ESSAY I

Amir Khusro (1253 - 1325) Ab'ul Hasan Yamin al-Din Khusrow (Persian: better known as Amir
Khusrow (or Khusrau) Dehlawi was an Indian musician, scholar and poet. He was an iconic
figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of
Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Amir Khusrow was not only a notable poet but also a prolific and
seminal musician. He wrote poetry primarily in Persian, but also in Hindavi. He is regarded as
the "father of qawwali" (the devotional music of the Indian Sufis). He is also credited with
enriching Hindustani classical music by introducing Persian and Arabic elements in it, and was
the originator of the khayal and tarana styles of invention of the tabla is also traditionally
attributed to Amir Khusrow. Amir Khusrow used only 11 metrical schemes with 35 distinct
divisions. He has written Ghazal, Masnavi, Qata, Rubai, Do-Beti and Tarkibhand. A musician
and a scholar, Amir Khusrow was as prolific in tender lyrics as in highly involved prose and
could easily emulate all styles of Persian poetry which had developed in medieval Persia, from
Khaqani's forceful qasidas to Nezami's khamsa. His contribution to the development of the
ghazal, hitherto little used in India, is particularly significant.
Early Life and Background Yaminuddin Abul Hasan Ameer Khusro was born in Patiali near
Etah in northern India. His father, Amir Sayf ud-Din Mahmud, as a Turkic Officer and a member
of the Lajin (Lachin) tribe of Transoxania, themselves belonging to the Kara-Khitais. His mother
hailed from Delhi. Born of a Turkish Lajin (Lachin) later Saifuddin Shamsi, Amir Khusro
eclipsed all his predecessors. His interests were kaleidoscopic and his genius versatile. But he
enjoyed fame in the field of Persian poetry, in which his position is next to Saadi and can
favorably be compared with Hafiz in lyrics. The road to the well is much too difficult, How to
get my pot filled? When I went to fill the water, In the furore, I broke my pot. Khusro has given
his whole life to you, O Nizam. Would you please take care of my veil (of self respect), The road
to the well is much too difficult.
Later Life Amir Khusro served seven kings and three princes from the times of Sultan Balban
to Mohammad Bin Tughlaq. His passion for his birthplace Delhi was ripped to the extent that
when he was posted in Patiali, he not only lamented but completed a masanwi under the title
‘Shikayatnamah-e-Patiali’. Condemning Patiali and recalling the beauty and pleasure of his
hometown Delhi, he compares himself with Joseph, who in separation from his home town
Kan’an, feeling himself distressed, always pined for it. "As Joseph, after having been taken away
as a captive from his home town, Kan’an, used to sing the praise of his home town, so is the case
with me. Though I happen to be faraway from my home town, yet I always sing of its beauty.
My place was Quwat-ul-Islam (a title of Delhi) a qibla of the kings of seven climes (i.e. of the
entire world). That place is Delhi, which is a twin sister of the holy paradise and true copy of
Arsh (throne of God or a highest heaven) on the page of the earth."
Literary Life Poetry was inherent in Ameer Khusro. The day he was born, his father took him to
a God absorbed darwesh, who said to his father, "You have brought one who would go two steps
a head of khaqani (nightingale)." In his early childhood, Khusro had developed a putting together
in verse form worse of discordant meaning. Up to the age of sixteen, whichever book of verse he
happened to lay his hand on, he tried to follow its author in the art of composition. His
adolescence ushered him under the guidance of both Mufti Muizzudin Gharifi and Hazrat
Nizamuddin Aulia, his mentor. Both of them guided him to the path of following the style of
Saddi and Kamal Isfahani. Even at that young age, he used to lambaste his contemporaries,
including Hasan Dehlavi in qitah (quatrains). "And occasionally I used to lambaste my
contemporary poets, with the sword of my tongue in a qitah form." Ameer Khusro was quite
indifferent in politics, he never indulged himself in the intrigues of courtiers. He is considered as
the pioneer figure of the Indo-Muslim music. In fact, it was he who started the process of
synthesizing Turko-Persian music with Indian music. He has credited three books on music just
as three diwans of poetry. "My verses have so far been collected in three diwans, would you
believe, that if there were a system of notation for registering musical compositions, my
performance in the field of music too, would have been collected in three registers" He invented
number of ragas and raginis which include such novelties as Qaul, Qulbanah, Taranah. He also
composed verses in Persian and Hindwi.
Royal Poet On the one hand Sultan Aalauddin, for the sake of righteousness and expediency of
empire, stamped out all kinds of intoxicants, the prohibited things, the where withals of
