This 15th century Persian language poem was written by the great Sufi mystic, writer and scholar Abdurakhmani Jami, also known as Nur ad-Dīn Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī. He was heavily influenced by the greatest Persian poet in history, Hafez of Shiraz. He is considered one of the greatest Sufi poets in history and the greatest Sufi of the 15th century. He was recognized for his eloquent tongue and ready at repartee who analyzed the idea of the metaphysics of mercy.

This song that I myself sing a capella in the Tajik (Central Asian) dialect of Persian, is a poem written by Jami about a beautiful girl who wanted nothing more than to be with her beloved even if it meant she would have to die for him.

"Joni Man Ast" A Capella

My name is Bobby Iskhakov. I'm a proud Bukharian Jew from South Florida, USA. My musical interests are all over the place but what truly warms my heart is the traditional music of my people, the Bukharian Jews, as well as the music of the Uzbeks and Tajiks of Central Asia. My people lived nearly two millenia in Central Asia with almost no contact with the outside world. We were cut off from the rest of the Jewish world for so many centuries but we retained our Jewish identity and customs. We mixed some of these customs with the languages, food, superstitions and culture of the Muslim Tajiks and Uzbeks of Central Asia, but as long as it was allowed and adhered to the laws of Judaism. We developed our own distinct dialect of the Central Asian Persian language of Tajik called "Judeo-Tajik" which now we call the "Bukharian Jewish language". Our musical heritage has two main parts, religious music and folk music. My favorite of the two is the folk and traditional music which includes the great musical heritage of my people, as well as the Uzbeks and Tajiks called "Shashmaqom" (six maqoms in Tajik) which is derived from Middle Eastern maqam music but developed and flourished in the city of Bukhara over the last one thousand years. Here I will upload samples of these different types of music which I love so dearly and I hope you all can enjoy the music too!

BobbyBukharian

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