Amir Khusro

Abul Hasan Yaminuddin Khusro (1253-1325 CE), better known as Amir Khusro Dehlavi (in Persian اميرخسرو دهلوى), is one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Amir Khusro (or Khusrau or Khusraw) was not only one of India's greatest poets, he is also credited with being the founder of both Hindustani classical music and Qawwali (the devotional music of the Sufis). He was born of a Turkish father, Saif Ad-din, and an Indian mother, in India"Амир Хосров Дехлеви", Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Moscow, 1970.

Major life events in chronological order

1253 Khusro was born in Patiali near Etah in what is today the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. His father Amir Saifuddin came from Balkh in modern day Afghanistan and his mother hailed from Delhi.
1260 After the death of his father, Khusro went to Delhi with his mother.
1271 Khusro compiled his first divan of poetry, "Tuhfatus-Sighr".
1272 Khusro got his first job as court poet with King Balban's nephew Malik Chhajju.
1276 Khusro started working as a poet with Bughra Khan (Balban's son).
1279 While writing his second divan, Wastul-Hayat, Khusrau visited Bengal.
1281 Employed by Sultan Mohammad (Balban's second son) and went to Multan with him.
1285 Khusro participated as a soldier in the war against the invading Mongols. He was taken prisoner, but escaped.
1287 Khusro went to Awadh with Ameer Ali Hatim (another patron).
1288 His first mathnavi, "Qiranus-Sa'dain" was completed.
1290 When Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji came to power, Khusro's second mathnavi, "Miftahul Futooh" was ready.
1294 His third divan "Ghurratul-Kamal" was complete.
1295 Ala ud din Khilji (sometimes spelled "Khalji") came to power and invadedDevagiri and Gujarat.
1298 Khusro completed his "Khamsa-e-Nizami".
1301 Khilji attacked Ranthambhor, Chittor, Malwa and other places, and Khusro remained with the king in order to write chronicles.
1310 Khusro became close to Nizamuddin Aulia, and completed Khazain-ul-Futuh.
1315 Alauddin Khilji died. Khusro completed the mathnavi "Duval Rani-Khizr Khan" (a romantic poem).
1316 Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah became the king, and the fourth historical mathnavi "Noh-Sepehr" was completed.
1321 Mubarak Khilji (sometimes spelled "Mubarak Khalji") was murdered and Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq Ghiassuddin Tughluq (Real Name in Arabic, Farsi and Urdu Languages)came to power. Khusro started to write the Tughluqnama.
1325 Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq came to power. Nizamuddin Aulia died, and six months later so did Khusro. Khusro's tomb is next to that of his master in the Nizamuddin Dargah of Delhi.

Khusro was a prolific classical poet associated with the royal courts of more than seven rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. He 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 the legendary folk personality, Khusro represents one of the first (recorded) Indian personages with a true multi-cultural or pluralistic identity.

He wrote in both Persian and Hindustani. His poetry is still sung today at Sufi shrines throughout Pakistan and India.

Amir Khusro was the author of a Khamsa which emulated that of the earlier Persian-language poet Nizami Ganjavi. His work was considered to be one of the great classics of Persian poetry during the Timurid period in Transoxiana.

Amir Khusro and the origins of the Sitar and the Tabla

Amir Khusro is credited with fashioning the tabla as a split version of the traditional Indian drum, the pakhawaj.

Popular lore also credits him with inventing the sitar, the Indian grand lute, but it is more likely that the sitar was invented by a different Amir Khusro several centuries later. This later namesake is said to be an 18th century descendant of the son-in-law of Tansen, the celebrated classical singer in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. For an article about this theory, see Origin Of Sitar

Some samples of Khusro's poetry

Persian couplets

اَگر فِردؤس بر رُو-ائے زمین اَست،
ہمین اَست-او ہمین اَست-او ہمین اَست۔

Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.

If there is paradise on face of the earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this (India)

Persian poems

Kafir-e-ishqam musalmani mara darkaar neest
Har rag-e mun taar gashta hajat-e zunnaar neest;
Az sar-e baaleen-e mun bar khez ay naadaan tabeeb
Dard mand-e ishq ra daroo bajuz deedaar neest;
Nakhuda dar kashti-e maagar nabashad go mubaash
Makhuda daareem mara nakhuda darkaar neest;
Khalq mi goyad ki Khusrau but parasti mi kunad
Aarey aarey mi kunam ba khalq mara kaar neest.

I am a pagan and a worshipper of love: the creed (of Muslims) I do not need;
Every vein of mine has become taut like a wire,
the (Brahman’s) girdle I do not need.
Leave from my bedside, you ignorant physician!
The only cure for the patient of love is the sight of his beloved –
other than this no medicine does he need.
If there be no pilot in our boat, let there be none:
We have god in our midst: the sea we do not need.
The people of the world say that Khusrau worships idols.
So he does, so he does; the people he does not need,
the world he does not need.

