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Abida Parveen
Abida Parveen in concert
Background information
Born	1954 (age 57–58)
Origin	Larkana, Pakistan
Genres	Kafi Ghazal Qawwali
Occupations	Singer Musician
Years active	1973–present

Abida Parveen (born 1954) (Sindhi: عابده پروين, Urdu: عابده پروین), is a Pakistani singer of Sindhi descent and one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music (Sufiana kalaam). She sings mainly ghazals, Urdu love songs, and her forte, Kafis, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets.^[1] Parveen sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Saraiki, Punjabi and Persian, and together with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is considered one of the finest Sufi vocalists of the modern era.^[2][3][4][5]

Early life[link]

Abida Parveen, a Sindhi, was born in mohalla Ali Goharabad in Larkana (Sindh province, Pakistan).^[2] She received her musical

training initially from her father, Ustad Ghulam Haider, and later from Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of the Sham Chorasia gharana. Growing up, she attended her father's music school,where her foundation in music was laid ^[6]

Career[link]

Abida Parveen embarked upon her professional career from Radio Pakistan, Hyderabad, in 1973. Her first hit was the Sindhi song “Tuhinje zulfan jay band kamand widha”.

Coke Studio[link]

Abida performed on the internationally acclaimed Pakistani show Coke Studio, on which she sang three songs, including Ramooz-e-Ishq, Nigah-e-Darwaishaan, and Soz-e-Ishq.

Personal life[link]

Abida was married to Ghulam Hussain Sheikh, senior producer at Radio Pakistan, who died a few years ago and who nurtured her development as a singer in her early years. The couple had a daughter Priya, an MBA who acts as her adviser, and a son Saranj.^[1][2]

Awards[link]

President of Pakistan’s Award for Pride of Performance (1982), and the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (2005).

Discography[link]

Abida Parveen in concert at Oslo

• Aap Ki Abida
• Are Logo Tumhara Kiya
• Best of Abida Parveen (1997)
• Baba Bulleh Shah
• Abida Parveen Sings Songs of the Mystics Vol 1
• Arifana Kalam
• Chants Soufis Du Pakistan
• Faiz by Abida
• Ghalib by Abida Parveen
• Ghazal Ka Safar Vol I
• Ghazal Ka Safar Vol II
• Har Tarannum
• Hazrat Sultanul Arafin Haq Bahu Rematullah
• Heer By Abida
• Ho Jamalo
• Ishq Mastana
• Jahan-e-Khusrau
• Jeewey Sain Yan Jeewey
• Kabir by Abida (2002)
• Kafian Bulleh Shah
• Kafiyan Khwaja Ghulam Farid
• Khazana
• Kuch Is Ada Se Aaj
• Latthe Di Chadar
• Mahi Yaar Di Ghadoli
• Mere Dil Se
• Meri Pasand - Abida Parveen
• Raqs-e-Bismil - Dance of the Wounded
• Sarhadein
• Sings Amir Khusrau
• Tera Ishq Nachaya
• The very best of Abida
• Yaadgar Ghazalen Vol 1
• Rukh-e-Murshid (A tribute to Abida Parveen's Murshid Sahibzada Muhammad Najeeb Sultan)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Abida Parveen

• Abida Parveen Biography
• Courting Ecstasy In Songs Of Pakistan at New York Times

Bulleh Shah
An artistic depiction of Bulleh Shah
Spiritual Poet
Born	1680 C.E. Uch, Punjab
Died	1757 C.E. Kasur, Punjab
Honored in	Islam
Influences	Shah Hussain, Sultan Bahu, Shah Sharaf
Influenced	Countless Indian Sufi poets
Tradition/Genre	Kafi

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Bulleh Shah (1680–1757) (Punjabi: بلہے شاہ, ਬੁੱਲ੍ਹੇ ਸ਼ਾਹ, Hindi: बुल्ले शाह) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, humanist and philosopher. His full name was Abdullah Shah^[1]

Early life[link]

Bulleh Shah is believed to have been born in 1680, in the small village of Uch, Bahawalpur, Punjab, in present day Pakistan.^[2] His father, Shah Muhammad Darwaish, was a teacher and preacher in a village mosque. Little is known about Bulleh Shah's ancestry except that some of his forebears were migrants from Uzbekistan,^[3] and that his family claimed direct descent from Muhammad.^[1]

When he was six months old, his parents relocated to Malakwal. His father later got a job in Pandoke, about 50 miles southeast of Kasur. Bulleh Shah received his early schooling in Pandoke and moved to Kasur for higher education. He also received education from Maulana Mohiyuddin. His spiritual teacher was the Qadiri Sufi Shah Inayat Qadiri, who was a member of the Arain tribe of Lahore.

