Ustad Mohammed Ahmed Warsi Nasiri Qawwal & Group performed at a ghar mehfil (home concert) in 2008 with a select group of listeners. This kalam (poem) titled "Khud Shamaa Ban Gaye Mujhe Parwaana Kar Diya..." was the gem of the evening. The core kalam is Jigar Moradabadi's but Warsisahib deployed masterful girehs (thematically related poetic insertions) drawing from Amir Khusrau, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Shams Tabrizi, Jalaluddin Rumi and Fani Badayuni to name a few. The rendition is made more charming (in my opinion) by a couple of anecdotes he narrates to heighten the effect of the girehs. Warsisahib's wit is showcased when he notices a few people leaving the mehfil and turns that event into a sher (couplet) in the same meter as the one he was singing before it and following it. He notices a particularly enchanted elderly connoisseur in the back towards the end and asks me to crouch down from the video recorder to establish visual contact with him. All in all, this is among my favourite qawwali tracks of all time and I hope you all enjoy it!

Ustad Mohammed Ahmed Warsi Nasiri Qawwal & Group - Khud Shamaa Ban Gaye Mujhe Parwaana Kar Diya

Doctoral Researcher, Universität Tübingen, Germany | Musicology | Oral History | Sufism

Project Manager, National Cultural Audiovisual Archives, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts | Audiovisual Archives | Digital Preservation | Workflow Management

Ustad Mohammed Ahmed Warsi Nasiri Qawwal & Group - Khud Shamaa Ban Gaye Mujhe Parwaana Kar Diya

Irfan Zuberi