Madho Lal Hussain

Shah Hussain was a 16th-century Punjabi Sufi poet who is regarded as a pioneer of the Kafi form of Punjabi poetry. Hussain's love for a Hindu boy named "Madho" has resulted in them being referred to as a single person with the composite name of "Madho Lal Hussain" .[1] Shah Hussain is one of the most celebrated Sufi poets of Punjabi language.

Madho Lal Hussain مادھو لال حسین
The Shrine of Madho Lal Hussain in Lahore
Born	Hussain 945 AH or 1538 Lahore, Mughal Empire; now Punjab, Pakistan
Died	1008 AH or 1599 near Ravi River, Lahore, Mughal Empire; now Punjab, Pakistan
Resting place	Durbar Madho Lal Hussain, Baghbanpura, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Pen name	Shah Hussain, Hussain Faqir, Faqir Hussain Julaha, Hussain
Occupation	Sufi poet
Language	Punjabi
Period	Mughal Period, 1538 to 1599
Notable works	Kafiyan Shah Hussain

Name

Shah Hussain is also often known as Shah Hussain Faqir - Faqir meaning Dervish (mendicant) and Shah means King. So due to his extremely humble Sufi personality, people called him The Dervish King, a person who was a King and a Dervish at the same time.

Life

He was born in 945 AH (1538) in Lahore, Pakistan. His father was Sheikh Usman,[2] he was a Kulsara (a clan of Rajput), and by occupation, he was a weaver (in some of Shah Hussain poetic rhymes he used his pen name as Faqir Hussain Julaha which means "Saint Hussain the weaver"), his father in his early age enrolled him in a local school where he started to memorize the Quran. His teacher was Hafiz Abubakar, it was 955 AH (1548) when at the age of 10 a renowned Sufi master Sheikh Bahlol Qadri (d. 983 AH/ 1575) met him who later became his mentor. One day in the month of Ramadan his mentor asked him to fetch water for him from river and there he met Al-Khidr (Green One) who blessed him and Shah Hussain recited the whole Quran in Tarawih prayer while he memorized only 7 parts of the Quran, this miracle news spread in the city, Sheikh Bahlol, after some time, went to his town and directed Shah Hussain to regularly visit the Ali Hijwiri shrine in Lahore, Shah Hussain regularly at night stands in the river Ravi and recites the whole Quran utill Fajar prayer and then visits to the shrine of Ali Hijwiri and till Zohar prayer recites whole Quran and he never missed a single congregation prayer, he also studied Tafsir Quran from a famous scholar Sheikh Saadullah Lahori in the year 981 AH (1573). While he was studying the Tafsir, he suddenly went out of the mosque and abandoned the path of ascetic and stepped into the path of self-blamers and became a self-blamer Sufi, he started to dance and drink in public, some slandered him, and some had faith. However, numerous spiritual marvels are ascribed to him even emperor Akbar had great belief and honour for him and witnessed many supernatural marvels.

Sheikh Madho Lal, the love of the life of Shah Hussain, born in 983 AH (1575), when for the first time looked at his matchless beauty and fallen for him, it was the love at first sight. At the time, Sheikh Madho was 16 years of age and Shah Hussain was 54 years old in the year 999 AH (1590). Sheikh Madho, at the age of 18 in 1002 AH (1593), embraced Islam and became a Muslim. Shah Hussain raised him as his vicegerent and became his spiritual master. When Shah Hussain reached to 63 years of age in 1008 AH (1599), he left this material world, and before his death, he predicted that his first shrine will be built in Shahdara (located near river Ravi), then after 12 years a flood will appear in the river that will reach to my shrine and then my grave will be shifted to Babu Pura (now Baghbanpura in Lahore; the Shalimar gardens) and my beloved Madho Lal will sit on my seat for 48 years after my death and it happened as the saint predicted, Sheikh Madho Lal in the rest of his life followed the footsteps of Shah Hussain completely secluded himself from the world and confined himself into the shrine of his master Shah Hussain and in 1056 AH (1647) at the age of 73 departed and buried next to Shah Hussain.