Life[link]

A large amount of what is believed to be known about Bulleh Shah comes through legends, and is subjective; to the point that there isn’t even agreement among historians concerning his precise date and place of birth. Some "facts" about his life have been pieced together from his own writings. Other "facts" seem to have been passed down through oral traditions.

Bulleh Shah practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry established by poets like Shah Hussain (1538–1599), Sultan Bahu (1629–1691), and Shah Sharaf (1640–1724).

Bulleh Shah lived in the same period as the Sindhi Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhatai (1689–1752). His lifespan also overlapped with the Punjabi poet Waris Shah (1722–1798), of Heer Ranjha fame, and the Sindhi Sufi poet Abdul Wahab (1739–1829), better known by his pen-name, Sachal Sarmast (“truth seeking leader of the intoxicated ones”). Amongst Urdu poets, Bulleh Shah lived 400 miles away from Mir Taqi Mir (1723–1810) of Agra.

Poetry Style[link]

The verse form Bulleh Shah primarily employed is called the Kafi, a style of Punjabi, Sindhi and Saraiki poetry used not only by the Sufis of Sindh and Punjab, but also by Sikh gurus.

Bulleh Shah’s poetry and philosophy strongly criticizes the Islamic religious orthodoxy of his day.^{[citation needed]}

A Beacon of Peace[link]

Bulleh Shah's time was marked with communal strife between Muslims and Sikhs. But in that age Baba Bulleh Shah was a beacon of hope and peace for the citizens of Punjab. While Bulleh Shah was in Pandoke, Muslims killed a young Sikh man who was riding through their village in retaliation for murder of some Muslims by Sikhs. Baba Bulleh Shah denounced the murder of an innocent Sikh and was censured by the mullas and muftis of Pandoke. Bulleh Shah maintained that violence was not the answer to violence. Bulleh Shah also hailed the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur as a Ghazi, or "religious warrior", which caused controversy among Muslims of that time.^{[citation needed]}

Humanist[link]

Bulleh Shah’s writings represent him as a humanist, someone providing solutions to the sociological problems of the world around him as he lives through it, describing the turbulence his motherland of Punjab is passing through, while concurrently searching for God. His poetry highlights his mystical spiritual voyage through the four stages of Sufism: Shariat (Path), Tariqat (Observance), Haqiqat (Truth) and Marfat (Union). The simplicity with which Bulleh Shah has been able to address the complex fundamental issues of life and humanity is a large part of his appeal. Thus, many people have put his kafis to music, from humble street-singers to renowned Sufi singers like the Waddali Brothers, Sain Zahoor, Abida Parveen and Pathanay Khan, from the synthesized techno qawwali remixes of UK-based Asian artists to the rock band Junoon.

Modern renderings[link]

In the 1990s Junoon, a rock band from Pakistan, rendered "Bullah Ki Jaana" and "Aleph" ("Ilmon Bas Kareen O Yaar"). In 2004, Rabbi Shergill turned the abstruse metaphysical poem "Bullah Ki Jaana" into a Rock/Fusion song that became popular in India and Pakistan.^[4][5] The Wadali Bandhu, a Punjabi Sufi group from India, have also released a version of "Bullah Ki Jaana" on their album Aa Mil Yaar... Call of the Beloved. Another version was performed by Lakhwinder Wadali and entitled Bullah.

Bulleh Shah's verses have also been adapted and used in Bollywood film songs including "Chaiyya Chaiyya" and "Thayya Thayya" in the 1998 film Dil Se.., and "Ranjha Ranjha" in the 2010 film Raavan. The 2007 Pakistani movie Khuda Kay Liye includes Bulleh Shah's poetry in the song "Bandeya Ho". The 2008 film A Wednesday, included a song titled "Bulle Shah, O Yaar Mere". In 2009 the first episode of the second season of Pakistan's Coke Studio featured a collaboration between Sain Zahoor and Noori, "Aik Alif" while, in June 2010, episode one of the third series featured "Na Raindee Hai" and "Makke Gayaan Gal Mukdi Nahi", performed by Arieb Azhar.

Death[link]

He died in 1757. His tomb is located in Kasur, present day Pakistan.^[6]

Further reading[link]

• Bulleh Shah: the love-intoxicated iconoclast, by J. R. Puri, Tilaka Raj Shangri. Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1986
• Great Sufi Poets of The Punjab, by R. M. Chopra, Iran Society, Kolkata, 1999.

See also[link]

• Geeta Vadhera's "Shah Shabad" series - paintings based on the poems of Bulleh Shah
• Kasur, the hometown of Bulleh Shah
• List of Punjabi language poets
• Sufism

Works online[link]