Contemplative Inquiry

“Music, the word we use in our everyday language, is nothing less than the picture of the Beloved. It is because music is the picture of the Beloved that we love music. But the question is: What is our Beloved, or where is our Beloved? The Beloved is that which is our source and goal. What we see of our Beloved before our physical eyes is the beauty of that which is before us. That part of our Beloved that is not before our physical eyes is that inner form of Beauty of which our Beloved speaks to us.” (1,2)

In these words, Hazrat Inayat Khan, musician, philosopher and Sufi teacher, explains the role of music in Sufi culture. Sufis seek a personal relationship, or union, with the Divine, which throughout their history has lead to conflicts with religious formalists within Islam. And whereas many of us who seek that connection, or union, find it in stillness and silence, Sufis often  seek and find it in music and movement – in states of expressive joy rather than quiet equanimity. Hazrat Inayat Khan continues:

“What makes … the musician sing beautiful songs? It is the inspiration that beauty gives. The Sufi has called this beauty Saqi, the divine Giver, who gives the wine of life to all. What is the wine of the Sufi? All beauty: in form, line and colour, in imagination, in sentiment, in manners – in all this he sees the one beauty. All these different forms are part of this Spirit of beauty, which is the life behind, always blessing … But among all the different arts, the art of music has been especially considered divine, because it is the exact miniature of the law working through the whole universe.

“Music inspires not only the soul of the great musician, but every infant, the instant it comes into the world, begins to move its little arms and legs with the rhythm of music. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that music is the language of beauty, the language of the One whom every living soul has loved. And we can understand that, if we realise the perfection of all this beauty as God, our Beloved, then it is natural that music, which we see in art and in the whole universe, should be called the Divine Art.”

The musical form above is called Qawwali. It arose in Hindustan, as a fusion of Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Indian traditions, for performance at Sufi shrines or dargahs. It is famous throughout Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. However the group featured above are from Birmingham, England. They have added to the fusion of Qawwali by introducing Western orchestral instruments and call their work ‘Orchestral Qawwali’. Man Kunto Maula is a well-known song in the modern Qawwali repertoire. The singer here is Abi Sampa and the production is by Rushil. This music does not directly reflect my personal practice, yet I feel moved and inspired by it when I listen.

(1) Hazrat Inayat Khan The Mysticism of Sound and Music: the Sufi Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan Delhi/Mumbai: Grapevine India, 2024 (Shambhala Dragon Editions)

(2) See also: https://contemplativeinquiry.blog/2025/01/21/the-way-of the heart/