I swear to God, I am not lying.
I was in the Bismillah Hotel in Karachi,
the one near my house, drinking chai and there was a song playing in the hotel…
’’What else does my heart contain but your anguish and your name?’’
And I began to weep in Sarkar’s remembrance.
Just as I was crying inconsolably, the song was playing…
Why Do We Sing and Listen to Songs?
Look, keep one thing in mind.
There is a statement of Prophet Muhammad (s):
innamal amaalu bin niyaat
- your actions depend on your intentions.
Now, if we sing or listen to a song,
it’s not like we’re listening to these songs in remembrance of our girlfriends.
We sing and listen to the songs in remembrance of our spiritual guide.
And they are just words, not someone’s property.
And it’s all about who you’re visualising and what your intentions are.
‘’Having placed you in my heart…’’
Now, who do we have in our hearts except the spiritual master?’ ‘’...
I shall close my eyes and worship you’’.
Although this is a song,
we do not consider it a song but rather the emotions we feel for your spiritual master.
Like the song, ‘’Gohar, your love is my worship for whom else do I have but you?’’
These songs are sung by professional singers
with professional musicians and they are enjoyable
whereas hymns and odes are not professionally sung.
Otherwise, if there was an element of professionalism in our hymns then we wouldn’t sing songs, we would sing the hymns.
So, don't judge a book by its cover.
Don’t judge a man - because that man who delivers discourses on spirituality
every single day before 2,500 people and while speaking about God and the Messenger, he suddenly begins to sing songs…
is he insane?
Of course, he is not insane.
So, he is not actually singing,
he is using the words of the song to express his emotions for his Master.
If his intentions were simply to sing the song,
wouldn’t he rather sing in private instead of disgracing himself in front of 2,500 people?
If he wanted to do something silly like that,
he would do it after turning off the cameras.
It’s not like he has to suddenly start playing songs in front of all these people here for God and the Messenger
- he has them listen to the Qur’an and then a song. That would be insanity.
But you think that he is playing a song.
Now, although it is a song and the lyrics are the same,
some people listen to it for their loved ones while others for their Master.
And there are certain songs that seem like they were only written for the Master.
‘’Having placed you in my heart, I will close my eyes and worship you’’
- has there ever been a wife who worshipped her husband in her heart?
Therefore, we consider this song to be written for the Master.
‘’Standing in thy path, holding our hearts, we are crazy in your name’’.
Have you ever seen your wife standing in your wake, holding her heart?
It’s not the heart she holds, she grabs the neck.
Like the song: ‘’When something goes wrong, when calamity strikes, stand by my side, my beloved’’.
We sing this song for our Master.
And it only befits Sarkar.
When something goes wrong, when calamity strikes, it’s not your boyfriend who saves you, it is your Master.
So, there are certain songs that only befit the Master, no one else.
For instance, Noor Jehan’s song
‘’The mirror of my heart is adorned with your image, my beloved.
The Lord created me for your sake, I am predestined to be yours’’.
Now, these sorts of things are not said for girlfriends and boyfriends,
that ‘I have been your property since the beginning’,
God knows what they talk about but these words of the song are chaste and pure.
This is not about girlfriends and boyfriends,
this is about the disciple and the Master.
I swear to God, I am not lying.
I was in the Bismillah Hotel in Karachi, the one near my house,
drinking chai and there was a song playing in the hotel…
’’What else does my heart contain but your anguish and your name?’’
And I began to weep in Sarkar’s remembrance.
Just as I was crying inconsolably, the song was playing.
I was weeping and when the song ended, I walked up to the desk and asked them to play it again.
He said, ‘No, we shall play another song now’. I said, ‘I will have another chai, play it again’.
I drank several cups of chai.
Played it again and again.
Then what happened?
Sarkar is my witness.
I am listening to this song, lost in Sarkar’s remembrance,
constantly crying,
and someone gently touches my shoulder from behind.
Now, the state I was in...
- although I knew that a special personality had come,
due to the outburst of emotions I was feeling,
I did not pay much attention because in that moment,
I was lost in my beloved.
So, they placed a hand on my shoulder but I continued to cry inconsolably.
Then they applied a little bit of pressure with their hand
and said, ‘Turn around and see’.
When I turned, I saw a very tall young man,
standing there in black clothing.
He said, ‘I have been sent by Sarkar’.
Among many other things,
he told me, ‘I am Usman Marwandi, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.
The spiritual ecstasy you felt by listening to this song is what summoned me to you’.
Honest to God.
So, it depends on your intentions. Who are you listening to the song for?
These songs ‘’what else do I have in my heart but your name’’ are not for girlfriends and boyfriends.
‘’Tales of love were told by people while the true definition of love was taught by Gohar’’
‘’Your countenance engulfs my vision…’’
Now, all these words can only be sung for the Master, not for a girlfriend.
Now I shall tell you something, and you will agree with it.
These are songs which we spiritually attribute to our Master.
Right?
Although they are songs, we are listening to them in the remembrance of our Master.
People don’t accept that.
[On the other hand], there are certain qawwalis containing God’s and the Prophet’s names
that have been used in films along with indecent dancing
and that is acceptable to you!
There are many qawwalis,
like ‘’Bestow courage upon me, O Maula’’.
This is a qawwali.
Now, examine the words of the qawwali and then its application in the films.
Whether you are singing a song or a qawwali does not make a difference, what makes a difference is who you are singing it for.
If you are singing a qawwali while thinking about your girlfriend,
you have ruined the qawwali.
No?
Whereas, if you are singing a song with the visualisation of your Master,
then the song becomes immortalised.
That is our belief.
I often long to hear my name dancing on the lips of Sarkar.
I have said this before, haven’t I?
It was an intense longing.
I would hear Sarkar utter the names of various individuals,
like Nadeem or Saeed Bhai
and the desire for Sarkar to say my name began to burn in my heart.
My heart constantly yearned for this.
I was on my way to Hyderabad from Karachi, towards Kotri.
There is the Taj Complex there, on Bandar Road.
You must have heard of it.
They have coaches there you can use for travel.
I sat in an air-conditioned coach.
The other normal coaches were not worth travelling in.
So, they would charge around 50-60 rupees for an air-conditioned coach.
But, the songs they played were incredible.
There was a song playing in the coach and I began to weep.
Just imagine the state I was in, I was deeply yearning to hear my name on Sarkar’s lips.
So, I sat on the bus, on my way to visit Sarkar in Kotri.
So, I am on the bus and this song was playing:
‘’Touch my song with your lips, make it immortal’’.
I cried and cried, and cried.
Then, when I reached Kotri,
I had only just arrived on the back of a Suzuki,
I was getting out of the car and the gate [to Sarkar’s residence] was right in front of me.
The guard on duty, Munir, came running to me
and said, ‘Sarkar have asked if Younus has arrived’.
They said my name.
Sarkar read our hearts, our breaths, our thoughts.
Sarkar knows everything.
The emotions bubbling in our hearts, Sarkar are aware of them.
And it’s one thing to be aware of them,
Sarkar even fulfils our desires.
Sarkar bestows honour upon their servants and dogs.
This is Sarkar’s blessing upon us.
Even God is not as benevolent as our Master…
so then if we forget all else but Gohar, what’s wrong with that?