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VOL. 6
The
Sama'
BRITISHJOURNALOFETHNOMUSICOLOGY
sacred
in
music
the
of
Islam:
Sufi
Persian
1997
tradition
Leonard Lewisohn
The creation of a specific liturgy, composed of prayer, litanies, singing, music and
sometimes dance, known as Sama', integratingmusic into the practiceof meditation,is an
importantaspect of the contemplativelife in Islamic Sufism. The essay explores the basic
theological and mystical concepts of Samd'. Part 1 discusses auditionin Islamic theology,
where three schools of scholars existed: advocates, adversariesand moderates.The views
of the advocates-the Sufis-are discussed, and in particular,key works on Samd' by the
Persians Ahmad b. Muhammadal-Tiisi and Abf Hamid al-Ghaztli. Part 2 explores the
idea of the Sacred and the preconditionswhich the mystic must observe while listening to
music, analysing Tisi and Ghazali's understandingof the three conditions ("right time,
place and company")of Samda'. Part 3 examines the relationof music to poetry in Islamic
mysticism. Part 4 explores the relation of Koranic cantillation to singing, poetry and
Samd'. Part 5 discusses the contemplative fruits of audition, the relationship of ecstasy
(wajd) to tranceexperiences, and the attitudeof the Koranand the ProphetMuhammadto
dance, often consideredan integralpartof Samd'.
Know that hearts and consciences are treasuries of secrets and mines of
jewels. Wrappedwithin them lie theirjewels just as fire is enveloped in iron
and stone, and hidden like water is concealed under dust and loam. There is
no way of extractingsuch hidden things save by theflint and steel of audition
to poetry and music (samd'), and there is no entrance to the heart save by the
ante chamber of the ears. So musical tones, measured and pleasing, bring
forth what is in it and make evident its beauties and defects.
Abfi Hdmidal-Ghazgli(n.d.: 237, also cf. Macdonald1901-2a: 199)
1 Sam&'in Islamic theology
The greathistorianof Islamic music H.G. Farmer(1942, intro.:1) once described
the "interminabledebate between Muslim legists concerningthe proprietyof
'audition(al-sama')', or more properly'musical audition',"as being "probably
the most interestingof Arabic polemical literature."For over a millenniumthis
debatehas generatedinterminableopinionsandargumentspro andcon by leading
1
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2
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
Islamic theologians,jurists,philosophersandmystics.1Fromthe very earliestdays
of Islam, one finds a numberof authoritieswho endorsedthe legality of listening
to music and a number of others who rejected all music as immoral and
irreligious,as well as those who maintainedthe "goldenmean"in this debate-in
turnadvocates,adversariesandmoderates.
Writerswho belonged to first category-staunch advocatesof the legality of
music-were first and foremostthe Muslimmystics or Sufis, to whom music was
a spiritualstaple,not merelya permissible(haldl)but a requiredreligiouspractice
(wdjib). "The question of the significance and legitimacy of music in the total
structureof the Islamic tradition,"S.H. Nasr (1987:153-4) points out, "is not
merely juridical or theological. It involves most of all the inner and spiritual
aspectof Islam,andthereforewhateverambiguitiesexist on thejuridicallevel, the
ultimateanswer,especially as far as the relationof music to Islamic spiritualityis
concerned,must be sought above all in Sufism."Prof. Nasr's observationis very
importantto keep in mind since it was the Sufis with theirSamd'ceremonieswho
became the chief guardiansand patronsof Islamic music throughoutperiods of
history when puritanismdominatedthe social fabric of Muslim society and the
cultivationof music was discouraged.
From its very beginnings, Persian and Turkish classical music has been
associatedwith the Samd'ceremony;2boththe poets andthe musicianswere often
of a Sufi background(Feldman 1993:243-66;Michon 1991:494). Not only did
numerousPersianSufis practiseSamd' as an integralpartof theircontemplative
and spiritualmethod, one also finds renowned theologians who supportedthe
practice and arguedfor its validity from a theological standpoint,3perhapsthe
most famous of whom was Abfi
Muhammadal-Ghazdli(d. 505/1111).
in which "hedoubtedthe validityof all he was
Following a personalcrisis of faithH.amid
teachingof religiouslore,"andfoundhis spiritualcurecould only be effected "by
acceptinga moraldecision to withdrawand lay new basesfor his life throughSufi
practices" (Hodgson 1977, 11:181), Ghazali composed The Revival of the
Religious Sciences (Ihyd' 'ulamal-din), his greatestwork which earnedfor him
the sobriquet"Proofof Islam",with which (in the Sunni world at least) he has
ever since been acclaimed An entire book (see Ghazali n.d., II) of this
monumentalencyclopedia was devotedto the defence of Samd'. His mystical
IFor a summaryoverview of the entire gamut of themes found in the relevantIslamic traditions
and in teachings of protagonistsof the four greatlegal schools and the ideological debates which
have evolved as a result,see Shiloah 1995:31-44.
2Schimmel (1975:325) points out that "the intense love for music that the Mevlevis inherited
from their master Jalaluddin has inspired many classical musicians and composers in the
Ottoman Empire. In fact, the best pieces of Turkishclasscial music, such as those by 'Itri (17th
century), were composed by artists who were either members of, or at least loosely connected
with, the order."
3 To cite but one example, Ibn Khaldun(d. 1406), who "clearlyshared the view of most of the
cultured elite of his time who realised that Sufism was the essence of Islam," as Casewit
(1985:182) points out, vindicatedthe value of mystical concerts(see Ibn Khaldiin1958, 1:230-1).
For a general account of the history of opposing viewpoints concerning audition, see Gribetz
(1991:43-62).
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
3
exegesis and approachto the Sufi concert,which will be explainedbelow, soon
came to play a centralpartin subsequentdebateson the legalityof music in Islam.
In the second category-opponents of music-one finds the mediaeval
ayatollahs, pointing the finger at and accusing of blasphemyall who believed
music to be food for the soul. Such exotericclerics consideredmusic as belonging
to the categoryof hateful things such as usury,fornicationand intoxication,and
argued that all musical activities, whetherplaying instrumentsor singing, are
fundamentallyvanity,interpreting,for instance,the referencein the sixth verse of
the SuraLuqmanto "idle talk"(lahwaal-hadith)as designatingand thusbanning
singing (Farmer1942:14).4 Authorswho sharedsuch views include the likes of
the theologianIbn Abi'l-Dunya(d. 281/894),5the Ash'aritheologianandpreacher
Ibn Jawzi (d. 600/1201), the jurist Ibn al-Hajaj(d. 736/1336), Ibn Jama'a (d.
739/1338) and the fanatical legalist Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1327)-the last of
whom condemnedanyonewho practicedSamd'as an infidel.
In general, however, the anti-musicalbias of exoteric clericalism was but a
reflection of much wider debates and differences which had existed between
Islamic puritanismand mysticism from the earliest days of Islam-the former
group stressing divine transcendenceand the role of Law and the latter camp
emphasizingthe power of faith, immanenceand Love. As Gritbetz(1991:52) has
pointedout: "Thedifferenceof opinionregardingsamd' can be viewed as partof
a largercontroversywhich exists betweenthe Sufis and the legalists, namely the
Sufi support of the Neoplatonic "eros" doctrine, and the Hanbalite-orthodox
support of the "nomos" doctrine."Less often, however, one finds Sufis who
consideredSamd'reprehensible.6Muhyi al-Din ibn al-'Arabi(d. 638/1240), for
instance,known as the Shaykhal-Akbar"SupremeShaykh",authorof 600 books
or treatises in Arabic on Sufi themes, in some of his writings appears to be
vigorously opposed to Samd' (e.g. Boase & Sahnoun1993:51-2),while in other
works (notably in his Futi4hdtal-Makkiyyaor Meccan Revelations) presents
argumentsapparentlyin favorof it.7
In the third category-those who maintainedthe "goldenmean"-one finds
authorssuch as Abu'l-Qasim'UbaydAllah ibn Khurradadhbih
(d. 300/911) who
in his Kitdbal-lahw wa'l-maldhi(Book on Diversionand Musical Instruments)
4 For other verses cited in the Koranwhich have been interpretedas relatingto the permissibility
and prohibitionof music, see Roy Choudhury'slengthy discussion (1957:57-65).
5 He is the author of the earliest known treatise in opposition to music, written in the 3rd/9th
century:Dhammal-maldhi, from which one may deduce thatsamd' was semi-institutionalizedin
the 2nd/8th century.
6 However, such mystics more often than not either hailed from the Western lands of Islam, or
belonged to the NaqshbandiOrder(who were, doctrinallyspeaking,opposed to the practice);it is
extremely rareto encounterSufis in the Persianor Persianateworld who opposed the practiceas
un-Islamic.
7 However, such arguments are based on theologico-cosmological principles which place
"mysticalsamd' as a sub-class of a broaderkind of sama' which has nothing to do with music"
per se, as Shehadi (1995:159-62) has shown in his study of the Shaykh's chapteron samd' in the
Futaihdt.
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4
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
defended the religious lawfulness of audition,noting that, from a philosophical
standpoint, the science of music formed an essential part of the quadrivium
(Shiloah 1993:113). Ibn Rajab(d. 1392) in his book Nuzhatal-asmd'ft mas'alat
al-sama' (The Ears' Delight in the Practice of Musical Audition) also took a
moderate stance-describing two categories of singing: sacred and profane,
condemning the latter and condoning the former, considering, however, all
musical instruments as forbidden (Roy Choudhury 1957:43-102). Ibn 'Abd
Rabbihi(d. 328/940) also defendedauditionin a chapteron music found in his
workentitledThe UniqueNecklace('Iqd al-farid)(transl.Farmer1942). Ibn 'Abd
Rabbihi'sdiscussion centresaroundthe legality of singing, ratherthan music in
general, althoughhis argumentsare relevant to the understandingthe place of
music in Islamic culture as well. He argued that "he who listens to singing
(ghina') does not take the verses of God [in the Qur'acn]for mockery. And the
most just view in this matteris thatits medium (sabil) is poetry. So its good is
good and its evil is evil" (ibid.). Essentially,Ibn 'Abd Rabbihimaintainsthat if
the singer chants poetry of a spirituallyuplifting and moral nature,his song is
praiseworthy,butif contraryto that,quitereprehensible.
The focus of the presentstudyof mysticalmusic anddancein the PersianSufi
traditionwill be on the views of the first categorymentionedabove, namely, the
Sufis. Insofaras many-if not most-of the spiritualmastersas well as secular
practitionersof music from the earliest days of Islam were of Persianorigin or
birth,8the examples adduced here will be mainly confined to authors in the
Persianmusico-mysticaltradition.9Amongstthese authors,we concentrateon two
al-Ghazaliwho both
Iranians:Ahmadb. Muhammadal-Thsi1oand Abi Hmid
H
and Ghazdli
in
646/1248
his
work
wrote
Samd'
on
composed key works
(TOsi
be
will
masters
other
from
circa 1096-1111), while examples
occasionally
suppliedto adumbratethe variouscontextsdiscussed.
