“THE KASHMIRI SUFI ROCKER WHO HOPES TO BRING THE DEPTH OF HIS BELOVED PERSIAN, URDU AND KASHMIRI POETS TO A NEW AUDIENCE.”
Yeh zikr hai kiska inn aabsharo mein
Dilkash Nazaron mein, Chaaro chinaro mein
Hai yakeen ye zameen se waasta mera
Yeh daastan apna pata deti isharon mein
Hai yeh khalish kaisi mere asharon mein
Dohra rahi hai vaadiyan, raaz yeh aawaz yeh
-Yeh zikr hai kiska inn aabsharo mein
-Dilkash Nazaron mein, Chaaro chinaro mein
Yoor walo Yumbarzaloo, myani vati aki lati
Posh bag, aab naag, chon naav chon naav
Ajnabee tha kabhee yeh aashna mera
Ek kafila mujhko mila dil kee deewaron mein
Hai yeh Kashish kaisi behte shikaron sey
Dohra rahi hai vaadiyan, raaz yeh aawaz yeh
-Yeh zikr hai kiska inn aabsharo mein
-Dilkash Nazaron mein, Chaaro chinaro mein
Hai sufi faqeeron ki taseer isme
Apni hee paayi hai tehreer isme
Udtey parinde ghar ham chale
Hai yeh tapish kaisi jalte sitaron mein
Dohra rahi hai vaadiyan- raaz yeh awaz yeh
-Yeh zikr hai kiska inn aabsharo mein
-Dilkash Nazaron mein, Chaaro chinaro mein
Yawar Abdal stood on a university stage, his Epiphone in hand. He said a short prayer, “Alhamdulillah”, and the curtains went up. For a brief moment, surrounded by a fog of dry ice, Abdal closed his eyes and listened to the crowd in the packed auditorium. “Goosebumps,” he told me when we met the next day at a cafe in Delhi, a few months ago. “This is what I was born to do.”
Yawar believes that Kashmiri music holds great virtue, the depth in the poetry of Kashmiri poets is too much. “Kashmiri Sufi poets had a long story to tell, it is equally difficult to understand their messages as it is to understand Maulana Rumi. I want people from every corner of the world to remember our Kashmiri poets as they know Ghalib and Rumi.
In a Valley that has seen turbulent and tumultuous times, often marred by hate and intolerance, Yawar Abdal wants to spread the message of peace, love, and harmony, through the words of legendary poets Mirza Ghalib, Mahjoor, and Amir Khusrow, through Kashmiri music.
