of the whirling dance. The circular motion represents the descent of the soul into the material world and its subsequent ascent into the spiritual realm. According to the another explanation in performing sama the mystic traveller turns from the orient of being to the occident of non-being and from the occident of non-being to the orient of being with God.

Like a mill crushes barley, the sama crushes mankind’s illusionary existence, Symbolising the sama as a door leading to God; Rumi says in the following poem:-

BE PURE AND BECOME THE DUST OF THE DOORWAY

BE NOT ARROGANT CONCERNING THE SAMA OF THE LOVERS

IF YOU DENY THEIR SAMA YOU WILL BE GATHERED UP WITH THE DOGS

ON THE DAY OF RESURRECTION.

Finally, ultimately, for Rumi; the sama by integrating music, poetry and dance, is a transformative ritual that sparks a spiriftual awakening in the inner depths of an individual by tapping into the deep spiritual potential embedded within all human beings and; indeed, all creation.The ritual he was fond of and so strongly advocated must have fulfilled a fundamental spiritual need among his followers otherwise it would not have survived among them with such vigour for several centuries.

“ MANY ROADS LEAD TO GOD, I HAVE CHOSEN THAT OF MUSIC AND DANCE”

(Rumi is once believed to have said)

Copied from “A MYSTICAL JOURNEY”

For Website of Hunzatimes

By Karim Imamdad

Paris 02/01/09

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