Ho Lal Meri Pat
Rakhiyo Bhala Jhoole Laalan
Sindhri Da..
Sehwan Da Sakhi Shahbaz Qalandar
Dama Dam Mast Qalandar
Ali Dam Dam De Andar
Ho Dama Dam Mast Qalandar
Ali Da Pahla Namber
Ho Laal Meri
Ho Laal Meri…
*

Soft soothing absorbing light goes circling me, showering love.
Perhaps it is me who is circling the glowing warm glorious light.
Music is flowing, revolving, working as Time it has harmonized every moment.
Truly, that is why my whirling floating steps don’t stop.
Bright suns, moons, planets dance round and round, in absolute bliss.
I quietly follow the bliss as I listen. It is the Sama.
Long, long time back ago, Rumi, the Sufi saint, was passing a market place when he heard the gold beaters at work, their hammering noise was melody to him as he could hear ‘la ilaha ilallah’ (no god but Allah) in that beating of the gold. Rumi, exhilarated, started dancing and whirling there and then.
It was the first Sama.
*




Sama means listening, listening to the One, meditating and accepting the One wholly.
Sufis have the tradition to celebrate the Sama, a spiritual concert; with praying, singing, dancing and reciting poems begins this mystical journey to surpass visual reality and enter the divine world – no self, but the Self.
The whirling dance, the soulful music slowly takes you away to be in the light of the Ultimate, a close encounter so as you listen and listen truly what is beyond the five senses, and then you return amongst many imperfections, but this time with a compassionate heart and a free soul.
Rhythmic patterns of the bright light haven’t disappeared.
My spinning steps haven’t stopped either. Feather hands guide me.
The macrocosm meets the microcosm, politely becoming a wave.
At some time I settle down, quietly look up and stay there.
*




[Image – Pixabay]
*
Dama Dam Mast Qalandar is a qawwali (form of Sufi devotional music) sung in honour of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a revered Sufi saint.
Listen to the mesmerising Dama Dam Mast Qalandar performed by the Pakistani band, Junoon –
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