The sweet-tongued parrot of India

By Joginder Singh Bedi

THE spirit of socio-religious integration which Amir Khusrau, a poet-patriot and an integrationist of eminence of the 13th century India, strove to instill into the minds of his fellow countrymen assumes greater relevance in the context of the political happenings today.

Recognising Khusrau’s untiring and invaluable contribution towards the promotion of communal amity, secularism and strong bonds of brotherhood, well-known historian Barni commented: "The incomparable Amir Khusrau stands out unparalleled for the volume of his secular verses as well as for his original ideas on the theme of integration."

Through his poetic outpourings, Khusrau fashioned a Hindu-Muslim synthesis both in letter and spirit as also strong spirit of social and national solidarity. He eulogised:

Neither am I Hindu nor Mussulman,
Let us sit to spin,
Abandoning religious pride.
Neither a Sunni nor a Shia,
I have taken the path of complete peace and unity.
Neither am I hungry nor satisfied,
Nor naked I, nor covered.
Neither am I weeping nor laughing,
Nor deserted nor settled.
Neither a sinner nor a pure one,
I am not walking in the way of either sin or virtue.
O Khusrau, in all hearts I feel the Lord,
Therefore Hindus and Mussulmans both have I abandoned.

Khusrau was a secular poet, who composed a large number of Hindi verses. The Hindi words and phrases occurring in his Persian verses seem to indicate that this language of easy communication came to his mind spontaneously, and he used it as a vehicle to convey his message of the essential unity of man. Take for instance the following verse in which Khusrau gives expression to his sentiments of humility, love for the poor, and pangs of separation from God:

Be not indifferent to this poor man,
Do not keep away from me,
I’ve no power to endure separation,
Why don’t you embrace me?
By the day of union with my beloved,
Who played tricks with me.
O’Khusrau, I’ll not bother of the cares of my hearts,
If I find a chance to see my love.

Since Khusrau was an integrationist to the core, his literary and poetic output remained confined within the framework of Sufism. He believed that it was mandatory for man to earn but the means of earning a livelihood should bring man closer to man and take them nearer Allah.

It was but for Khusrau’s unique, secular and humanitarian outlook that Hazrat Nizam-ud-Din Auliya sang the following quatrain in his honour:

There are few comparable to Khusrau in poetry and prose;
Khusrau is the monarch of the secular poetry;
He is our Khusrau, not merely Nasir-i-Khusrau,
May Allah help my Khusrau.
The credit of investing the qawwals with the insignia of ‘props of the throne’ goes to Amir Khusrau.

He invented the famous musical instrument — the sitar — and created several melodic compositions by blending Persian and Indian tunes. Undoubtedly, the popular Indian melodies such as qawl, which are extensively used by the qawwals are the inventions of Khusrau. Besides, he introduced prominent styles of music viz. The khayal and the ghazal. These melodic idioms too produced an electrifying effect in bringing about socio-religious unity among the Hindus and Muslims which was the prime need of the hour.

Amir Khusrau rendered his Sufi compositions so melodiously that Sultan Alla-ud-Din Khilji proudly called him "the sweet-tongued parrot of India". He was made the court poet, an honour which continued throughout the reign of Prince Mohammed Shah, and Sultan Ghias-ud-Din Balban, King of Delhi.

In his book Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru pays a glorious tribute to Khusrau in the following terms:

"Khusrau’s songs are widely sung and may be heard in any village or town of the country. Especially when the rains set in and in every village swings are hung from the branches of the mango or the pipal tree, the young ones sing Khusrau’s songs in a spirit of glee."

In the Indian and Pakistani Punjab, the festival of Teej is celebrated with great enthusiasm by the young and newly married girls in the month of July.

On this festive occasion, the romantic songs of Khusrau are sung with utmost love and affection by the girls while enjoying the ride in the swings.

An in-depth and analytical study of the legacy of Amir Khusrau establishes that his contribution in the discipline of ecclesiastic music and melody is not only invaluable but also incomparable. Besides inventing khayal and ghazal, Khusrau is also remembered as a unique composer of melodic tunes. By blending Indian and Persian music, he produced ragas like Mujeer, Sazgari, Ush-shaq, Eman Muwafiq, Ghanam Zilaf, Fargana, Sarparda, Bakhirat, Fardost and Manam.

Amir Khusrau, whose complete name was Abul Hassan Yamin-ud-Din Khusrau, was born in the renowned Turkish family on July 26, 1253, in Mominpur village in Ettah district of Uttar Pradesh. He left his mortal frame at Delhi in the year 1325 shortly after the demise of his Pir, Hazrat Nizam-ud-Din Auliya. To fulfil his last wish, his disciples buried him by the side of the Pir’s grave, reverently known as the sacred tomb of Nizam-ud-Din Auliya.