Encyclopedia of Islam

qawwali

  

567  J

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qawwali group has a lead singer, a few back-up 

singers, a harmonium player, a tabla player, and 

a chorus of men singing and clapping. The rhyth-

mic drive of qawwali is powered by the clapping 

and the percussion, and this provides a dynamic 

backdrop to the searching and soulful singing 

associated with qawwali. Qawwali incorporates 

within its structure the classical music forms of 

raag (melody) and taal (rhythm).

Qawwali is the music of the South Asian 

Sufis, especially those belonging to the c

hishti

s

UFi

  o

rder

, who ultimately seek a complete 

spiritual union with God. Unlike orthodox Islam, 

s

UFism

 uses poetry and music in order to induce 

a mystical experience. The lyrics sung in qawwali

include praises of God and m

Uhammad

, and they 

often employ metaphoric language and symbolic 

imagery in order to illustrate the pain of separa-

tion and the ecstasy of reunion. The poet is often 

characterized as the spurned and dejected lover, 

tirelessly searching for the Beloved/God. Thus, 

these Sufi compositions are profound on a num-

ber of levels; a mundane reading of the poetry 

paints a picture of a lover gone mad separated 

from the beloved, while a more symbolic reading 

illuminates the pain an individual soul feels when 

alienated from God. This is evident in the follow-

ing lyrics from a poem by Bulhe Shah (d. 1758) 

of the Punjab:

Falling in love with you 

Was like taking a sip of poison 

Come my healer, forsaken, I am sad 

For your love has made me dance like mad

(trans. Kartar Singh Dugal)

In addition to Bulhe Shah, qawwali singers use 

the compositions of other renowned South Asian 

medieval mystical poets in their songs, such as 

Amir Khusrow (d. 1325), Kabir (15th century), 

Guru Nanak (d. 1539), and Shah Husayn (d. 

1599). The range of languages represented in 

qawwali is indicative of the great cultural and 

geographical diversity that Sufism seeks to incor-

porate. These languages include Persian, Arabic, 

Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Braj Basha, and Rajasthani.

See also m

aJnUn

 

and

 l

ayla

; 

soUl

 

and

 

spirit

.

Varun Soni