Samad',which literally means "audition",connotes in the Sufi tradition a
hearing with the "earof the heart",an attitudeof reverentlylistening to music
and/orthe singing of mystical poetrywith the intentof increasingawarenessand
understandingof the divine objectdescribed;it is a type of meditationfocusingon
musicalmelody,by use of instruments,mysticalsongs or combiningboth (During
1988:13). "The most widely known expression of mystical life in Islam," as
Schimmel (1975:179) has called it, Samd' is practiced by nearly all the Sufi
Orders in Islam with the sole exception of the Naqshbandiyya(especially its
Indianbranches)who sharedthe aversionof exotericIslamicorthodoxyto music
8 Evidence gleaned from the works of Mas'fdi, Ibn 'Abd Rabbihiand Abfi FarajIsfah5nipoints
to strong Persian influence in the development of music in Islam during the period of the four
"righteous"caliphs;cf. Roy Choudhury1957:73-4;Graham1988-9:22-7;Miller 1997:chs. 1-2).
9 On the centralrole of PersianSufism in mediaevalIslamic thought,see Lewisohn 1993.
10 This author, as Ahmad Mujahid has pointed out, must not be confused with Ahmad alGhazali, brotherof the famous theologian Abfi Hamid al-Ghazdli.See AhmadMujahid's lenghty
introductionto Tfisi (1360 A.Hsh./1981), where he points out (pp. 19ff.) that the Bawdriq alilmra'could not have been composed by AhmadGhazdlibecause (among otherreasons) of poetry
from later (7th/l3th century)authorswhich occur in the text.
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Lewisohn: Thesacred music of Islam
5
in general. In Islam, its backgroundcan be traced back at least to the time of
Abfi'l-QasimJunayd(d. 298/910) who was born in Nahavandnear Hamadanin
WesternPersia,but lived most of his life in BaghdadwhereSamad'-khacnas,
lodges
dedicated to the performanceof mystical musical concerts, had been operative
since the secondhalf of the 9th century(ibid.:181).
We do not proposehere to discuss the historicalorigins of Samd' beyond the
bordersof Islamic thought,nor explorethe similaritiesof the variouselementsof
its ceremonyto forms of Near EasternShamanism,pre-IslamicSemiticpaganism,
nor compare the effects of auditionwith diverse strandsof Christianor Jewish
manifestationsof ecstasy duringthe experienceof music, nor analysethe theories
of Muslimneo-Platonism(as featuredin the thoughtof the Ikhwanal-Safi in their
Ras''i111 for instance) in regard to music-all of which would entail several
separate studies. In any case, since it is well-nigh impossible to establish any
direct affiliation of the Sama' ritual to any one particularpre-Islamic ethnic,
religious or philosophical tradition,it appearsfar more reasonableto seek the
foundation of Samd' within Islam itself.12As During (1988:15) persuasively
argues:"If the attitudeof the auditorto Samat'is not somethingentirelynovel in
oriental culture, the rite itself must be consideredas an original achievement."
Furthermore-and as the examples shown at the end of this study indicate-the
Sufis themselves were highly affected by profane poetico-musical traditions
alreadyexistent within Arabic and Persianculturepriorto Islam.Thus, it is easy
to see how the Samd' ritual developed in an intra-Islamiccontext as a kind
the
"counter-concert"
deliberatelyset in contrastto profanemusicalgatherings;13
not so perceptibledifference, in fact, between the sacred and profanetypes of
concert underlies the many disparagingremarksfrequentlymade by both the
nomocentriclegalists and the more temperatemystics aboutthe practice.Samd'
was also firmly groundedin PropheticSunnaand ahadith,which were frequently
cited in its defence by the mystics (Roy Choudhury1957:66-70;Tfisi 1938:140),
and if this was lacking, there was also the sanction provided by the personal
11For a general discussion of their musical theories, see Shiloah 1978; also cf. Btirgel 1988:ch.
4; for general information on their views on music, see Wright 1993:683); for an interesting
discussion of the spiritualdimension of music among them, also cf. Shiloah 1980:170.
12Massignon (1954:104-5) considered the Samd' ritualto be a kind of Muslim
liturgy naturally
evolved from the early Muslim practices of Koranicrecitation(qira'ah) and communalsessions
for recollection of God (majdalisal-dhikr). Roy Choudhury(1957:56) also observes that "the
entire culture of pre-Islamic Arabia centred round their pleasurers,joys, poets, music, singing
girls and musical stories."
13 "The singing in secular life was known as ghind', so that of
religious life was termed ta'bir,
i.e. an 'interpreting'. Thus there came to Islam its approved religious music," notes Farmer
(1952:62). And as Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi points out: "The origin of singing and its source were
clearly from the mother towns of the land of the Arabs, and they are Al-Medina, and Al-Td'if,
and Khaibar,and Widi al-Qura,and Daumatal-Jandal,and Yamana.And these towns comprise
the marketsof the Arabs"(Farmer1942:4). Also cf. During 1988:16-7.
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6
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
examples of the foundersof the four schools of Islamiclaw, all of whom enjoyed
music.14
2 Sam&' and the Sacred:preconditionsof Sufi music
Since Samd' is both an art form and a spiritualexercise composedof music and
poetry and singing, as such, it can be graspedeitherby Art or Religion;thatis to
say, either aesthetically--not analytically; or spiritually--but not "scientifically".15In his introductionto Erlanger'sgreat work on La musique arabe,
Carrade Vaux (1930:ix) observesthe enormousimpressionwhichmusic made on
Middle Easterners."A simple distichaccompaniedby the lute, a few introductory
notes sung by a beautifulvoice, possibly a voice with the slightly raucous and
gutturaltimbreas they love it in the MiddleEast,was enoughto throwthe listener
into a state similarto thatof ecstasy;he quivered,wept, fainted,he thoughthe was
going to die. Arab literatureis full of anecdotes bearingwitness to this hyperesthesia of the musical sense." Commentingon this observation,Rouget (1985:
298) insightfully points out that "one could just as easily interpretour relative
indifference to music as resulting from a veritable form of anesthesis of our
musical sensibility; in which case this would then be our culturally specific
characteristic."
Besides our apparentaesthetic anesthesis, the spiritual-or rather,secularpresuppositionsof modem Western man also present obstacles to the understandingof the Muslimmystic's sensitivityto music. To mediaevalman-whether
from the ChristianWest or classical Islam-the close connectionof Art and the
Sacredwas takenfor granted(Coomaraswamy1977:43-70;Burckhardt1986:8-9).
Today, due to the predominantlysecularmentalityof Westernsociety, with its
aversion to all types of hierarchy,whether social or religious, a widespread
prejudicehas been generatedthat any type of formal discipline, be it artisticor
religious, only serves to stifle the artist's "creative genius" and that rigid
adherance to the impersonal and objective rules of Art only suppresses our
"individualfreedom of expression".Thus, a strange conditionhas occurredin
which modern man no longer beholds the Sacred to be prior-ontologically
prior--to Art. This modern approach, needless to say, is alien the basic
assumptionsof Persianmysticism in particularand Persianmusic in general.16
14"Whatevermight have been thejuristic decisions on particularincidentsconnectedwith music
given by the Imams [Abfi Hanifa; Malik; Shafi'i; Ahmad ibn Hanbal],their personal practices
sufficiently illustrate that music under certain circumstances was treatedas permissible"(Roy
Choudhury1957:80). See also Farmer1942:23-5.
15During (1993:277-87] points out thatthere is a subtle difference between the interpretationof
samd' by the initiated listener "attuned"to the invisible dhikr of the heart within the musician,
and the profanelistener's understandingof the musical and/orvocal performanceitself.
16The accomplished female Persianvocalist Parish(1374 A.Hsh./1995:9) made this quite clear
in a recent interview when she pointed out: "Whenwe discuss Persianmusic or Persianmystical
music and their different vocal or instrumentalstyles, what is of primaryconcern is the inner
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Lewisohn:Thesacredmusicof Islam
7
artistconcernedwith the
Posing the question:"Wheredoes the twentieth-century
Sacred stand with regardto prayeror reachingthe thresholdof a true encounter
with the living God?", the contemporaryEnglish composer John Tavener (b.
1944), who convertedto the GreekOrthodoxchurchin 1976, pointsout (1988:334):
The modern artist is isolated: he is an eccentric. He has the same natural and
normal incentive to creative activity;he has the same thirstfor objectivetruth,the
same loves and hates. But he has not the same clientele, no longer is he naturally
Thereis
employed as partof the ordinarycompanyof buildersor furniture-makers.
no naturalor properplace for anythinghe makes.The concerthall isolates him and
his work from everythingaroundit. It is not he (or she) who is abnormal:it is his
age and its circumstances...Once upon a time the artistwas often the anonymous
painterof Ikons, the composer of chants for huge liturgicalstructures.He or she
once fasted, prayed, attended all night Vigil Services. To live, was to adore,
throughevery brushstroke,the one andonly creator.
Tavener's commentson the difficultyof interpretingthe traditionof Christian
classical sacredmusic in termsof modem secularcategoriesof aestheticreception
have a Near Easternreprisein Muslim sacredmusic or Sama'.From the earliest
days, the Sufis had argued that it was impossible to authentically experience
music's "sweet concord" (in Shakespeare's words) and consequent therapeutic
effects without also observing its proper spiritual conditions incumbent upon both
performer and listener. One need only consider the vast number of manuals which
were composed on the properconduct(adab) to be observedby the Sufi during
Samd' to realize how inseparable the practice of Sama' is from the ambience of its
ritual "sacred" discipline: the Sufi tariqa.17
state (hdlat-i durCnt)of the performer;that is, with what intention and purpose does he or she
approachthe music? What, then, is the purpose of such music? What is truly importantfor the
artist is the mystical morality (akhldq-i 'drifdna)of the music.'That is to say, if the musician or
vocalist negates his or her own existence [before the Divine] and expresses a gnostic humility
(tawddu'-i 'arifdna), one can say that the type of music he or she performsis a mystical music
It matters not if the musician play tdr or tanbir, perform in a traditional Sufi
('drifmna).
Khanaqahor in a modern concert hall. Here, neither the place nor the instrumentsthemselves
have any particularvalue for their own sake." While Parisd's views, of course, on the "proper
place" to perform music do not reflect the traditionalSufi attitudein this regard(see below) to
the conditions of "righttime" and "rightplace", they certainly demonstratethe close affiliation
of Persian music to Sufism. Also cf. Corbin 1990:245-50.
17Foremost among the classical treatiseswhich contain chaptersor subectionson samd' and its
rules and manners,should be mentionedthe Kitdbal-Luma' of Abi Nasr al-Sarrij (d. 378/988);
the Ta'arruf of Al-Kalabadhi(d. 385/995); the Risdla (Treatise on Sufism) by Abii'l-Qasim alQushayri of Nishapur (d. 465/1072); the Kashf al-mathjib of Hujwiri (d. 465/1072); the Sad
maydan (One HundredFields) and Mandzil al-sd'irfn (Stages of the Wayfarers)of 'Abdu'lldh
Ansdriof Herat (d. 481/1089); the Risdlat al-quds (Treatiseon the Sacred)by Rozbih5n Baqli of
Shiraz (d. 606/1210) and the 'Awarifal-ma'drif of Abi Hafs 'Umar Suhrawardi(d. 632/1234),
not to mention the chapter on samd' in Ihyd' 'ulam al-din (Revivification of the Science of
Religion) of Abo Hamid al-Ghazzali cited above. For a synopsis of the views of some of these
manualson samd', see Robson's introductionto Tfsi (1938:4-8).