Hindi couplets

खुसरो दरिया प्रेम का, उलटी वा की धार,
जो उतरा सो डूब गया, जो डूबा सो पार.

Khusrau darya prem ka, ulti wa ki dhaar,
Jo utra so doob gaya, jo dooba so paar.

Khusro says the river of love
Has a strange flow
One who jumps into it drowns,
And one who drowns, gets across.

सेज वो सूनी देख के रोवुँ मैं दिन रैन,
पिया पिया मैं करत हूँ पहरों, पल भर सुख ना चैन.
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 cry
Calling for my beloved, I remain restless for ever.

Hindi poems

छाप तिलक सब छीनी रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
छाप तिलक सब छीनी रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
प्रेम भटी का मदवा पिलाइके
मतवाली कर लीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
गोरी गोरी बईयाँ, हरी हरी चूड़ियाँ
बईयाँ पकड़ धर लीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
बल बल जाऊं मैं तोरे रंग रजवा
अपनी सी कर लीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
खुसरो निजाम के बल बल जाए
मोहे सुहागन कीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
छाप तिलक सब छीनी रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके

Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Prem bhatee ka madhva pilaikay
Matvali kar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Gori gori bayyan, hari hari churiyan
Bayyan pakar dhar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Bal bal jaaon mein toray rang rajwa
Apni see kar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Khusrau Nijaam kay bal bal jayyiye
Mohay Suhaagan keeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Chhap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay

You've taken away my looks, my identity, by just a glance.
By making me drink the wine of love-potion,
You've intoxicated me by just a glance;
My fair, delicate wrists with green bangles in them,
Have been held tightly by you with just a glance.
I give my life to you, Oh my cloth-dyer,
You've dyed me in yourself, by just a glance.
I give my whole life to you Oh, Nijam,
You've made me your bride, by just a glance.

Hindi riddles

Spoiler Warning: The answers to the riddles are given at the end.

1. Nar naari kehlaati hai,
aur bin warsha jal jati hai;
Purkh say aaway purkh mein jaai,
na di kisi nay boojh bataai.

Is known by both masculine and feminine names,
And lightens up (or burns up) without rain;
Originates from a man and goes into a man,
But no one has been able to guess what it is.

2. Pawan chalat weh dehe badhavay
Jal peevat weh jeev ganvavay
Hai weh piyari sundar naar,
Naar nahin par hai weh naar.

With the blow of wind she flares up,
And dies as soon as she drinks water;
Even though she is a pretty woman,
She’s not a woman, though she’s feminine.

Answers

1. Nadi (River) 2. Aag (Fire)

Works

Tuhfa-tus-Sighr (Offering of a Minor) his first divan, contains poems composed between the age of 16 and 19
Wastul-Hayat (The Middle of Life) his second divan, contains poems composed at the peak of his poetic career
Ghurratul-Kamaal (The Prime of Perfection) poems composed between the age of 34 and 43
Baqia-Naqia (The Rest/The Miscellany) compiled at the age of 64
Nihayatul-Kamaal (The Height of Wonders) compiled probably a few weeks before his death.
Qiran-us-Sa’dain (Meeting of the Two Auspicious Stars) Mathnavi about the historic meeting of Bughra Khan and his son Kyqbad after long enmity
Miftah-ul-Futooh (Key to the Victories) in praise of the victories of Jalauddin Khalaji
Ishqia/Mathnavi Duval Rani-Khizr Khan (Romance of Duval Rani and Khizr Khan) a tragic love poem about Gujarat’s princess Duval and Alauddin’s son Khizr.
Mathnavi Noh Sepehr (Mathnavi of the Nine Skies) Khusrau’s perceptions of India and its culture
Tughlaq Nama (Book of the Tughlaqs) in prose
Khamsa-e-Nizami (Khamsa-e-Khusrau) five classical romances: Hasht-Bahisht, Matlaul-Anwar, Sheerin-Khusrau, Majnun-Laila and Aaina-Sikandari
Ejaaz-e-Khusrovi (The Miracles of Khusrau) an assortment of prose compiled by himself
Khazain-ul-Futooh (The Treasures of Victories) one of his more controversial books, in prose
Afzal-ul-Fawaid utterances of Nizamuddin Auliya
Khaliq-e-Bari a versified glossary of Persian and Hindvi words and phrases
Jawahar-e- Khusrovi often dubbed as the Hindvi divan of Khusrau

External links

Amir Khusro Website

References used

E.G. Browne. Literary History of Persia. (Four volumes, 2,256 pages, and twenty-five years in the writing). 1998. ISBN 0-700-70406-X
Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature. Reidel Publishing Company. ASIN B-000-6BXVT-K