Mysticism of a Musicologist
Shaikh Abdul Aziz alias Hayim Kashmiri has been arguably the most important Kashmiri musicologist by virtue of imposing the notations of classical Kashmiri music, also known as Sufyana music. His seminal contribution is four volume Koshur Sargham. He is also the author of Rumooz i Mossiqi. It was not known till recently that he has been such an accomplished poet and more importantly that poetry is valuable extension of the long chain of accomplished Kashmiri Sufi poets with a distinct expression and content. It is thanks to Dr Abid Ahmad that we have now before us a poetical corpus of him.
Indeed an accomplishment in itself that further dispels the notion that after Ahad Zargar the age of great Sufi poetry or major Sufi poets is over. Post-Zargar we have seen publication of hundreds of volumes that can be called Sufi poetry though there are various shades of it though they don’t appear to be major distinct voices of their own. However, there are a few volumes that add to that corpus in significant ways and according to the compiler of the present work, this is a noteworthy work that deserves attention. It has different feel and style. It speaks about ordinary things in extraordinary way and that is in tune with certain currents of mystical thought especially after modernity.
We can’t here even cursorily touch number of dimensions and wide range of Hayim. Here we can briefly attempt to put a few verses of him in context of representative verses of major Kashmiri Sufi poets and modern mystically inclined poets. Hayim’s mysticism is celebration of ordinary and disowning ownership of special states. One can better appreciate Hayim in the context of major mystico-romantic poets who don’t subscribe to elitist view of mysticism that frames it in terms of a mystifying special states accessible to a minority only although it is clear from the text that he did have first hand access to them and does refer to his special attuning to the Sound and Silence of Existence – the science of sound or the language of the soul.
For understanding Hayim’s verse we may recall that mysticism asks us to remember what we are rather than search for something, some object out there. Hayim calls for no extraordinary experience or vision. For him all seeking has to drop. There is nothing subjective, nothing extraordinary, nothing “mystical,” nothing misty about mystics. God is the Light of the World, the Manifest Truth, and the ground of everything.
There is a consensus amongst recognized adventures of Spirit or consciousness regarding accessibility of the Sacred or what Holderlin called “gleaming light.” If we discipline the senses and overcome laziness or lassitude that habitually rules us and prevents adventures into the higher realms of consciousness, the Spirit does get unveiled. Hayim proposes this simple method of accessing the divine. “Doupmes mye wantum kya chu hay/Doupnem chi dilsi kas khay” And for artists this process is made simpler or less difficult. Underhill in her Practical Mysticism explains the point with regard to artists that one might find problematic if only mystics talked about it.
Hayim boldly presents certain themes that only more adventurous Sufis gave dared to speak about. For instance, “Chui libas eemanikui kufri siyah/ kufrisiy menz sui kem aani chum”
If we grant that “’Poetry is Theology,’ ( Boccaccio in his commentary on the Divina Commedia) or “ Ontology would perhaps be the better word, for poetry inclines above all to the roots of the knowledge of Being” and take Coomaraswamy’s point that “All traditional art can be ‘reduced’ to theology, or is, in other words, dispositive to a reception of truth”, a key binary deployed in our critical writings on Sufi poetry that sharply separates Sufi poetry from other so-called romantic poetry gets deconstructed. We can here briefly discuss a few verses and one ghazal to get a feel about the kind of poetry Hayim has written in this context.
Deedar or vision of God is available every moment but the heart must have a sincere quest
If you want to see the Beloved, sit silently and leave craving
Sometimes in the dawn and sometimes in the mid night He comes if there is a seeking
The body shivers the soul shivers
By the remembrance of the Soul of the Beloved
These verses may be better appreciated by invoking the mystical in such poets as Holderlin. For both Hayim and Holderlin one of the most joyful moments in the life of the spiritual seeker is when we recognize that the long sought-for goal is already here. We are the pure presence the sages and poets speak about. Not our personality, but the heart of our own natural awareness is this most intimate and infinite presence. This point is clearly underscored in his tribute to the Master. We understand in these moments of realization that we are one with all of reality – for which we are required to pass through discipline of senses and mind (leaving “checkh, diyi, adawat, hasad”) and have always been so, and that this identity is completely safe, free, and inexpressibly kind.
There is nothing more that needs to be done for us to be complete. Hayim addresses the question that we may often experience ourselves disconnected from realizing this natural state and what will reconnect us. He asserts that love is to be cultivated by First focusing on the live of the Master. There is a whole ghazal on the importance of the Master. Hayim doesn’t mystify Pir-Murid relationship. He presents the basics of spiritual journey and realization in very simple clear language without using involved symbolism or hard to decode references to hidden stares and that distinguishes him from most predecessor Sufi poets.
Although much of his poetry isn’t a significant addition to the Tradition and we find repeated classical themes and tropes, certain portions do sound refreshingly new to the ears and one is hooked to take note. Hayim carries forward the colour of Rumi with some appropriation of local Sufi poets and the great Rusul Mir here and there and that makes him a voice to reckon with. We wish Dr Abid had added explanatory notes and more extensive introduction and other helpful material to substantiate the impression of presenting important poet in the background of Kashmiri Sufi poets. Hayim minces no words to present his personal affirmations and experiences of the mystical and that gives a note of authenticity to the whole corpus.