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8
British Journal ofEthnomusicology, vol. 6 (1997)
For instance, the foremost point of etiquette upon which all the Sufis are
agreed,is that silence and stillness must reign throughoutSamd'notwithstanding
the participantbecoming affected by ecstasy and rapture(wajd). The great Sufi
theorist Abu Hafs 'Umar Suhrawardi(d. 632/1234), in his Arabic-language
'Awdrifal-ma'drif(1364 A.Hsh./1985:86),perhapsthe most celebratedmanualof
Sufi discipline, doctrine and practice in all Islamic thought, emphasizes that
Sama-'is the auditionof soundand the realizationof ecstasywithoutshatteringthe
inwardsilence, self-controlandcontemplativesobrietyof the Sufi:
The aspiringdisciple,yearningaspirant,sincerewayfarerandseekerinspiredby
divinelove mustinvesthimselfwiththe robesof piousvigilance(taqwa)which
inspirehim with steadfastnessandgranthim hiddenpowersof will, and which
bearthe fruitof highspiritualrankandsalvationin the hereafter.
In this fashion,
the flames of divineyearningwithinhim will be rekindledevery momentand
freshlyrenewedso thatGod'sgrace-the bountyof thisworld,will blessall of his
days,suchthatin Samd'he will be ableto controlhis movements,
exceptwhenhe
is unableto keephis peace-like a personwhomustsneeze,no matterhowmuch
he wishesnotto.18
Proper musical "audition"depends on the acoustic sensibility, the spiritual
"attunedness"of the soul, states Suhrawardi.But thatis not the whole rule, since
"Audition demands proper time, place and brethren (zaman, makdn and
akhwdn:)"(Ghazali 1319 A.Hsh./1940:388)-as Abf'l-Qasim al-Junayd's (d.
297/910) celebratedrule went. This rule, mentionedby nearly every Sufi who
subsequentlywrote on Samd', is commentedupon at length by both Ahmad b.
Muhammadal-Tusiin his treatiseon Samd'and by Abo Hamidal-Ghazaliin his
Persian book Kimiyd-yisa'ddat (The Alchemy of Felicity) (ibid.:388). If we
examine how the threeconditionsare describedby these two authors,the former
with mysticalexactitudeutilizing the terminologyof tasawwufand the latterwith
the same terminology and similar definiteness complementedby a passionate
concern for theological rectitude,the inter-relationof Music and the Sacred in
Sama' in the PersianSufi traditionwill perhapsbecomeclearer.
i. "Right time"
The first category which Tufsiand Ghazaliset themselvesto define is the "right
time for Samd'"'.The "propertime [for sama-']is when their [the Sufis'] hearts
enjoy purity so that they desire to concentratetheir aspirationin seeking their
Beloved's goodwill," Tisi informs us-in order "to divest their outer being of
sensual characteristicsand release theirinnerbeing from attachmentto attaining
high spiritual degrees or stations (talab al-darijdt wa tahsil al-maqdmat), so as to
collect their transconscious selves (asrdr) [to be receptive to] the infusions of the
breaths of divine mercy" (Tlsi 1938:123, Arabic text; transl. mine).
18"Silence and self-control"also constitutefor Abfi Hamidal-Ghazali(n.d.:266) the "thirdpoint
of etiquette"in samd'.
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
9
As this definition indicates, Tfisi's understandingof the proper "time" for
Samd' is largely unconcernedwith the temporalrealm,but ratherpertainsto the
proper"spiritualmood"or "mysticalstate"(hal) possessed by the Sufi, the right
conditionswhich will enablehim to entercorrectlyinto a genuinemusicalreverie,
a time of the heartor soul ratherthana specific temporalrealityof the body. Thus,
concludes Tfisi, "duringsuch a time when [the Sufis] assemble,the illumination
which graces the heartsof certainof themis reflectedonto the heartsof others,so
by the gathering the general light, revelation, clarity and cheer is increased"
(ibid.:123). Time's metaphysicalarrow,one could say, muststrikethe Sufi's heart
before it hits the body. The same strictly metaphysical attitude and spiritual
approach to the condition of the "correcttime for musical audition"is also
accentuatedby Abfi Himid al-Ghazdli(1319 A.Hsh./1940;388) when he asserts
that "Sama' should not be conducted during any times when one's heart is
engaged [with worldlyconcerns],norwhen it is time for ritualprayer(namdz)nor
when eating or when one is distracted."No doubt, it was in reference to this
precondition that Jalal al-Din Rfumi's(d. 672/1273) famous verse should be
interpreted(1925-40, I, vv. 2763):
trueandpure,
Not everymanattainsthesamda'
Noreverybirdmayfeedon figs.
ii. "Rightplace"
The second category discussed by Ghazali and Tfsi concerns the surroundings
necessary to evoke the Sacred:the places best suitable to conduct Samd'. Tifsi
opines that the places where Samd' may be properlyperformedare "zawiyds,
khcnaqahsand mosques, which are preferredover otherspots, since the mosque
was foundedfor sake of the bodily devotionand the heartcreatedfor the sake of
divine gnosis and the theophanytherein"(Tisi 1938:123-4, Arabictext; transl.
mine). Again, just as the "right time" is both a temporal "moment"and a
metaphysicalcondition which connotes the heart's detachment(fardghal-qalb)
(Ghazalin.d.:265;transl.mine;Macdonald1903:2),the conditionof "place"must
not to be interpreted too literally. Thus, the "place" of the concert is also
paradoxically a "no-place",a u-topos, a "heart-land",ratherthan any specific
bodily locus. A "place"is sacred by virtue of the heart's presence there rather
thanthe heart'spresencephysicallycontingentuponthe geographicallocus of the
bodydescends.So whena mystic
...since theheartis the sitewheredivineillumination
endowedwiththe spiritualheartfeels movedwithina mosqueon accountof an
andsoul's serenitythere,suchstirring
increaseof his heart'sinteriorillumination
excels the corporealmotionsof otherdevoteeswho areengagedin actsof ritual
devotionyet lack the presenceof such illumination...Sowhenthe brethrenof
purity (ahl al-safa') assemble in a place of worshipwishing that the light enjoyed
by the heartsof somebe conveyeduntothe heartsof othersso thattheirmutual
illuminationincreaseandthatthe purityof theirsouls be amplified,theirsouls
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10
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
becomefortifiedby the lightof thatplace, heighteningtheirmysticalstatesand
perfectingtheirinnatecharacters.
(Ttisi1938:124-5,Arabictext;transl.mine)
"Lightof that place" is here underscoredbecause the proprietyof "place"is
contingenton a spiritualprecondition-an en-lightenment.Although,indeed, the
heart finds "interiorillumination"within the sanctified atomosphere of the
mosque, the mosque also is illuminatedby the heart[s] ("the site where divine
illuminationdescends")of the worshipperstherein.Nonetheless,as AbfHlHmid
al-Ghazalistates (1319 A.Hsh./1940:388;n.d.:265), the importanceof the actual
for Samd' mustnever be conductedin
physical place is not to be underestimated,
a "darkand unpleasantplace, nor in the home of despoticfolk where all the time
one feels aggrievedandvexed."
iii. "Right company"
Ghazali (n.d.:265) underlinesthe negative effect on the Sufi gatheringof those
who "repudiatethe practiceof Samd' while ostentiouslydisplayingtheir ascetic
piety, being completely impoverishedin respect to the 'refinedsentimentof the
heart' (muflis min
also
1938:124-5, English text).
al-qulub)"
la.td'if as "the (T.isiof the
describes the Sufi concert
T.isi
stirring
spiritby listening to wonderful
realities in delicate poems and the abandonmentof the attachmentsof created
things, and being drawnto the spiritualstages (mandzil),"concludingthat "the
instrumentof obtainingthese lights is the associationof the [Sufi] brethrenand
the seeking of help from God".Since Samd' is an esotericactivity demandinga
refined degree of understandingon the listener'spart,it is usually considereda
ceremony proper"formembersonly", and from which the uninitiatedare to be
excluded.
In fact, among the "brethren"or practitionersof Samd' itself, a definite
hierarchyexists. First come the ordinarylaymen/women,the common Muslim
believers (referredto in KoranXLIX:10) with whom one shouldassociateas little
as possible; only "briefly, just enough that they may benefit by one"
be
(T.si
1938:126,Arabictext). Accordingto Ghazali,neophytesin Sufism shouldnot
permittedto engage in Samd' at all. Beginners possess neither the ability to
understandnor the "taste"(dhawq)for Samd'and so theirtime is betteroccupied
in dhikrand service(khidmat)on the Path(Ghazalin.d.:265-6).19
Here, parenthetically,it may be mentioned that the Persian Sufi shaykhs
differedin theiropinionsaboutthe permissibilityof Samd'for beginnersand for
al-Ghazali(n.d.:266), for
intermediateadepts on the mystical path. Abi
H.Iimid
from access to Samd', "since
one, absolutely denied that the beginner will profit
19 It should be noted that in many modern-dayPersian Sufi orders, such as the Dhahabiyya,
Qadariyyaand the Ni'matu'llahiyya,attendenceat Sama' is still strictlylimited (except on public
religious holidays when their ceremony is open to the masses) to dervishes initiated into the
practicesand customs of the tariqa.
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
I
sensual pleasures and attentionto lusts and humanqualitiespersist in him even
though he may relish the savour of the mystic concert (dhawqal-samd')...such
auditionoften merelyamountsto no more thana summonsto self-indulgenceand
lust, so that his path is cut off." Therewere otherPersianSufi masters,however,
such as ShaykhAbfi Sa'id ibn Abi"l-Khayr(357/967-440/1048),who completely
contradictedthis view, maintainingthat Samd' is highly conducive to spiritual
advancementand illuminationfor beginners (Nicholson 1980:58ff). Generally
of
speakinghowever,the consensusof earlyPersianSufis-from Abf Nasr Sarratj
Tus (d. 378/988) in his Kitabal-luma' to Abf'l-Qasim al-Qushayri(d. 465/1072)
of Khurasanin his Al-Risdlaft 'ilmal-tasawwufdown to 'Ali b. 'UthmanJulldbi
Hujwiri(d. 463/1071) in his Kashfal-mahjiib--accordswith the views of Ghazdli
here: that Sama' is harmfulfor beginners.20In practice,however, such fine print
was more often thannot ignored,and the more antinominianand liberalviews of
Abf Sa'id came to prevailin later Sufism in Iranproper21while in the Persianate
of Samd'becamean importanttool
cultureof MughalIndiathe institutionalization
in the popularizationof the Sufi orders in the non-Islamicenvironmentof the
Subcontinent".22Finally, with the endorsement of the utility of Samd' for
commonerand Sufi adeptalike by Rfimi-whose works,especiallythe Mathnawi,
were known all over the Persian-speakingworld, his fame having reached the
eastern fringes of the Muslim lands shortly after his death-the high status of
Samd' in subsequentSufi traditionwas ensured(Romi 1330 A.Hsh./1951:289,
ta'liqdt;Kiyini 1369 A.H.sh./1990:430).
