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the-south-asian.com November 2004 |
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November
2004 South Asia Today
Wildlife Adventure
Books Between
Heaven and Hell
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Page 3 of 4 Sufis - the 'poet-saints' by Salman Saeed Minhas (cntd.) Sufis were great
intellectuals - men of letters and poets of
Many South Asian songs, celebrating the memory of the Sufis of Sindh, have turned the names of some of the holy saints into household names in India and Pakistan. Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and Jhulay Lal were two of the holy figures who have been remembered to this day in popular songs . Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was born Pir Usman Shah in Marwand now Afghanistan in the twelfth century and is also known as Shaikh Usman Marvandi [1177- 1274 AD] . His annual Urs [birthday] celebrations are held on the 18 Shahban - the eighth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. He migrated to Sindh and settled in Sehwan and was buried there. Sehwan is located on the right bank of the Indus about 180 miles north of Karachi. Sehwan is famous for its ancient Shiva temple and the remains of Kafir-Qila, a fort reportedly made by Alexander. About 16 km. from Sehwan is a very large fresh water lake called Manchar [ about a 100 sq. miles and is used by migrating fowl in the winter].
It is believed that Lal Shabaz Qalandar was so named because of the red robe he wore all his life , and that he turned into a falcon to pick up his friend Sheikh Farid Shakar Ganj from the gallows of fanatics . The Hindus are supposed to revere him as the incarnation of Bhartihari, the saintly brother of Vikramaditya, who apparently worshipped Shiva at the spot where Lal Shahbaz’s shrine stands today in Sehwan, on the banks of the Indus. Jhoolay Lal’s [also called Udero Lal, Amar Lal or Lal Sain] origins are also shrouded in myth. It is believed that he was born to a Hindu couple Rattan Rao Luhana and his wife Devaki in Nasarpur . In paintings he is shown as a boy in a silver swing [ hence the name "jhulay" ] cradle. As a youth leader he is supposed to have saved a large number of people [from genocide] who were being persecuted by Mirkh Shah at a time when the Arabs were on the decline and the Soomros were on the rise in Sindh - around the time of Alauddin Khilji, king of Delhi. Jhoolay lal is depicted in pictures as a man with a white beard and seated on the fruit of the Indus river, that is, the famous Indus fish called "palla". These two Sufi saints, whose names are still remembered in popular songs today, were part of the large group of peaceful scholar missionaries who migrated from Central Asia and the Arab empire of Baghdad and Damascus when the Mongol armies of Genghis Kahn sacked the cities there around 1000 -1200. Khushwant Singh writing in his book " A History of Sikhs" remarks that " ...Neither the succession of victories by Muslim armies nor the massacre of Hindus and the destruction of their temples brought many Hindus to the fold of Islam. On the contrary , as would be natural in the circumstances, conquest only built up Hindu resistance. The battles of Islam were won not by Muslim iconoclasts but by peaceful missionaries ."The great pioneers of this 13th century Sufi movement were four friends known as "Chaar Yaar". Baba Farid Shakar Ganj of Pakpattan [1174-1266]; Jalaluddin Bukhari of Uch- Bahawalpur [1196-1294]; Bahauddin Zakaria of Multan [1170-1267] and Lal Shahbaz Qalandar of Sehwan [1177-1274 ] . It is said that 17 leading tribes of Punjab accepted Islam at the hands of Baba Farid . Some of these tribes were Kharals, Dhudhyan, Tobian and also Wattoo, a Rajput tribe. Jalaluddin Bukhari converted the Soomros and Sammas of Sindh while Shahbaz Qalandar had a great following in Multan and Northern Sindh. For an excellent article on the work of these Sufis see the article on the web http://paknews.org/articles/dec98/art2dec-22.html] by Kemal Hasan.
Sachal Sarmast [1739- 1829]
Do I hide my nature, and show myself as another ? Sinful it is to know others, all form is God .- Sachal Sarmast Born by the name of Abdul Wahab in the village of Daraza [ about 52 miles from Khairpur in upper Sindh. His adopted name Sachal means one living in truth . Sarmast a popular name was added because his poetry is filled with abandonment and joy. Sar- mast means a leader of the "intoxicated" - the intoxication is one of search for truth. Sachal's poetry was an ocean of wonder. Sachal was a Persian - Arabic scholar who wrote poetry and preached: - " Guru and Govind are the same " , - "Sachu is a pujari of Porbandar" , -" I am neither a mullah nor a Brahmin; His imposing mausoleum is built with Sindi Kashi blue tiles and his walking stick and tamboora [ the Sindhi musical instrument ] are still preserved there. It is said that he lived simply, on meals consisting of daal [lentils] and dahi [yoghurt], slept on a bare wooden divan [bed] . He is remembered as a humble man with long hair, and a melancholy appearance. It is said that he was a great lover of music and his kafis [verses] and kalam [sayings ] were inscribed by his followers and fellow fakirs [holy men] after he had said them aloud.
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