Holy Shrine of Amir Khusro

Holy Shrine of Amir Khusro
Originally uploaded by flickr photographerno1

Ab’ul Hasan Yamīn al-Dīn Khusrow (Persian: ابوالحسن یمین‌الدین خسرو‎ ,Hindi:अबुल हसन यमीनुददीन ख़ुसरो) (1253-1325 CE), better known as Amir Khusro Dehlavi or Amir Khusraw Balkhi in Afghanistan and Iran (in Persian اميرخسرو دهلوى Amīr Khusraū Dehlavī), is one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Amir Khusro (or Khusrau or Khusraw) was not only one of India’s greatest poets, he is also credited with being the founder of both Hindustani classical music and Qawwali (the devotional music of the Sufis).[citation needed] He was born of a Turkish father, Saif ad-Dīn, and an Indian mother, in India[1].

Khusro was a prolific classical poet associated with the royal courts of more than seven rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. He is popular in much of North India and Pakistan, because of many playful riddles, songs and legends attributed to him. Through his enormous literary output and the legendary folk personality, Khusro represents one of the first (recorded) Indian personages with a true multi-cultural or pluralistic identity.

He wrote in both Persian and Hindustani. His poetry is still sung today at Sufi shrines throughout Pakistan and India.

Amir Khusro was the author of a Khamsa which emulated that of the earlier Persian-language poet Nizami Ganjavi. His work was considered to be one of the great classics of Persian poetry during the Timurid period in Transoxiana.

[edit] Amir Khusro and the origins of the Sitar and the Tabla
Amir Khusro is credited with fashioning the tabla as a split version of the traditional Indian drum, the pakhawaj.

Popular lore also credits him with inventing the sitar, the Indian grand lute, but it is more likely that the Amir Khusro associated with the sitar lived in the 18th century (he is said to be a descendant of the son-in-law of Tansen, the celebrated classical singer in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar). Even this 18th century Amir Khusro probably made significant contributions to the sitar, but did not invent it. See Origin Of Sitar and About Sitars.

[edit] Some samples of Khusro’s poetry

[edit] Persian couplets
اَگر فِردؤس بر رُو-ائے زمین اَست،
ہمین اَست-او ہمین اَست-او ہمین اَست۔

Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.

If there is paradise on face of the earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this (Kashmir)

check: this couplet is thought to be due to mughal emperor shahjahaan and to refer to the valley of kashmir

[edit] Persian poems
Kafir-e-ishqam musalmani mara darkaar neest
Har rag-e mun taar gashta hajat-e zunnaar neest;
Az sar-e baaleen-e mun bar khez ay naadaan tabeeb
Dard mand-e ishq ra daroo bajuz deedaar neest;
Nakhuda dar kashti-e maagar nabashad go mubaash
Ma khuda daareem mara nakhuda darkaar neest;
Khalq migoyad, ki Khusrau butparasti mikunad
Aare-aare mikunam, ba khalq mara kaar neest.

I am a pagan (worshipper) of love: the creed (of Muslims) I do not need;
Every vein of mine has become (taut like a) wire the (pagan) girdle I do not need.
Leave from my bedside, you ignorant physician!
The only cure for the patient of love is the sight of his beloved –
other than this no medicine does he need.
If there be no pilot in our boat, let there be none:
We have god in our midst: the pilot we do not need.
The people of the world say that Khusrau worships idols.
So I do, so I do; the people I do not need,
the world I do not need.

[edit] Hindi couplets
ख़ुसरो दरिया प्रेम का, उलटी वा की धार,
जो उतरा सो डूब गया, जो डूबा सो पार.

Khusro dariya prem ka, ulṭī vā kī dhār,
Jo utrā so ḍūb gayā, jo ḍūbā so pār.

Khusro! the river of love has a reverse flow
One who avoids drowns and one who drowns gets across.

सेज वो सूनी देख के रोवुँ मैं दिन रैन,
पिया पिया मैं करत हूँ पहरों, पल भर सुख ना चैन.
Sej vo sūnī dekh ke rovun main din rain,
Piyā piyā main karat hūn pahron, pal bhar sukh nā chain.

Upon seeing the empty bed I cry night and day
Wooing for my beloved all day, I have not a single moment of rest.

[edit] Major life events in chronological order
1253 Khusro was born in Patiali near Etah in what is today the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. His father Amir Saifuddin came from Balkh in modern day Afghanistan and his mother hailed from Delhi.
1260 After the death of his father, Khusro went to Delhi with his mother.
1271 Khusro compiled his first divan of poetry, “Tuhfatus-Sighr”.
1272 Khusro got his first job as court poet with King Balban’s nephew Malik Chhajju.
1276 Khusro started working as a poet with Bughra Khan (Balban’s son).
1279 While writing his second divan, Wastul-Hayat, Khusrau visited Bengal.
1281 Employed by Sultan Mohammad (Balban’s second son) and went to Multan with him.
1285 Khusro participated as a soldier in the war against the invading Mongols. He was taken prisoner, but escaped.
1287 Khusro went to Awadh with Ameer Ali Hatim (another patron).
1288 His first mathnavi, “Qiranus-Sa’dain” was completed.
1290 When Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji came to power, Khusro’s second mathnavi, “Miftahul Futooh” was ready.
1294 His third divan “Ghurratul-Kamal” was complete.
1295 Ala ud din Khilji (sometimes spelled “Khalji”) came to power and invaded Devagiri and Gujarat.
1298 Khusro completed his “Khamsa-e-Nizami”.
1301 Khilji attacked Ranthambhor, Chittor, Malwa and other places, and Khusro remained with the king in order to write chronicles.
1310 Khusro became close to Nizamuddin Auliya, and completed Khazain-ul-Futuh.
1315 Alauddin Khilji died. Khusro completed the mathnavi “Duval Rani-Khizr Khan” (a romantic poem).
1316 Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah became the king, and the fourth historical mathnavi “Noh-Sepehr” was completed.
1321 Mubarak Khilji (sometimes spelled “Mubarak Khalji”) was murdered and Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq came to power. Khusro started to write the Tughluqnama.
1325 Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq came to power. Nizamuddin Auliya died, and six months later so did Khusro. Khusro’s tomb is next to that of his master in the Nizamuddin Dargah of Delhi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amir_Khusro


March 19th, 2007