The second groupare more advancedSufis, whom Tflsi terms"thebrethrenof
disciplic devotion and love ((irddat wa'l-muhabbat)."Despite their limited
spiritualcapacity, these brethrenmay be associatedwith so that "grace"may be
filtereddown to the commonfolk (Tilsi 1938:126,Arabictext; transl.mine).
Thirdly and lastly come "the brethrenof purity and ecstatic consciousness,
gnostic sciences, seclusion, heart-savour,yearningand perfection (akhwdnalsafa' wa' i-mawajidwa' i-ma'drifwa' i-tafdridwa' i-dhawqwa' i-shawq wa' 1kamdl).These arebrethrenin truth"(ibid.:125-6).
20 "It is more desirablethatbeginners should not be allowed to attendmusical concerts lest their
natures become depraved"(Hujwiri 1976:430). And a century before Ghazdli by Qushayri's
teacherand father-in-lawShaykh Abi 'Ali Daqqaq(d. 407/1016) noted thatSamd' is prohibited
for the common folk (al-'awdm) because of the persistance of [the passions of] their carnal
nature; permitted for ascetics for having realized their spiritual struggles (li-husil mujahads
atihim) and allowable to Sufis because of their quickenedhearts (li-hiydt qulibihim). (Cited by
Hussaini 1983:113.)
21 The Mongol rulers of Iran, for instance, from the reign of Abfi Sa'id (1265-82) onwards
actively patronizedSufi samd' ceremonies, and in India the musical concert became a common
featureof most of the orders;see Lewisohn 1995:77.
22 As Ahmad (1969:143) points out: "Music is perhapsthe only art in which something like a
synthesis between the Muslim and Hindu artistictraditionswas achieved, though not without a
series of tensions." Also cf. Hussaini 1983: ch. 3; S. Rizvi 1941:331-40.
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12
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
In conclusion, according to Tfisi the brethren of Samd' are to be divided into
Muslims, novices in Sufism and perfect gnostics, to all of whom it is beneficial,23
whereas from Ghazdli's point of view, the practice is considered reprehensible
and injurious to all except advanced adepts in Sufism.
The above discussion of the two mystics' views of Samd' also provides an excellent illustration of the ontological priority of the Sacred in the Samd' ceremony.
Despite the difference in opinions concerning the permissibility of music audition
for beginners, it is evident that the Sacred preludes, preconditions, encompasses
and, ultimately, defines the ambience of the Sufi's audition. In the absence of the
Sacred, there is no Samd'. As Ghazali (1319 A.Hsh./1940:388) reiterates:
If it so happens that a proud and worldly person be present, or the singer has
profanemotives, or some pretentiouspersonbe continuallydancing and feigning
ecstatic experienceor a groupof people heedless of God be attendingwho practice
samd' to indulgein theirown vain humoursor make small talk, staringaboutin all
directionswithoutany sense of reverence,or else a groupof women onlookersbe
presentthere mixing with a group of young men so that each group is meditating
on the othersex-such Samd' is to no avail.
Taken collectively then, the three "conditions" of time, place and brethren
constitute the psychological, liturgical and sociological substructure of the Sufi
adab of sama'. Most of the Persian Sufi and masters poets who evoke the
experience of sacred mystical music emphasize the absolute indispensibility of
such conditions. Mir Husayn Harawi's (d. 718/1318) lines, for instance, illustrate
this quite well (cited by Nurbakhsh:1982:55, transl. mine):
How well those adeptsin states - 'heart declared:
"No soul existent,no living ego
may taste this wine."
Look how all the mystics, legion on legion, here fell prey to passion;
Aghast in God, they vanishedin oblivion...
Best let the novice steerclear of all such disquisition.
For Samd"s not for one who's boundby nature'surges,
woundup in greed andpassion. Unless you cast aside
all this, how should it be fit for you?
Not all who languishmeritsuch an apertif.
Only the burningheart
is cut out for it.
When all who treadthis way hazardall away,
lose theirstakesfor the sake of God, this is no place
for vain men to try theirluck, or arrantfolk to joke about.
23 "Samd'is permittedto the commoners(awwdm),more permissibleto disciples, but a required
practice (wdjib)for the Friendsof God (awliyd' Alldh)" (Tfisi 1360 A.Hsh./1981:9).
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Lewisohn:Thesacredmusicof Islam
13
The music24 of the Samd' ceremony is also permeatedby a fundamentally
sacredambience.Accordingto Ahmadb. Muhammadal-Tfisi,each of the instruments used in the Sufi musical concerthas a sacredconnotationand archetypal
meaning (ma'na) which it incarnatesand expresses. The large tambourine(daf)
refers to "the cycle of all createdbeings (dd'ra akwan)"(Tisi 1938:98, Arabic
text; transl. mine). The hide on the tambourinerefers to "the descent of divine
visitations (wdriddt) from the innermost arcana
al-butan) upon general
existence..." (ibid.). Even the jangling bells on (b.tin
the tambourinehave spiritual
the
in
to
the
voice
of
significance. Listening
singer Samd' itself evinces another
life whichdescendsfromthe inner
"the
divine
contemplativeexperience:recalling
most arcanato the levels (mardtib)of the spirits,the hearts,and the consciences
(asrdr)"(ibid.). The flute (qasab) refers to "thehumanessences"and the breath
blown into the flute alludes to the "divinelight penetratingthe seed of man's
essence"(ibid.).
Far from being "weak-minded" and "farfetched" as Ahmad Mujahhid
maintains(TMisi1360 A.Hsh./1981:20,introduction),in such descriptionsone is
presented with Music as Nature transfigured,an interiorizedreality of Samd'
which might well be comparedwith what HenryCorbin(1990b:16), in reference
to Mazdeancosmology, has termed"avisionarygeography."Such a cosmologyis
"concentratedor concentratesa sacralspace in medio mundi,in the centerof the
24 The word "music" is used only once by Tflsi, and as Rouget points out (1985:256-7), Abii
Hamid al-Ghazdlideliberatelyavoids using the word masfqtin his book on the "RightUsages of
Audition and Ecstasy" (Kitab dddbal-sami'y wa'l-wajd) . This is not because he was unfamiliar
with the word: at the time of his composition of the Ihyd' translationof Greek works into Arabic
had been going on since the days of Hrftin al-Rashid (reg. 789-809). It is ratherbecause "the
word masiqi denoted the rules or the art of music but not music itself as a product of that art"
(ibid.:256.) In Islamic Peripateticphilosophymasfqidenotes strictlythe theoryof music which is
recognized to be of Greek origin;defined as the science of the composition of melodies (ta'lifalalhdn) (Wright 1993:681), it is contrastedto ghind', song or musical practice.As a championof
orthodoxy and an outspokenenemy of Peripateticphilosophy,Ghazdliobviously did not wish to
associate himself with and thus perhapsbecome inducedto defend, a profession as suspect in the
eyes of the faith as that of the musician.Rouget's (1985:257) summaryof GhazMi'sposition visa-vis masiqi also illuminatesits relationto respectablesamd':
From Ghazili's point of view, which is essentially that of finding a moral justification for
sama ', it is indispensibleto make a distinctionbetween what we might term"light"music and
"serious"music. Only the latteris lawful. To confuse the two by using the same termto cover
both would thus be aberrant.That which is lawful consisted of, first, the cantillation(taghbir)
of the Koran, of course; 2nd, sung poetry, on the condition that it sentiments and thoughts
were sufficiently elevated; and 3rd, accompaniedsong, providedthat the musical instruments
utilized were permitted, which is to say instruments that were never associated with
blameworthymusical practices.But this is not all. Anotherrestrictionmust be addedto these.
It is permissible to hear only that which one hears when one is oneself in a certain state of
inner purity. It is not only what is sung or played that counts; it is also the disposition of the
listener. Heard with a pure heart, music can be lawful even though it would not be if one
listened to it in a lascivious state of mind. This delimitationof the repertoire(Koran,poetry,
accompaniedsong), made all the stricterby a proviso applyingto the listener's own intention,
is precisely what is conveyed by the word samd'. This conceptional patterningof reality to
which it correspondsis comparableto no other,andcertainlynot to that of the word "music."
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14
BritishJournalof Ethnomusicology,
vol.6 (1997)
vision contemplatedin the presenceof the visionarysoul...Geographicalfeatures,
mountainsfor instance,are here no longermerely physical features;they have a
significance for the soul; they are psycho-cosmic aspects. The events that take
place thereconsist in the very seeing of these aspects;they arepsychic events."25
In exactly same way, auditionin the Sufi traditionis not done with the ear of
mundaneconsciousnessbut rather"witha consciousnessanchoredin the imaginal
world"(cf. Mitchell 1986:99). The spiritualconsciousnessor state
attained
(.hl)visionary
by "listeningto music" in Samd' was well understoodby the English
poet William Blake, who said: "I would no more questionmy eye thanI would
question a window concerninga sight. I look throughit, not with it" (cited by
Raine 1979:39).
Apropos the ontological priority of the Sacred in the Sama' ceremony
mentioned above, another equally fundamentalelement in the metaphysical
world-viewof the Sufi musician/cantor(mutrib26)and the initiatedauditorto his
musical concert is the theocentricnotion of realitywhich both shared.From the
Muslimmystic's theocentricperspective,God is the sole CreativeForce,Who in
every moment createsboth Concert,Music and Auditionperpetuallyanew.27As
the Persian Sufi poet Maghribi (d. 810/1408) expresses it (1993:383, ghazal
187:5-6):
Sure,in a painting
or in a drawing
thereis nothingbuta paintinganda drawing
YetMani
is hiddendeepbeneath
in all theartof Manicheaism.
See nothingin all thesongsandtunesandrhythmsandlines
theMusician,though
buttheRhythm-maker,
emanations
tones,scales,vibrations,
be thousands.
JeanDuring(1989:574)also insightfullypointsout, in the contextof describing
the spiritual state
inspiring the vocal or instrumentalartist performing
(.hl)
25 An interestingdiscussionof the relationof the mundusimaginalisto musicis also givenby
During(1989:576-85).
26 Ldhiji(1371 A.Hsh./1992:531),describingthe mysticalsignificanceof this Arabo-Persian
word,states:"Themutribis a personwho, by meansof his practiceof singingandchanting
va surud)in memoryof the drunkards,
gives the adeptsfamiliarwith mystical
(khwdnandigi
'tasting'andspiritualstatesthefeelingof joy (tarab)andblessedness."
