Unke Andaz-e-Karam

 Unke Andaz-e-Karam 

This is a beautiful sufi ghazal by the poet Pir Nasiruddin Naseer ( 1949-2009) made popular by legendary qawwali singer Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

On the surface it appears to be a romantic song. However like other sufi poetry it holds a deeply spiritual message.

Unke Andaz-e-Karam

Unpe woh aana dil ka

The poet recalls the first moment when he fell in love. The never-seen-before Grace and charm of the divine was so powerful and irresistible that it was love at first sight for the poet. 

Haye woh waqt woh baatein 

Woh zamana dil ka

He fondly recalls the days of their courtship. What a time it was, he marvels! Those days when they had endless conversations between just the two. 

Na suna usne 

tawajjo se fasana dil ka

But he has grievances. Whenever I tried to share the woes of my life, the divine lover seemed to be disinterested.

Umr guzari hai magar

Dard na jana dil ka

Entire life long, the pain in my heart couldn’t find a way to express. It wasn’t understood by the one I so desired would understand.

The mystery behind this apparent indifference of God to the sad story of a devotee, is perhaps to be found in an anecdote shared by one of the followers of Ramana Maharishi. The Maharishi reportedly never entertained devotees to share their guilt over past actions and wounds they carried in their minds. His message was simple. Live in the present moment and ask the question: who is this suffering happening to? Who is that I who is crying over their story?

Dillagi dil ki lagi 

Bun ke mita deti hai

He confesses that a life of devotion is not to be underestimated as being comfortable. True love for that divine entity can bring a lot of suffering to the heart. The devotee’s soul pines to unite with its beloved and often faces disappointments and heartbreak.

The search is marred by endless darkness of doubts in the mind before it sees the light of the day.

Rog dushman ko bhi

Ya Rab na lagana dil ka

The pure soul having experienced the extreme suffering in devotion prays that such suffering may not come upon even an enemy if they loved someone. He wishes peace and happiness even for his foes. 

Woh bhi apne na huye

Dil bhi gaya haaton se

Now the poet is lamenting that he lost his heart to his beloved deity. Yet he couldn’t win over his lover.

He was left stranded halfway. 

 Here the words of Sant Gora Kumbhar come to mind:

Nirgunacha sanga dharila jo awadi

Tene kele deshodhadi aapaniyasi .

I chose to follow the formless reality( Nirgun Bramhan)and he turned me into a penniless beggar.

One way to look at this statement is that at the culmination of the devotional journey neither the devotee remains nor the deity. There is simply oneness of pure consciousness. Nobody to gain anybody. One’s old identity is completely lost and no new person identified, to be met, owned or created. 

Aise aane se toh 

behtar hai na aana dil ka

Momentarily he has the thought that perhaps it would have been better if he had not fallen in love. There seems to be only pain here and no sight of consummation of the relationship.

These regrets have a spiritual meaning. In the early phases of spiritual life, a devotee tries to forge a relationship with God. But God is unimpressed by just emotions. The devotee doesn’t get it. His mind fills with self doubt.

Until the ego is also completely surrendered there is going to be a distance between devotee and God. That is the phase that the poet is describing when he says woh bhi apne na huye! As long as I stood holding to the me, God wasn’t mine.

Or the lines could be interpreted another way. It may be the description of the experience of a brief feeling of emptiness when nothing tangible is acquired. The silent presence can be temporarily uncomfortable.

Naqsh-e-bar aab nahi

Vahm nahi khwab nahi

Once the devotee was totally emptied of his existing ego that’s when he got the full experience of God. It’s a matter of time when the realization sinks in. 

Naqsh-e-bar aab ! This is a very beautiful Urdu term. Naqsh means image, drawing. Aab is water. 

Naqsh-e-bar aab means a line or mark on water. Something that can be easily gone. Fleeting. 

Now add nahi (negation)to it. Naqsh-e-bar aab nahi changes the meaning from fleeting to permanent. 

Here the poet attests to God’s existence being solid, permanent and beyond any doubts. 

It could no longer be considered a delusion (vahm) or a dream( khwab). It is confirmed to be an undisputed, undoubted, undeniable, irrefutable reality.

Aap kyon khel

samajhte hai mitana dil ka

Having realized it with conviction and all the hardships he had to endure to get there, he warns onlookers that surrendering to God isn’t something to be taken lightly or dismissed as unreal. Make no mistake to think it is easy either. The mind and ego will put up a formidable resistance before they are defeated and negated. It is a fierce battle, not a child’s game. But it can be done if you are determined.

It could also be interpreted as a firm declaration to his detractors who discredit his claim to ultimate experience of divine consciousness. That their doubts are without any merit. He is speaking from a place where he is certain and they are not. His certainty is coming from self experience, not fantasy.

Unki Mehfil mein Naseer

Unke Tabassum ki qasam 

Having arrived in the presence of God or kingdom of God, the poet swears by the grace and kindness of God. The incomparable peace, clarity, love and joy that comes with the experience is a testament to what the poet refers to as the smile (tabassum)of God.

Dekhte reh gaye hum

Haath se jana dil ka

He says he watched in wonder as he lost his mind !

In this stage, losing one’s mind carries a different meaning. Mind is an aggregate of past conditioning, repetitive thinking patterns that confer upon it limitations. The losing of mind indicates that these very patterns are discarded and limitations are lifted.  In this way the mind is transcended. Suddenly and completely quieted. It is known as unmani state उन्मनी अवस्था.( see a later post on Kaivalya).

He saw himself getting willingly and totally dissolved in surrender in the presence of God. He was completely stripped of all desires, ambitions, mental perturbance and independent existence at that point. There was direct experience of awareness without trace of thoughts. It was the ultimate experience of the direct grace of God that became the reward and vindication for all the hardships that were endured to get there.

Sant Tukaram describes this phenomenon as:

Baisale shejari Govindache

Hachi nema ata na phiray maghari…

There was no going back from here.