disobedience, debauchery and wickedness with the use of chastisement and and on the other side
Ameer Khusro opened wide the gate of discipleship and accepted all kinds of men as his murids,
be they high or low, wealthy or impecunious, noble or faqir, learned or ignorant, high born or
low born, urbane or rustic, soldier or warrior. They all abstained from improper acts and if
anyone would commit a sin, he would come and confess his guilt before Khusro and would
indeed renew his discipleship. Men and women, young and old, merchants and ordinary men,
slaves and servants and even young children began offering prayers regularly including the late
morning prayers. Even the royal ameers, the armed acquirers, secretaries, clerks, sepoys and
royal slaves, were particular about offering these supererogatory prayers. Owing to Khusro’s
barakah (blessings), most people of the area including the high and low and irrespective of cast
and creed became involved in prayers, tasawwuf (mysticism) and tark (renunciation) and turned
to piety. During the last few years of Sultan Alauddin’s reign no person would talk of liquor, of
beloveds, of debauchery and gambling, of obscenities and indecent life and no one would
commit usury or usurp others’ rights. Out of the teachings of Khusro, the shop people gave up
lying and cheating and underweighing. Scholars visiting Khusro would talk of books on
tasawwuf such as Fawaid-ul-Fuwad, Qut-ul-Qulub, Ihya-ul-Uloom, Kashif-ul-Mahjub, Awarif
and Malfuzat of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia. People visited the bookshops in search of the books
on suluk (deportment and self-control). Owing to the increased demand among the Sufis for lota
(water vessel used specially for ritual cleansing) and tasht (basin for washing hands), the prices
of these articles had slightly gone up showing that most people bent towards spiritual Sufi
lifestyle. Ameer Khusro served as an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity in his time. His Hindu
or Hindwi poetry for which he has been so popular among the school-going children as well as
elderly generation. In his introduction to Ghurra-ul-Kamal, Khusro writes, "A few poems that I
have composed in Hindwi, I have made a gift of them to my friends. I am a Hindustani Turk. I
compose verses in Hindwi with the fluency of running water."
Parrot of India It was he, who himself called 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 Hindwi poems." He himself did not collect and preserve his Hindwi 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 Hindi.
Religious Life Ameer Khusro was a devout Muslim. He was a friend and disciple of Hazrat
Nizamuddin Aulia. He was a profound expounder of ethics and strict observant of Sharia. Sharia
acquires meaning when it maintains a close relation with reality partaking the essence of reality-
love of God. If Sharia is lacking in that or in other words if it is without ain (the alphabet
meaning the essence of God-love) it becomes shar (evil). Like Shah Waliullah of the subsequent
year, his attitude towards the Sufis of hypocrisy was very critical. "Ah! what a shameful scene
this band of the ‘pretenders to abstinence. They wear short sleeves (pose as fakirs) but keep their
hands stretched in begging. They pretend abstinence but they are always in pursuit of money.
They have commercialized faqiri (begging). How can one love God at the same time? As God’s
unity is without any shadow of duality, he does not like dualism in the path of His love. Ameer
Khusro’s spiritualism, in fact, consisted in his philosophy of love, which he shared with all the
Sufis. The depth of humanism in his poetry springs from that source of ‘Divine love’. He has
composed as many as 99 works and four lac lyrics, which cover almost every aspect of life. He
was a living legend. He was more of a qalandar (a free soul), though not less of a Sufi, Khusro’s
humanism transcended all barriers of cast, colour and creed. In an autocratic age, when the
king’s wilful actions were unrestricted, Khusro had the courage and the intrepidity to speak
before the king, of the value of the equality of the man. "Though my value may be, a little less,
than that of yours yet, if your veins were to be cut open, our blood will come out of the same
colour."
Death Khusro not only upheld the values of equality and dignity of labour but also the principles
of social justice. His love and respect for Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia reached the apogee that when
he heard about his death at Lakhnawati, he immediately arrived and went to his grave, where he
blackened his face and rolled over in dust in utter grief, tearing his garments. Six months after
that event, he died on Friday 29th Ziq’ad 725AH/1325. His death is not a death in the literal
sense of the world for, he would always remain one of the very few unforgettable legends of
literature.
ESSAY II

