Abida Pareen – US Tour 1997: Letter by Wazir Dayers

Dear Brother W,

 

This evening I’m sending you a marvelous piece of Sufiana Kalam, performed live by the great Begum Abida Parveen in the USA in 1997. In this piece she sings two poems. The first poem is by the ecstatic Sindhi Sufi and poet Hazrat Sachal Sarmast (R.A.), who lived from 1750 to 1829. Like other great Sufis, e.g. Hazrat Shah Abdul-Latif Bhita’i (1690-1752), Hazrat Sachal Sarmast was extremely tolerant, he saw the same Truth in all religions, and intensely disliked religious formalism and the tyranny of the narrow-minded mullas. This is a translation of Hazrat Sachal Sarmast’s poem: Mahi Yaar Di Gharoli Bhardi.

 

I am going to the well to fill my pitcher

I draw water for my Beloved

I bend over the Water in the Name of God

I serve God and no other

In the darkness, I am the one who seeks Him the most

The chains that bind me fall

When I utter His Name

Hassan and Hussain are the sons of Ali,

I am a slave of Ali,

The one who consoles the sufferings of those who believe in him

O Sachal, all is the Light of God,

And so is Ali, the great Wali

At each moment, with every breath, I repeat: “O Lord, O Lord….”

 

** “Wali” literally means “one who is close [to God]”, i.e. “a friend of God”, “a Saint”.

 

After this first poem, Begum Abida Parveen sings another one, this time by Hazrat Shah Hussain of Lahore (R.A.), who lived from 1538 to 1599. Its title is “Ghoom, Charakhra Sayyan Da” -“Turn, O Precious Spinning Wheel of the Lord”:

 

Turn, O Precious Spinning Wheel of the Lord!

Long live the one who makes you spin!

Repeat His Name with each and every breath,

In order that you may be purified

 

The Spinning Wheel says “Lord, Lord”,

The drive band says “You”

Hussain, the humble faqir, says:

“There is no “I”, for all is “You”!

 

Download these Kalam below:

 

Live in US Tour [1997]

 Dama Dam Mast Qalandar – Abida Parveen Live in US (8:32)
 Ghungroo Toot Gaye – Abida Parveen Live in US (8:16)
 Jab Se Tune Mujhe Diwana Bana Rakha Hai – Abida Parveen Live in US (10:56)
 Man Kunto Maula – Abida Parveen Live in US (13:41)
 Raga Aiman Kalyan [Yaman Kalyan] – Abida Parveen Live in US (8:52)
 Mahi Yaar Di Gharoli Bhardi/Ghoom, Charakhra Sayyan Da – Abida Parveen Live in US (13:43)

 

Yours affectionately,

 

Wazir