27 This perceptionis what,in Ibn 'Arabi'sterminology,has been called "the2nd audition"
al-Jili(d. 1403) (1886, II, 57) describesit, the devotee
(istama'al-thdni).As 'Abdu'l-Karim
of theDivineNames,Qualitiesandthe [human]essencesand
"hearsthe summons(mukhattibat)
respondsto a Quality(sifdt)...Herethequality
respondsto it as thesubjectof a Quality(maws•3f)
of audition[or 'facultyof hearing']becomesthedevotee'sessentialreality,neitherborrowednor
derivedfromoutside,so thathe verifiesthetruthof thisauditoryrevelation(al-tajallial-sami)."
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
15
PersianSufi music, that:"Unetelle esth6tiquerefleteun pointdu vue th6ocentriste
absolu, car a chaque fraction d'instant toute cr6atureest sauv6e du n6ant et
e l'atre dans un acte de Cr6ationPerp6tuelle.Le 'pointdu vue' de Dieu
ramen6e
dans l'ontologie devient le point due vue de 1'artistecr6ateur:en particulierdans
la musiquepersane,I'oeuvrene poursuitpas a vie de maniereautonomeen vertu
des lois internes qui la r6gissent."Samd' is thus a musical experience whose
aesthetic depth leads to metaphysical penetration;the notes reflect, indeed,
become, the divine harmony.Such metaphysicalreflectionslead us as a matterof
course to examine the specifically aesthetic natureof Samd', that is: mystical
poetry.
3 Poetryand Sami'
Besides the necessaryconditionsconstitutedby the triadof the "company"of the
Sufis, proper spirituo-geographical"place"and temporal/metaphysical"time",
anotheressential elementin the Sufi musicalseanceandpartof the contemplative
experienceof Samd' is poetry.Poetryandwords,as vehicles capableof communicating the Transcendental,are themselves highly inadequate.Music alone is
capable of bridgingthe gap between the literal and anagogic levels of meaning,
for the intenseemotionalityof any Sufi poem cannotbe properlyexpressedexcept
within the sacredambienceof the Samd'ceremony.Music constitutesthe poem's
emotional body of water; the poem-fish is born and swims in the ocean of
Samd'-for withoutmusic, the verticaldimensionof Samd',the poem expires on
the dry landof literalandhorizontalmeanings.
In the exordium of the Bawdriq al-ilmd', Ahmad b. Muhammadal-Tusi
(1938:121-2, Arabic text; transl. mine) reveals the close relationshipbetween
poetry and Samd', portrayingits rites as a cognitive experiencebased on song
ratherthanpuremusic:28
Theauditionof thisgroup(al-td'ifa,i.e. theSufis]consistsin mysticaldeliberation
thehiddenmysteries[concealed]
over(muldhazat)
withinthehighlyrefinedpoetry
(al-ash'dr al-raqiqa) which are sung by the cantor (qawwdl) when touched by
ecstasy(wajd)realizedby theassidousheartof thegnosticandtheperfectdisciple.
Suchauditioninducesthemto set asideresistanceandthroughbeingdrawnto the
UniqueAlmightyBeingto becomeawareof spiritualsubtletiesandmysteries.In
of obligatory
orderto removetheseveils,on mostoccasions,aftertheperformance
audition
have
chosen
to beautiful
duties,
[the
of]
(Samd')
they
practice
religious
voicessincehumannatureis inherently
inclinedto thevoicein orderto procureby
meansof it whatis beneficialandrepulsewhatis harmful.
As Tisi makes clear in the above passage,it is importantthatthe mystic audit
"thehidden mysteries"within the poetry. Auditionto such poetry/musicduring
Samit' is not merely an aestheticexperiencerequiringattentionto the words and
28 Hence Rouget's observatonthat "music has the power of inducing tranceonly because it is a
vehicle for words, and because these words are chargedwith meaning"(1985:300).
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16
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
music alone: it is rathera concentrationon the symboliccorrespondencesand
mystical references of Sufi poetry with the ear of the heart; an audition to the
"hidden"melody within sound,to the secretswithinthe silent intervalsas well as
the notes of the music.
Thesoul'ssamd'is notcompacted
Aloneof wordsandconsonants.
No, in everypitchandstrain
there'sanotherenigmacontained.
So wrote MahmfidShabistari(d. after 737/1337) (1365 A.Hsh./1986:102;v.
854) in his Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i rdz), and Muhammad Lahiji (d.
912/1507) (1371 A.Hsh./1992:532) in his famous commentaryon this poem,
aproposof this verse, pointedout:
Forall thosefamiliarwithmysticalstatesof consciousness
(ahl-ihalI)andadeptin
spiritualperfections(arbab-ikamdl),the Samd'of the soul andspiritdoes not
consist merelyof the soundsand wordsheardfrom a musician(mutrib).No,
a freshmysteryand
behindevery strain(parda)andmelody,adeptsapprehend
mysticalstate.But such mysteriousvirginsdo not exposethemselvesto every
theyneverunveiltheirfacesexceptto the mostelect of confidants.No,
stranger;
noteveryonewho busieshimselfin audition(Samd'),clapshis handin passionor
whirlsin its danceis necessarilyaninitiatein tunewithits mysteries.
Approaching the subject of poetry and music from a more theological
perspective,Abfi Hamid al-Ghazalienumeratessome seven differentoccasions
when poetry is traditionallypermitted, sometimes even incumbent upon the
believer to use: (1) the singing of pilgrims;(Macdonald1901-2a:220-1);(2) the
rousing of soldiers for war (ibid.:221-2); (3) the use of rajaz verses during an
actual battle (ibid.:222); (4) rousing listeners to weeping and lamentationon
certainreligious occasions (ibid.:222-3);(5) on occasionsof joy, such as festival
days and marriages (here the use of both music and poetry are considered
praiseworthy)(ibid.:223-8);(6) listeningto music andpoetryby lovers in orderto
arouselonging and love (thatis, withinmaritalrelations)(ibid.:228-9);and(7) for
the lovers of God (ibid.:229-35).It is Ghazdli'sdescriptionof this final category,
however,which has relevanceto the presentdiscussionof sacredmusic in Islam.
Reflectingthe theocentricattitudeof the Sufi mysticsdescribedabove, Ghazali
assertsthateverythingwhich the lover of God beholdsevokes the vision of God,
for "he cannot look upon a thing but he sees in it the Almighty, for no sound
strikeshis ear but he hearsit from Him and in Him".29Thus, all Samd' (here the
noun is not specific and may connote both "listening" and the Sufi concert itself)
but further strengthens his yearning (shawq) and love ('ishq) of God. Audition
also has a deeply cleansing, purifying and guiding effect on the soul, in turn
29 The following analysis is based on my own translationof GhazaJli
(n.d., 1:246-47);for another
English translation,see Macdonald(1901-2a:229-30).
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Lewisohn: Thesacred music of Islam
17
inducing various types of ineffable visionary experiences (mushaihidat,
mukdshifat), which "are the summation of what is sought by the lovers of God
Almighty and the ultimate fruit of all pious works". These experiences are known
only to those who have directly relished them through heart-savour (dhawq).30
Discussing the fruits of Sama' within the context of Sufi contemplative states, the
Proof of Islam underlines how the mystic "encounters in himself states which he
had not encountered before he listened to the music". His encounter with such
states, like the experience of music itself is, however, ultimately ineffable:
The cause of those states appearingin the heartthroughlisteningto music (Samd')
is a divine mystery (sirr AllaTh)found within the harmonious relationship of
measured tones [of music] to the [human] spirits and in the spirits becoming
overcome by these melodies and stirredby them-whether to longing, joy, grief,
expansion or contraction.But the knowledge of the cause as to why spirits are
affected through sounds is one of the mystical subtleties of the sciences of
visionary experience [known to the Sufis]. (Ghazlli n.d.:247; also cf. Macdonald
1901-2a:230)
Regarding the content of the poetry being sung in Samd', Abfl HmrnidGhazali
underlines that it is the state of inner purity on the listener's part which is of
importance in the first degree-since it is the listener's own spiritual disposition
which determines the permissibility of the Samd' rather than the subject-matter of
the the poetry or song. Even the most erotic poetry can be applied to God, since
all descriptions of the parts of the Beloved's body contain metaphysical as well as
physical allusions; these only the pure in heart can discern. Ghazali writes
(n.d.:249; transl. mine; also cf. Macdonald 1901-2a:237-9):
As for amatorypoetry (al-nasib), that is, love poetry with descriptionof cheeks,
temples, beauty of figure, statureand the other qualities of women: this calls for
consideration. The sound view is that the composition and recitation of such
poetry, with or withoutmelody, is not legally forbidden(haram).Rather,it is up to
the listener to see to it thathe does not apply what he hearsto a particularwoman,
and if he does apply it that he apply it to one permittedto him, i.e. his wife or
slave-girl;for if he apply it to a strangewomanthenhe is a sinnerby thus applying
it to, and ponderingupon, her. He who is characterizedby such passion ought to
put aside music and singing (samd') altogether.For he over whom such a passion
reigns applies all he hearsto thatpassion,whetherthe expressionsuits it or not; for
what expression is there that cannot be applied to ideas by way of metaphorical
usage?
However, one whose heartis totally overcome by the love of God is reminded
by the (poetic image of the) blacknessof the hairon the temples of a similarthing,
i.e. infidelity (al-kufr);by the brightnessof the cheek, of the light of Faith;by the
mention of consummation(al-wisal), of the meeting with God Almighty; by the
mention of separation(al-fardq), of the veil which is [between him] and God
30 Dhawq is a key term in Abi Hamid al-Ghazali's aesthetics and philosophy and was described
elsewhere by him as "the most special characteristicof the highest Sufi mystics, and what is
uniquely theirs, [this] can only be attainedby taste, not by learning...[it is] like witnessing with
one's own eyes and taking in one's own hands"(Ghazali 1969:35, 44). For furtherdiscussion of
Ghazali's conception of dhawq, see Ormsby 1991:142.
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18
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
Almighty while in the company of the outcast; by the mention of the rival (alraqib) who disturbsthe pleasureof union, of the hindrancespresentedby the world
and its various corruptionsthat interuptthe continuityof his intimacy with God
Almighty. And thereis no need of fabricatingfarfetchedanalogies,deliberation,or
taking time for calm considerationin such application;for the ideas (al-ma'dni)
which dominatethe heartweigh moreheavily upon the understandingthanthe bare
expressionswhich are heard.
Thus, it is relatedof one of the [Sufi] Shaykhs,passingthrougha market,heard
someone cry: "The good ones-ten for a grain!"31and was strickenwith ecstasy
(al-wajd). When he was asked about that experience, he explained: "When the
good are [only] ten for a grain,then what is the value of evil?"
And anotherof them was passingthrougha marketwhen he hearda hawkercry,
"O wild thyme!" (Yd sa'taru barri) and was smitten with ecstasy. When asked
from whence had arisen his ecstasy, he replied, "I heardhim as though he were
saying, 'Persevereand you'll see my benevolence!"'(isa' tarrabarri).
And such experiences can even reach the point where ecstasy will overcome a
Persian upon hearing verses in Arabic, for some Arabic words correspond to
Persianwords, so he understandsfrom them anothermeaning.Thus, when someone once recitedthe Arabichemistich:
Naughtat night has ever visited me (wa md zdrani)-but his fancy.