Khusro was born in 1253 A.D. in Patiyala, India, His paternal ancestors belonged to
the nomadic tribe of Hazaras from Transoxiana, who crossed the river Indus and
migrated to India in the thirteenth century. Khusro's father served the Sultan of Delhi,
Shamsuddin Il-tutmish, in a high position, and Amir Khusro was educated in
theology, Persian and the Quran. From his mother who was of Hindustani origin and
from his maternal grandfather he acquired both, an intimacy with the local languages
as well as a rooting in the immediate cultural ambience. When his father died when
Khusro was only eight he came under the care of his maternal grandfather.

Amir Khusro was writing poetry from a tender age. His genius thrived and sustained
itself with the support of his industrious temperament and, indeed the fortune of
getting generous patrons in nobles, princes and kings. He emerged as one of the
most original poets of India, innovating new metaphors and similes. To him the sun,
for instance, would be the galloping deer, streams of fire, darts in the sky, washing
agent for water and earth, and so on.

With his second collection of verses, Wast-ul-Hayat, Amir Khusro's name spread
from house to house, wide and far and he came to be known in Persia as well. The
famous poet of Persia, Sa'di sent him compliments.

It was with his long, unique poem, Qiran-us-Sa'dain, written with ceaseless labour of
six months, at the age of thirty six, that Khusro became the poet-laureate of King
Kaiqobad at Delhi. This poem also got named as Mathnavi dar Sifat-I-Delhi because
it is embellished with rich and poetic descriptions of Delhi that was the Garden of
Eden for Khusro. The poem is soaked in his love for Delhi ; he also writes on the
mutual love between Hindus and Muslims there.

In Nuh Sipihr (1318), Khusro's fascination with India's birds and animals, flowers and
trees, its languages and people finds an impassioned expression. It was indeed due
to his Sufi orientation, acquired mainly from his spiritual mentor, Nizamuddin Auliya,
that he chooses to appreciate some aspects of Hindu religion and customs in Nuh
Sipihr. In fact, through an anecdote in Hasht-Bihisht, he preaches religious toleration
by narrating a dialogue between a Muslim Haji going to Mecca and a Brahmin
pilgrim going to Somnath. Amir Khusro's poetry offers a powerful metaphor for
secular thinking and living.

He wrote poetry in Persian as well as what he called Hindvi,a combination of local

He composed songs and riddles in the more common spoken dialect of the time,
called "Dehlavi Hindi" though he himself did not take these seriously they appealed
greatly to the common people. Jawaharlal Nehru,the first Prime minister of
Independant India in his book,"Discovery of India" (1961) has ritten "Khusro's
enduring fame in India rests on the riddles, quibbles and songs written by him".

Khusro's contribution to the Hindi language and Hindi poetry is even acknowledged
by the hindi critics of today. The language he used later developed into Hindustani.
Many of his poems are even today used in Hindustani Classical as bandishes and
as ghazals by Ghazal singers.

His deep and growing attachment with Nizamudddin Auliya, took him away from
more worldly ambitions and he turned more and more to spiritual seeking and
ecstasy. When Nizammudin Auliya passed away Khusro tore his clothes and
blackened his face and went to his master's grave. 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