Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sings Bulleh Shah
I had earlier posted a video of Abida Parveen singing Bulleh Shah. While that is an all time favourite, the global voice of Nusrat…
Ajmer – my scuttled travel plans
Ajmer Shareef is a spiritual centre-point in South Asia. It is not just another Muslim Saint’s dergah but represents the glorious tradition of inclusiveness…
Abida Parveen sings Bulleh Shah’s teray ishq nachaya..
Bullhe Shah, I sit at Inayat's door,
He clothed me in robes of green and red.
When I stamped my heel, I found him.
Compelled by love…
Bulleh Shah and Abida Parveen
Bulleh Shah’s timeless verse has been celeberated by several artists but it is Abida Parveen the immensely gifted singer, a bit of dervish herself,…
The Cow – a parable
Amardeep has posted the following Sufi parable related by Idries Shah with a request to respond to his humorous interpretation. I left a comment there. Others might be interested…
On infinite love – from Kashul Mahjub
Found these moving lines from Kashful Mahjub courtesy the seeker. Kashful Mahjub is one of the early treatises on Sufism and has shown light to many Sufis world-wide.…
Women Sufis of Delhi
One of my favourite verses of the Quran is Surah Al Azhab which makes it clear that spiritual blessings are intended for both righteous…
Mian Mir
Yesterday, devotees were lighting lamps at the shrine of Mian Mir in Lahore to commemorate the saint’s 383rd Urs (death anniversary). Hazrat Mian Mir…
The Sultan of Hearts
The Sultan of Hearts Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya Sadia Dehlvi The 6th of this May marked the 682n AD/703 Hijri death anniversary or Urs celebrations…
Sufi Zikr – inspiration for a painting
This is a painting that I revisited and converted its earlier abstract form into a calligraphic experiment. Now the challenge was that in addition…
On Rumi, Iqbal and ‘Dynamic Sufism’
Pakistan celeberates Allama Iqbal’s death anniversary on April 21 with the usual lip-service. The key messages of Iqbal seem to have been lost in…
Husn-e-Haqiqi by Arieb Azhar
I discovered this video courtesy a blog at Naqsh. This is a soulful rendition of powerful lyrics by Khawaja Ghulam Farid; and the images…
Images from Data Saheb’s Shrine
Saw this news item today – “Data Sahib’s 963rd urs concludes: Around 500,000 attend final prayers”.The news item reported that around 0.9 million visited…
More on Data Ganj Bakhsh of Lahore
Further to yesterday’s post on Data Saheb, Shirazi Saheb from Lahore has sent this story related to Data Ganj Baksh. The incident seems to…
Shaikh Ali Hujwiri – Data Saheb of Lahore
Originally uploaded by Jahane Rumi The shrine of Shaikh Ali Hajweri, Data Ganj Bakhsh, or Data Sahib is a landmark of sorts in the subcontinent.…
Nizamuddin Auliya – for Marta Franceschini
My post on the pictures of Nizamuddin Auliya's dergah (shrine) attracted a visitor whose devotion to the great Nizamuddin is quite touching…
Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.
By Jalal-Uddin Rumi Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. Friends are enemies sometimes, and enemies friends. I was a tiny…
Love All and Hate None – Moinuddin Chishti
Ajmer continues to enchant me…these lines from the last discourse of Khwaja Mu’inuddin Chishti manifest the poignancy of Sufi ways (tareeqat). “Love all and…
Ajmer – this Friday..
The saint of saints (Khawaje Khawaji-gaan) buried in Ajmer is a centre-point of Sufi thought and practice in the Indian subcontinent even today… Pilgrims…
Pictures from Delhi – Getting to Nizamuddin and Ghalib
My friend ST was in Delhi recently. After returning to Islamabad, he sent me the following pictures of his visits to the great locality…