-a Persianman was seized with ecstasy upon hearingit. Asked what had induced
his ecstasy, he said, "Ah! It was as though the poet had said in Persianmd zdrim,
'We are forsaken';"-for the expresson zdr indicatesbeing forsaken, so that he
fancied that he was saying "We are all forsakenand on the verge of destruction"
and was thereby striken with fright imagining the peril of destruction in the
Hereafter.
However, the ecstasy of one who is consumedby divine love is in proportionto
his understanding, and his understanding is in proportion to his power of
imagination,and what he imagines does not necessarilyaccord with what poet's
intended meaning or language. Nonetheless-his ecstasy is totally true and
genuine.Thus, it is entirelyproperthatone who fearsthe peril of the destructionin
the next world should be disconcerted and that his limbs should tremble.
[Furthermore]there is no greatbenefit to be gained by changing the substanceof
the expressionsthemselves.
Althoughone who is overcomeby love of a createdbeing (al-makhlciq)ought to
guardhimself againstmusic and singing (samd') in whatevertype of expressionit
appears,one who is enthralledby love of the Almighty will not be disturbedby
verbal expressions since they present no obstacle to his understandingof the
[underlying]sublime and subtle ideas which flow throughthe streamof his noble
aspiration.
This passage, clearly a locus classicus on the mystical use of poetry,32
emphasizes that it is the listener's state of mind--or ratherthe proper "tune"of his
soul-which determines both the effect of the music and the content of the poetry.
If such hermeneutics be criticized as "purely subjective...vague, indefinite," as
D.B. Macdonald (1901-2b:77, no. 1) argues, and the emotional conditions aroused
be regarded as merely the product of "the hyperactivity of a set of neurovegetative
31Theweightof a grainof barley;apparently
a fractionof a dirham.
32Macdonald
remarkson anotherpassagealongthesesamelines.
(1901-2b:706-7)
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
19
functions,"as Rouget (1985:301) would persuadeus, it should not be forgotten
thatit is a mysticalsubjectwho hearsthe voice of God in the hawkerselling wild
thyme and discernsthe threatof His wrathin poetrywhich to othersis naughtbut
a flight of poetic fancy at best andmorbidfantasyat worst.Such a subjecthas also
undergonethe difficult discipline of observing,understandingand applyingthe
spiritualpreconditionsof Samd'. It is for this reasonthathis ecstatic experiences
are, as Ghazdlistates, "genuineand true;"they are only subjectiveto those who
deny the validity of contemplative experience altogether or whose musical
insensibility(or culturalanesthesia?)makesthemoverlookthe indisolvableunion
of poetry,music andthe Sacredin Islamicculture.
Sa'di, in a chapterof his didacticpoemBitstdndevotedto spiritualintoxication,
perhapsprovidesthe best riposteto those who, interpretingsuch sacredmusic on
the basis of either a secularaestheticsor from the bias of nomocentrictheology,
critiqueSamd'(1352 A.Hsh./1973:183;adaptedfromWickens 1974:117):
I'll notsay,brother,whatis Samd'
UnlessI knowwhomaythelistenerbe:
If fromtheSpirit'slofthis soul-birdsoar
TheveryAngellagsbehindin flight;
Butif he be a manof sportandplayandjest
Thedemongrowsin forcewithinhis chest.
Thebreezeof dawntearsaparttherosewithgrace
Butwoodtheaxealonecansplit.
Theworldis full of passion,drunkenness
andmusic
Butin themirrorwhatcana blindmansee?
4 Prophetic versus poetic audition
Ghazaliprovidesnumerousexamplesof mystics, scholarsand even ordinaryfolk
finding themselvesseized by rapture(wajd)uponauditionof the Koran(see Macdonald 1901-2b:732-8).Samd'may even causedeath,he states:
One of the Sufisuponhearingthe verse:"Osoul at peace!Returnto yourLord,
well pleasedand well-pleasing,"(KoranLXXXIX:27-8)besoughtthe reciterto
"HowoftenI incitemy soulto 'Return!'yet it does
repeatit. He thenremarked:
not."Thenconstraining
himselfto ecstasy(tawajjud)
he uttereda loudcryandhis
1901-2b:736)
spiritdeparted.
(Ghazalin.d.:262;cf. alsoMacdonald
On the otherhand,he also enumeratesseven reasonswhy listeningto poetryis
more conducive to rapturethan hearing the cantillationof the Koran, most of
which are reducible to the fact that Muslims have become too habituatedto
reading,auditingor reciting the Koranto become stirredinto furtherrapturesby
it. Replyingto the questionof why ecstasy shouldmanifestitself upon auditionto
poetry but rarely proceeds from hearing the Koran, the direct word of God,
Ghazalimaintainsthe objectivetruthof the Samd'experience.
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20
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
Ecstasy is Truth(wajd al-haqq). It springsfrom the abundanceof the love of God
Almighty and from sincere devotion and true longing (sidq irddatwa'l-shawq)to
encounterHim. It may also be inducedby auditionto the Koran.One who is not
stirredup by hearingthe Koranis but absorbedin fondnessfor creationandlove of
what is created, as the saying of God Almighty indicates: "Verily in the
remembranceof God heartsfind serenity"(KoranXIII:28)and "[Godhas revealed
the fairest of sayings, a scriptureuniformin style where warningsare pairedwith
promises,so that]the flesh of those who fear theirLorddoes creep, and theirskins
and hearts soften to the remembranceof God..." (KoranXXXIX:23). Therefore,
whatever one finds (yijadu) as a consequenceof audition(Samad')by means of
audition within the soul is all ecstasy (wajd). Such "serenity","creepingof the
flesh", awe and "softening of the heart" (which was referred to in the above
passages) is itself wajd. (Ghazalin.d.:261also cf. Macdonald1901-2b:733)
However, the Koran has certain liturgical limitations due to its prearranged
system of cantillation which only permit its use in a highly ritualized manner. One
is not permitted, for instance, to set its verses to music. Thus, paradoxically, it is
easier to gain access to the Sacred through the "profane"medium of poetry, since
few people can "call attention to ideas that are remote through things that are
near" (Ghazali n.d.:263; also cf. Macdonald 1901-2b:739-40). Furthermore, the
language of poetry "has a power through poetic taste of making an impression on
the soul, insofar as a pleasant voice with measure is not like a pleasant voice
without measure; and measure is what is found in poetry as opposed to the verses
of the Koran" (Ghazali n.d.:264; following closely Macdonald's translation, 19012b:741-2). Improvisation in musical measure, poetic metre and vocal ornamentation, combined with the shortening and lengthening of syllables, is also permissible when singing poetry but forbidden during Koranic recitation. The very
rhythms of poetry and especially its singing to instrumental accompaniment
greatly stimulate the arousal of ecstasy. Now, since the conception which common
folk harbour of such musical rhythms is that "they are but idle jest and sport",
while "the select classes of educated folk (al-khacssa)consider the form of such
music itself as ridiculous" (Ghazali n.d.:264; transl. mine), it is evident that
association of the speech of God with poetic jest or musical "sport"may appear as
an impious breach of courtesy. The final argument summoned up in defence of the
use of poetry is adapted by Ghazali (n.d.:264-5; transl. mine) from Ab-i Nasr alSarrLaj
al-Tfisi's Kitab al-Luma':
The Koran is the word of God and one of his qualities; and it is a truthwhich
humanitycannotcomprehend,becauseit is uncreated,andcreatedqualitiescannot
comprehendit. If even a grain of its meaningand splendourwere revealed to the
humanheart,it would shatterin awe andbewilderment.
But sweet melodies concord with the natural humours (al-ilhdn al-tiyibba
munasibatli-taba'), and have a relationto these humoursby way of [the soul's]
ratherthan throughits naturalprivilege and birthright
naturalpleasure
relation
So
[to the soul] pertainsto such naturalpleasures.
poetry's
(al-hu~.u)
(al-huqaq).
Thus, when melodies and sounds are combined with the symbolic allusions and
refined points (al-ishdrat
[of poetry] they suit each other well since
naturalpleasures[of the soul] and seem lighter to the
they are both nearerto thewa'l-la.td'if)
heart,because what is created is conjoinedwith the created.Thus, as long as our
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Lewisohn:Thesacredmusicof Islam
21
"humanity"remains and we enjoy mournfulmelodies and sweet sounds through
our own qualities and naturalpleasures,our receptivity and openness to contemplate the continuationof these pleasuresthroughpoetry is greaterthan our receptivity to the word of God, which is his Quality and Word, having begun in Him
and to which to Him returns.33
It is for such reasons,in short,statesGhazili, that althougha humanheartbe
passionatelyin love with God, "a strangeverse of poetrywill rousethe heartwith
more fervour than recitation of the Koran"(Ghazali n.d.:265; transl. mine).
Ultimately, the only road to raptureswhich are "divine"are throughaesthetic
pleasureswhich arepreeminentlyhuman:music andpoetry.Discussingthe virtual
preeminence of poetic over prophetic audition in the Sufi contemplative life,
Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Tfsi (1938:121-22; Arabic text) also underlines the
have on the soul:
positive effect which poetry's"harmonies"
When many melodic arrangementsand spiritual harmonies- that is to say,
music-are evoked within someone, his naturecome to preferthem over all else.
Thus, when a person listens to harmonious melodies which allude to those
archetypalmeanings relating to heart-savourand to the realities of divine Unity
(al-ma'anti al-dhawqiyya wa' 1-haqd'iq al-tawhidiyya), his whole being inclines to
these things, each limb receiving its own individualdelight. Hence, while the ear
hearkensto the subtlities of the harmoniesof the Infinite, the eye apprehendsthe
harmoniesof movement,the heartthe subtletiesof ideas, and reason ('aql) knows
raptureof the harmoniesof the Infinite.34
In conclusion, in PersianSufism poetry with musical accompanimentconstitutes the main staple of the mystical soul. As St. Teresa of Avila pronounced,
"Eventhe greatestcontemplativescannotbearto live withoutpoetry".
33 His view is similar to the neo-Platonic theory elaboratedby Avicenna in his Kitdbal-shi'r
where, describing the harmony generated by poetry, he states that poetry's "harmonyhas an
unquestionableeffect on the soul, and each object has a harmonywhich suits it best in agreement
with its profusion, its sweetness or its moderation;and by this influence the soul reproduces
within itself sadness, anger or any other motion" (quoted in Cantarino 1975:137). A similar
notion is advocatedby Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi:"Andthe philosophersassertthatmusicalnotes
(nagham)are a super-excellence(fadl) thatremainsover fromspeech,whichthe tongueis
unableto extract.Butnatureexpressesit throughmelodies(alhan),notby meansof therepeated
poeticalfeet (taqtf'),butby therepeatedmusicalphrase(tarji').Whenit appears,thesoulfallsin
love with it and the spirit sighs for it. And for that reason Plato says that one part of the soul
should not be preventedfrom loving another"(Farmer1942:7).
