A few weeks ago, a friend pointed me towards Coke Studio Pakistan, and I absolutely loved the songs I found on the channel. One thing led to another, until I found myself listening to the inimitable Ustaad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Amongst his many gems, this song in particular – Mere Rashke Qamar (“Envy of the Moon”) – caught my attention, and I was soon playing it on loop:
This qawwali is based on an Urdu ghazal by Fana Buland Shehri. According to The Khusrau Circle:
Thematically, “Mere Rashk-e Qamar” deals with the overwhelming experience of coming face-to-face with the beloved. It contains quite a lot of strong visual imagery related to passion, including the moon, lightning, fire, and goblets of wine. In Urdu poetry, meeting with the beloved is often what the speaker yearns for – but the fulfillment of that wish can be a double-edged sword. Here, the beloved is a cup-bearer, who intoxicates the speaker with her beauty. By the end, the speaker literally passes away from the intensity of the encounter.
The qawwali itself is intoxicating, both in its meaning and its rendering by the maestro.
It was the refrain – mazaa aa gaya – at the end of each verse that made me fall in love with it – the absolute delight of the poet/singer at each turn of events, from the moment his eyes lock with those of his beloved, to the pouring of wine on a stormy night, to the stripping of his pride in the presence of her beauty …. right up to his death, and beyond! At every step, he expresses his unbridled delight with the refrain: mazaa aa gaya !
The last couplet is particularly striking – in a twist worthy of a Hitchcock movie, the girl with her own hands spreads a sheet of flowers over his grave and the poet is delighted by that as well!
You are left wondering: what is it that dies in the union with his Beloved that leaves him so delighted at the end? And, who is this Beloved? Is it really a beautiful girl in a tavern? Or, could it be…?
Truly, mazaa aa gaya !
Featured Image: Photo by Ganapathy Kumar on Unsplash