Amir Khusro : A Legend Remembered

Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusro (1253–1325 CE) better known as Amīr Khusro, was a Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi.

An Indian musician, scholar and poet laureate - Amir Khusro was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian Subcontinent.

Amir Khusro: A Sufi Mystic

Amīr Khusro was born in Patiyali in Uttar Pradesh.

His father, Amīr Sayf ud-Dīn Mahmūd, was a Turkic officer and a member of the Lachin tribe of Transoxania.

His mother was the daughter of Rawat Arz, the famous war minister of Balban, and belonged to Rajput tribes of Uttar Pradesh.

He also had two brothers called Aizazuddin Ali Shah and Husamuddin.

Early Life and Background

After the demise of his father, Hazrat Amir Khusro was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Nawab Imadul Mulk, in affluence.

He became learned in the arts and literature, astronomy, grammar, philosophy, logic, religion, mysticism and history.

Besides mastering the Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit languages, he acquired proficiency in the Khariboli, Braj Bhasha and Awadhi in the multi-ethnic environment of Delhi.

Amir Khusro – A Prolific Scholar

Turkish Script

Arabic Script

He developed a taste for poetry at an early age and began composing verses at the age of twelve. He himself writes in the introduction to his diwan Ghurrat-ul-Kamaal - "At an age when children shed their teeth, I wrote poetry and my compositions rivalled gems.”

Amir Khusro wrote poetry primarily in Persian and in Hindvi (a combination of Bhojpuri and Persian languages).

He also wrote a war ballad in Punjabi.

Amir Khusro - A Classical Poet

Contributions to Literature

He compiled the oldest known printed dictionary Khaliq-e-bari in 1320 which mainly dealt with Hindavi and Persian words.

In his lifetime, Amir Khusro wrote a staggering 92 books including Taj-ul-fatah, Tughlak namah, Sheerin Khusrau and Laila majnoon.

It is estimated that he wrote more than 4 lakhs of couplets.

Notable Contributions to Music

Amir Khusro is regarded as the “father of qawwali”(the devotional music of the Sufis).

He enriched the Hindustani classical music by introducing Persian and Arabic elements in it.

He was the originator of the khayal and tarana styles of music.

His contribution to the development of the ghazal, hitherto little used in India, is particularly significant.

The invention of the tabla and sitar is also traditionally attributed to him.

Khusro invented tabla and sitar.

Hazrat Amir Khusro was exposed to all famous literary figures of his time when he accompanied his grandfather to the royal courts to attend the private congregations.

Khusro at first found his way to the court of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban who ascended the Delhi throne in 664 AH (1265 AD).

He was a prolific classical poet associated with the royal courts of more than seven rulers of the Delhi Sultanate.

Khusro : The Royal Poet

Khusro : The Royal Poet

Hazrat Amir Khusro was a devout Muslim, a profound expounder of ethics and a strict observant of Sharia.

For most of his life he offered prayers,observed fasts, recited the Holy Qur'an.

He was equally exceptional in performing obligatory worship and doing beneficence to others by way of charitable acts.

Khusro : Religious Life

His spiritualism was in the philosophy of love, which he shared with all the Sufis.

He was impregnated with divine love and participated in sama.

The depth of humanity in his poetry comes from the "Divine love–which is infinite and covers the entire cosmos."

He was a maestro who used to invent new ragas and tunes.

Khusro : Religious Life

Khusro’s Tryst With Love

Khusro's tryst with Love arose out of the special bond he shared with his preceptor Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and the Chisti Silsila, a bond that transcended all other relationships.

It was the bridge to the Beloved which he sought.

Khusro believed that the preceptor alone can transform the secular into the divine, and this requires a surrender of the ego through service, which Amir Khusro himself exemplified by serving in the kitchen of Nizamuddin Auliya's daily langar .

A Relationship Par Excellence : Amir Khusro and Nizamuddin Aulia

Hazrat Amir Khusro was introduced to Khwaja Nizamuddin at an early age.

He was Nizamuddin Aulia's most loved and devoted mureed and found real love and an atmosphere for the evolution of his creative and spiritual faculties in his pir’s Khaneqah.

There are endless anecdotes in oral tradition as well as documented history as to how passionately the two loved each other, right from their first meeting till the moment of their death.

When Nizammudin Auliya passed away Khusro tore his clothes and blackened his face and went to his master's grave.Afterwards he said to those present: "Who am I to wail for this monarch? I lament my own fate, because I will not survive him much longer."

In a few months' time, in 1325 A.D., Khusro too passed away and was buried near that grave as desired by the master.

These graves are a place of pilgrimage for both Hindus and Muslims to the present day.

Khusro : Tuti-e-Hind

Khusro proclaimed himself as “Tuti-e-Hind” (Parrot of India).

“To speak the truth, I am an Indian Parrot. If you want to listen from me some subtle verses, ask me then to recite some of my Hindvi poems.”

He himself did not collect and preserve his Hindvi poems but made a gift of them to his friends.

His poem, Kaliq Bari is a lexicon composed of synonymous words, from four languages, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hindvi.

Khusro - TheAmbassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity

Amir Khusro served as an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity in his time.

In his introduction to Ghurra-ul-Kamal, Khusro writes, “I am a Hindustani Turk. I compose verses in Hindvi with the fluency of running water.”

His poetry is still sung today at Sufi shrines throughout Pakistan and India and 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 legendary folk personality, Khusro represents one of the first recorded Indian personages with a true multi-cultural or pluralistic identity.

Samples of Khusro’s Poetry

Farsi couplets Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,

Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.If there is a paradise on earth,

It is this, it is this, it is this (India)

Ba khak darat rau ast maara, Gar surmah bechashm dar neaayad.

The dust of your doorstep is just the right thing to apply,

If Surmah (kohl powder) does not show its beauty in the eye!

Hindi couplets Khusrau darya prem ka, ulti wa ki dhaar,

Jo utra so doob gaya, jo dooba so paar.

Oh Khusrau, the river of loveRuns in strange directions.

One who jumps into it drowns,And one who drowns, gets across.

Sej wo sooni dekh ke rovun main din raen,Piya piya main karat hoon pehron, pal bhar sukh

na chaen.

Day and night, I see an empty bed, and cryCalling for my beloved, I remain restless for

ever.

Samples of Khusro’s Poetry