34 Robson's translationof this passage, althoughgenerallyaccurate,shows astoundingdisregard
for conventional English usage and simplicity of expression. His translationof the Arabicphrase
al-mundsibdtal-naghmiyyat as "the analogies which pertain to notes," for example, although
referin factto themysteryof musicalharmony
literal,overlooksthatthesespiritual"analogies"
itself, the very "concordof sweet sounds," which as Shakespearesays, constitutes "the food of
love."
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22
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
5 The fruits of audition
The creationof a specific liturgycomposedof prayer,litanies,singing,music and
sometimes dance known as Samd', integratingmusic into the practiceof meditation, is one of the most highly originalaspectsof the contemplativelife in Islam.
As we have seen, Sufi mystics ascendedto the heightsof contemplationsaddling
the steeds of two creativeArts:Poetryand Music. In each Sufi meeting house or
khanaqdhcould be found singers(qawwal)and sometimesmusicians(mutrib)as
well who specializedin conductingthese concertsof sacredmusic. Althoughthe
various spiritual preconditions, social organization and the religio-aesthetic
elements of Samai'have been explored above, the specific purpose of the
ceremony-to adore God and consequentlyactualizecertainspiritualstates and
ecstaticconsciousness(wajd)-demands furthercomment.
i. Ecstasy
Whatprecisely is the conceptandnatureof the "ecstaticconsciousness"obtained
through Samd'? To answer this question, it will be useful for the following
discussion to briefly examine the metaphysicalimplicationsof the etymology of
the termfor ecstasy in Sufism:wajd.This word,derivedfromthe Arabictri-literal
root wajada, means both 1) "ecstasyand ardour",as well as 2) "finding"and 3)
"being".Thus, the highest state of ecstasy is referredto as wujador "existence"
itself. Hence, the attainmentof wujad,"realizedecstasy"(it is the abstractnoun)
is the supremerealizationof being as well, for, in the wordsof Abil'l- HusaynalDarraj,"Ecstasy (wajd) signifies that which is found (yiujadu)through sama'"
(cited by Ghazalin.d.:257;Macdonald1901-2b:719).The fruit of Sama' is both
mystical and metaphysical,for it is at once a both a psychologyof raptureand an
ontology of ecstasy.
Some scholars have endeavouredto establish an analogy between wajd and
certain "trance" experiences such as the phenomenon of "possession" in
shamanism (Rouget 1985:ch. 7). Although drawing analogies between trance
states and wajdmay be partiallyuseful for the sake of comparison,it often leads
to farfetchedand barbarousassumptionsabout the wajd experienceitself.35As
describedin the classicaltexts, the basic experienceof wajdis thatof a heightened
egoless consciousness: "selflessness"(bikhwudf)in the lexicon of the Persian
Sufis. The subject who experiences wajd is temporarilyabsent from him or
herself; it is indeed an extasis, an exit from self-existence and an entranceinto
egoless consciousness.Thus, Shibli (d. 334/945), describingwajd, said: "WhenI
35 For instance, Rouget (1985:299) posits thatwajd is purely a productof culturalconditioning,
and proposes that dhikr should be understood as a kind of "excitationaltrance"produced by
"hyperactivity of the vocal cords in conjunction with overstimulationof the hearing system"
which thus "modify the vascularand neurologicalbalance of the encephalon,"inducing "trance"
(ibid.:301). Such grandiouse biological reductionism, although perhaps comforting to the
egocentric paranoia of our modem scientific mentality, does however ignore (=academic
anesthesia?) the testimony of generations of Muslim mystics who, having experienced wajd,
interprettheir experience within the sacralframeworkof their own spiritualtradition.
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
23
suppose that I have lost it, I find it andwheneverI imaginethatI have found it, I
lose it." Furthermore,
he declared,"Ecstasyor 'finding'is the manifestationof the
ExistentOne or 'the Found' (mawjiid)"(Nurbakhsh1984:182).Nuik(d. 295/907)
likewise pronounced,"Findingis the losing of personal being in the Divinely
Found or Existent One" (ibid.). The experience of wajd means, in short, the
finding (wajada) of an existence transcendingthe consciousness of the finite
ego-and it is thatexistencewhich the Sufis believe is AbsoluteBeing Itself.
When describing the Sufi conception of this term containing such broad
metaphysicalresonances,I am remindedof Emerson'scritiqueof Swedenborg's
theory of symbolism. Swedenborg theorized that material objects were all
to a
signifiersof a universalmeaning,andthateach sensualthing "corresponded"
notion.
Emerson
endorsed
this
herme(1983:672) generally
Although
spiritual
neutical approachto Nature,he condemnedwhat he perceivedas Swedenborg's
"exclusivelytheologicdirection,"warning:
The centralidentityenables any one symbol to expresssuccessivelyall the
of heavenlywaters,every
qualitiesandshadesof realbeing.In the transmission
Natureavengeshereselfspeedilyon thehardpedantry
hosefits everyhydrant.
that
wouldchainherwaves.She is no literalist.Everything
mustbe takengenially,and
we mustbe atthetopof ourcondition,to understand
anythingrightly.
In the practice of auditionto Sufi music/poetry,a similarphenomenontakes
place, for "we mustbe at the top of ourcondition"to understandit rightly.Indeed,
Abfi Hamidal-Ghazhli(n.d.:253-7;Macdonald1901-2b:705-18)devotes an entire
section of his book on Samd'to the differentmethodsof understandingthe poetry
being sung, thus underliningthe intellectualbasis of ecstasy.36Thereis no such
thing as an unconscious or irrational ecstasy, he asserts. The ecstatic first
"understands",and only then attains to the certainty of the ecstasy which
In the words of Abfi Sa'id b. al-'Arabi(d. 341 A.H.)
"transcendsunderstanding".
(cited by Ghazalin.d.:257;transl.mine):
of the All-Observant
(mushchidaalEcstasyis liftingof the veil, contemplation
(huzuir
al-fahm),studyof the UnseenRealm,
Raqib),presenceof understanding
conversewiththe soul'stransconscious
al-sirr),andassociationwith
(muihdditha
andtermination
of "you"in respect
whatone lacks.It consistsin the annihilation
to all you are.... Ecstasyis the firststageof the Elect:the fruitvouchsafedone
throughverifiedfaith in the Unseen Realm(tasdiqal-ghayb).Whendirectly
(dhawq),its light illumineshis
experiencedby the mysticthroughheart-savour
heartand all doubtand uncertaintyleave him.
Hence, the mystical subject consciouslyrecognizes the origin and end of his
ecstasy; his transportsmay thus be betterdescribedas the objective fruits of a
36 "Know that the first degree in samd' (listening to music) is understanding(fahm) what is
heard and then applying this to a meaning which occurs to the listener. The fruit of such
understandingis ecstasy (wajd), and the fruit of ecstasy is physical movement of one's limbs"
(Ghazali, n.d., II:253;translationmine).
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24
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
heightenedconsciousnessratherthanthe subjectivevagariesof a hyper-emotional
imagination.
Further underlining this highly intellectual character of Samd', Ghazali
maintainsthateverythingone hearsduringSamd'shouldbe appliedby the mystic
to his own soul's "dealingswith God" (mu'dmilat);for it is mainly with these
"dealings"with his Beloved thatthe mysticis concerned."Itis not requiredof the
listenerthathe ruminate(murd'at)over the purportedmeaningof the poet's word,
since every saying has variousaspectsand everyrationalpersontakespleasurein
appropriatinga [different]meaningfrom it" (Ghazdlin.d.:254;transl.mine). In
short,if indeed "everyhose fits every hydrant"as Emersonclaimed,the waterof
wajd should not be wasted, but ratherconsumed exclusively as "food for the
spirit".
This leads us to study the importanttherapeuticeffect which Samd' has upon
the soul. Music causes sharpeningof the attention,leading to a greaterfocus of
both mind and body and a concentrationof the externaland innersenses. In fact,
as Tfisi explains (1938:123, Arabic text; transl.mine), the remembranceof God
(dhikr)duringSamd' operateslike a sortof mystical"musictherapy":
When [by means of music] the variouslimbs of the body become properly
collected,hatredandaversionis removedandconcord(hukmal-tawdfuq)
appears.
Discordanddissension(al-tanafur)belongto darknesswhereasconcordcomes
fromLight-so whendarknessis dispersedandlightshinesforth,one's worldly
witha claritywhicha thousand
affairsandthespiritualrealitiesbecomeuncovered
effortscouldnothaveaccomplished.
It is relevant in this context to recall Shakespeare's description of the
therapeuticpower of music in the Merchantof Venice where (V.I, 75-88) he
remarkson the power of music to tamewild horsesas well as to collect the wits.
"A wild andwantonherd,"he writes:
sound,
...If theyputhearperchancea trumpet
Oranyairof musictouchtheirears,
Youshallperceivethemmakea mutualstand,
Theirsavageeyesturnedto a modestgaze
thepoet
By thesweetpowerof music.Therefore
DidfeignthatOrpheusdrewtrees,stonesandflood,
Sincenaughtso stockish,hard,andfullof rage
Butmusicforthetimedothchangehisnature.
Themanthathathno musicin himself
Noris notmov'dwithconcordof sweetsounds
Is fit for treasons,stratagems,and spoils;
The motions of his spiritare dull as night,
And his affectionsdarkas Erebus;
Let no such man be trusted.
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
25
In an importantpassage on music in the fourthbook of his Mathnawi,Rumi
also describes the same therapeuticuse of the Sufi concert, concluding (192540:IV:vv.742-5):
Samd'is thefoodof lovers;
Thestrandsof dispersedimagination
in it gainconcentration.
Thefantasiesof theinnerpsychein musicfindstrength;
No, transcend
strength,by thewail
of thefluteandhorn,takeform.
The idea that "music is the food of lovers" expressed by Rfimi in the lines
above, and the Platonicnotion that "musicis the food of love" (immortalizedby
Shakespearein TwelfthNight's opening verse37),is one that often appears in
Persian Sufi texts (cf. J. C. Biirgel 1988:89-118). Abfi'l-QasimNasrabadihad
noted that "Everythinghas its own food and the food of the spirit is Samd'"
(Nurbakhsh1984:189),andin this regardGhazaliquotesthe anonymoussayingof
a Sufi that "Sama' is the sustenence of the spirits for the people of gnosis"
(n.d.:257; Macdonald1901-2b:719).The same notion is also describedby Tfisi
(1938:133-4, Arabic text) when Samd' is said to be the "al-ghadhaal-rithi,
spiritualnourishment"which "strengthensthe heartand the innernature".It is a
means to induce the descent of "spirit,light and life from the unseen world"
(ibid:162).
ii. Dance
One of the most neglected, least understood,yet most attractive aspects of
Samd'-at least to a Westernspectatorunfamiliarwith Islamicmysticism-is the
physical movementsof its participants,popularlyknown as "Sufidance"(raqs).
Nearly all the Sufis adduced numerous traditions supportingthe legality of
dancingin Islam, furnishinglegal precedentsin the Prophetictradition(hadith)to
justify the bodily movements of those who engaged in sama'. Both Tisi and
Ghazali(n.d., II, p. 244ff.; Macdonald1901-2a:pp.223-27), for example,relatea
story taken from the Musnad of Ahmad Hanbal in which Abyssinians were
dancing and playing a tambourinein the Prophet's presence while chanting
"Muhammadis an upright servant".The Prophet,who was present among the
bystanders,asked them what theirrefrainwas, anduponbeing informed,listened
attentivelyand did nothingto stop theiractivity.Hence Ahmadb. Muhammadal(1938:133-4, Arabictext; transl.mine) arguesthat
T.isi
of beingpresentat dancingand
Thistraditionclearlyindicatesthe permissibility
andsinging.So if
the permissibilityof listeningto the soundof the tambourine
fromhimthat
anyonesaysthatdancingis forbidden,thatis an acknowledgement
37 For the Platonic provenance of this phrase, cf. Erixymachus's discussion of cosmic love in
Plato's Symposium:186b-187d;and Ficino 1985:66-7.
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26
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
the Prophetwas presentat whatis forbiddenand confirmedothersin whatis
thenhe is aninfidelby general
Andif anyonefindsthisstorydisturbing
forbidden.
consent.
Tusi also relatesseveralotherstoriesportrayingthe Prophetas a centralfigure,
standingby or commentinguponthe singingor dancingof his followers,andcites
'Abd
the names of some eminent Companionsof the Prophetsuch as
Allah Ja'far(the brotherof 'All who was laterkilled in the battleofH.aritha,
Mu'ta),who
practiced or participated in ceremonies resembling Samd' to buttress his
arguments.Perhapsthe most interestingstory(againfrom the Musnadof Ahmad
Hanbal)is one which emphasizesthe canonicityof dancing(raqs).
Zayd ibn Haritha,Muhammad'sadoptedson, along with 'All and his brother
Ja'farstandin the Prophet'spresence.The Prophetcomplimentseach of them in
turn, which causes them to leap with joy. Since leaping (the Arabic word is
hajala) is part of dancing (raqs), then all of dancingmust be consideredallowable, the authorargues.Ghazali(n.d., II, p. 267; Macdonald1903:8-9) also uses
the same traditionas a point of departureto justify the legality of raqs in the last
partof his tracton the "Etiquetteof Samd'andEcstasy"in the Ihyd' 'ulhmal-din.
"Thefourthrule of good conductduringauditionto music,"he informsus,
is thatone shouldnotriseup norraiseone'svoice in weepingas long as one can
restrainoneself.However,if one dance(raqs)or forceweeping,thatis allowable
as long as one doesnotintendostentation
by it; for forcingweepinginducesgrief
and dancingis a cause of joy and liveliness(al-raqs sababfi tahrikal-surar).
theexcitationof everyallowable
joy is permissible.
Therefore,
If it wereunlawful,'A'ishawouldnothavelookedon at theAbyssinianswith
the Apostleof God while they were "leaping"(wa humyasfinan)....And in a
traditionit is saidthathe saidto 'A'isha,"Wouldyouliketo lookattheleapingof
the Abyssinians(zafanaal-habashat)?"Now, "leaping"(al-zafana)and "hopping"
(al-hajala)aredancing(al-raqs)whichoccurduetojoy or yearning(shawq).The
preceptwhichone mustapply[in the Shari'a]to it [dancing]is the same rule
and
whichappliesto thatwhichstimulatesit. If thedelightthereinis praiseworthy
thatdelight,thenthedancingis praiseworthy.
thedancingstrengthens
the Koranatteststhatthe purposeof its reminderto humankindis
Furthermore,
for the Prophetto "makeclearto men whathas been divinelyrevealed"(XVI:44),
and had leaping-which is a form of dancing-belonged to the category of
doubtful or harmful or irreligious acts, it would have been necessary for the
Prophet to have said so. The Prophet's refusal to prohibit even his closest
companionsfrom leaping proves the legality of dancing,Ahmadb. Muhammad
al-Tilsi(1938:84-5English;139-40, Arabictext) wouldpersuadeus.38
For both mystics cited above, dance is the very blossoming of ecstasy and
ecstasy is both the cause of dance and the effect of music (cf. Rouget 1985:286).
The most essential contemplative element of the dance is that it must be genuine,
resulting from an authentic ecstasy experienced by the listener. In Sufism there is
38 Ghazd.li(n.d., II:267ff.) provides thorough-goingproofs of its permissibilityas well.
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
27
no "dance"-in the modem sense of the word-apart from religious contemplation, for the sensual and the spiritual, the profane and the Sacred must first be
firmly distinguished and separated. Abli Hamid al-Ghazdli's "thirdrule" of Samd'
which establishes that "none can savour the spiritual concert (dhawq al-sama') as
long as their delight in sensual pleasure and passion (huziiz, shawdt) endures"
(n.d.:266; Macdonald 1903:3). underlines the essentially sacral basis of the Sufi
concert.
Obviously, the same rules and manners (adab) which applies to one's comportment during ecstasy also control the etiquette of the dance. Dance is to be
preceded by stillness of the limbs, for all movement is itself but the fruit of
interior contemplation.
The third rule is that one should be attentiveto what the speakersays, with full
presence of heart(h•ddiral-qalb), not glancing about in every direction,guarding
oneself from staringat the faces of the listenersand from observingwhat sort of
ecstatic states they experience, but absorbedin oneself and in contemplationof
one's own heart for whatever God in his mercy may vouchsafe one's innermost
consciousness. One must keep oneself from any movementthat would disturbthe
heartsof the Sufi brethren.
Externally, one should be at rest, remainingstill in one's gestures, guarding
oneself from coughing or yawning. Seated, one shouldkeep one's head down like
one absorbedin meditationand reflectionwithinthe heart,restrainingoneself from
hand-clapping(al-tasfiq) and dancing(al-raqs), or any othermovements made in
order to fake, simulate or artificially "act-out"[one's state]. Instead, one should
remain silent during the intervals between the recitation, abstaining from
conversation. Only then, if ecstasy overcome and move one without any selfvolition, will one be absolved and not blamed because of it. But whenever one's
volition returns,then [the rule is to] returnto stillnessandrepose. (ibid.)
It is the stillness which rules, begins and terminates the dance, for there is
nothing praiseworthy about dancing for its own sake. As Ghazali put it: "One
shouldn't imagine that one who throws himself upon the ground in distress is
more perfect in ecstasy than one who is still and does not agitate himself. Rather,
often he who is still is more perfect in ecstasy than he who is in agitation"
(Ghazdli n.d.:266-7; closely following Macdonald 1903:6), as the famous story
about Junayd's not being swayed by music and poetry (Samd') in the final years
of his life demonstrates (ibid.):
Al-Junayd,in the beginning[of his progresson the Path]used to be moved through
samd'; then he came not to be moved and people spoke to him about this. He
quoted: "And you see the hills you think as solid flying with the flight of clouds.
Such is the might of God, who has perfectedall things"(KoranXXVII:88). This
points to the fact thatwhile the heartmay be agitated,soaringthroughthe invisible
world (malakat), the limbs may outwardly remain properly disciplined and
unmoved.
Some Sufis, however, even went beyond advocating the superiority of stillness
to movement during Sama '. Sari Saqati (d. 255/871), for instance, reportedly said,
"One who cries out in ecstasy while in samd' must be so bereft of consciousness
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28
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
that if someone strikes him on the face with a sword, he will not feel the blow or
the pain of the wound which is made" (Suhrawardi 1364 A.Hsh./1985:96). At this
advanced degree, the Samd' ceremony reaches such a climax within the mystic's
heart that both immobile meditation and rapturousdance appear as incidental. The
mystic's inner absorption is so total that music, prayer and dance dissolve in the
ineffability of the musical experience itself.
6 Conclusion
The supreme verbal expression in the Persian language of the paradoxical nature
of Sama' can be found in the ecstatic lyrics of the Divan-i Shams-i Tabriz by Jaldl
al-Din Rfimi, whose Order was to become known as the "Whirling Dervishes".
"Under his guiding genius, music and dance," as Fritz Meier put it, "intermingled
to create so indivisible a unity that the dances were performed as rituals in praise
of God and as stimulants to an exalting experience of inner harmony" (Shiloah
1995:142). Thus, it is appropriate to bring this study to a close with a ghazal by
Riimi (1976, IV:65, no. 1734; transl. mine) describing the Sufi concert's startling
theraupetic effect on the spirit: yet conveying to us a distant echo-in
translation-of
TheMessage of Sama'
Sama'-what's that?Fromlords of mystery
a missive dispatchedto us-for heartsin enmity,
a note from them of calm serenity.
The blossoms bud from wisdom
winnowedin its pleasantbreeze
and like a lovely chord,its plectrumstrikes
in Being perforation.
Its music heraldsdawnjust as the crow
Of the Spirit-cockblazons morning'sglow;
Its thrumbeckons success
Like Mars's kettle-drum.
To sate the palate,its silvery sugardrips
Such strangesweet taste...What odd delight
the body senses from the player's pipe andlip!
Those million bitterscorpiongriefs,
Behold here dealt a wretcheddeath.
These thousandroundsof joy, look!
Are passed aroundwithouta cup.
Out of every niche anotherJacobdarts
Disturbedby scent of Joseph's shirt.
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Lewisohn: The sacred music of Islam
29
For if our soul's a puff of breaththat'scast
By "I breathedin him My spirit,"39it's fit
Such "breath"be food and wine as well.
On JudgementDay, they say, this hordeof men
Shall turnto puffs of "breath,"who like the dead, when,
Thrilledto hearthis call, vaultup from sleep.
"Throwashes on the head of any man who cares
And grieves, depressed,"they curse:"Oneuntouched
By such a breath-he's less thandeath."
For once the flesh andheartdrinkdown
This wine by heaven sanctioned,
Foreverbannedfrom them areheat of grief
And snarlingsorrowsthatcan bite the heart.
And yet such supersensualloveliness
Is not to be described-a thousandeyes
Demandfor it on loan, on loan!
Withinyou shines a moon
Wherefrom the vault of heaven
The sun trumpetsanddeclaims,"I am
your humbleservant!"
Like Moses, look withinyour breast;
Seek therethatmoon;gaze throughthe windowthere
And warmlycry "Salam",greetthatray "Good-day".
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Saeed A. Durranifor inviting me to speak on the subject of
mysticism and music in Islam at the conference which he convened on "Muhammad
Iqbal and the Fine Arts: the heritage of Islamic creativity", at the University of
Birmingham, 14-15 October 1995, where an abbreviatedversion of the presentpaper
was presented.Anotherversionwas presentedas one of the "CalamusSummerLectures"
at the WarburgInstitutein London,July 1996.
39 An allusionto the followingpassagein the Koran(XV:28-31):"Andrememberwhenthy
Lordsaiduntothe angels:'Lo!I amcreatinga mortaloutof potter'sclay of blackmudaltered.
So, whenI havemadehimandhavebreathedintohimof My Spirit,do ye fall down,prostrating
all of themtogether.SaveIblis.He refusedto be
yourselfuntohim.So the angelsfell prostrate,
the
Translation
M.
Pickthall.
by
among prostrate."
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30
British Journal of Ethnomusicology,vol. 6 (1997)
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