Two great Sufi saints, Syed Daud Bandagi Kirmani Qadri (899 AH-982 AH/1484-1574) and his disciple Syed Abu Ishaq Qadri (d. 985 AH/1577), were close friends of Shah Hussain and renowned scholars of his time. Mullah Abdul Hakim Sialkoti and Sheikh Tahir Bandagi Naqshbandi had great honour and respect for him.

Notable books written on his life include Risala Baharia (by Bahar Khan on the directions of Emperor Jahangir), Hasanat ul Arifin (by Prince Dara Shiko in 1653), Haqiqat ul Fuqra (by Syed Sheikh Mahmood in 1662), Miftahul Arifin (by Abdul Fatah Naqshbandi Mujadad in 1667), along with others.

Shrine

His tomb and shrine is located at the Baghbanpura precincts, adjacent to the Shalimar Gardens Lahore, Pakistan. His Urs (annual death anniversary) is celebrated at his shrine every year during the "Mela Chiraghan" ("Festival of Lights").[3] Madho's tomb lies next to Hussain's in the shrine.[4]

Kafis of Shah Hussain

Hussain's works of poetry consists entirely of short poems known as Kafis.[5] A typical 'Hussain Kafi' contains a refrain and some rhymed lines. The number of rhymed lines is usually between four and ten. Only occasionally is a longer form adopted. Hussain's Kafis are also composed for, and the singing of them has been set to music based on Punjabi folk music. Many of his Kafis are part of the traditional Qawwali repertoire. His poems have been performed as songs by Kaavish, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, Ghulam Ali, Hamid Ali Bela, Amjad Parvez, Junoon and Noor Jehan, among others.[6] "It may be asserted that poetry is often written to be sung. And all poetry carries, through manipulation of sound effects, some suggestion of music".[7]

Here are three examples, which draw on the famous love story of Heer Ranjha:

Ni Mai menoon Khedeyan di gal naa aakh Ranjhan mera, main Ranjhan di, Khedeyan noon koodi jhak Lok janey Heer kamli hoi, Heeray da var chak	Do not talk of the Khedas to me, mother. I belong to Ranjha and he belongs to me. And the Khedas dream idle dreams. Let the people say, "Heer is crazy; she has given herself to a cowherd."

Another Kafi:

Sajjan bin raatan hoiyan whadiyaan Ranjha jogi, main jogiani, kamli kar kar sadiyaan Maas jhurey jhur pinjer hoya, kadken lagiyaan haddiyaan Main ayani niyoonh ki janan, birhon tannawan gadiyaan Kahe Husain faqeer sain da, larr tere main lagiyaan Main vi jaanaan jhok Ranjhan di, naal mere koi challey Pairan paindi, mintaan kardi, jaanaan tan peya ukkaley Neen vi dhoonghi, tilla purana, sheehan ney pattan malley Ranjhan yaar tabeeb sadhendha, main tan dard awalley Kahe Hussain faqeer namana, sain sunedha ghalley

The nights are long without my beloved. Since Ranjha became a jogi, I have scarcely been my old self; people everywhere call me crazy. My young flesh is all wrinkled, my bones are a creaking skeleton. I was too young to understand love; and now as the nights swell and merge into each other, I play host to that unkind guest – separation. I have to go to Ranjha's hut, will someone go with me? I have begged many to accompany me, but I had to set out alone. The river is deep, and the shaky bridge creaks. I am tortured by my wounds, but Ranjha my beloved is the doctor who can cure them. Only my beloved can bring me comfort.

Two Kafis that are addressed to his Hindu disciple Madho Lal Hussain[8] need a special mention:

Madho Lal! Piyaare ki parwaasa dam da? Udeyaa bhor theyaa pardesi aggey raah agam da! Jinhaan saada shauh rijhaaya tinha nu bhow jam da? Aakhey Hussain faqeer nimaana chhaddiye sareer bhasam da! Ve Madho! Main wadda theyaa badnaam! Raati pi ke dukh da piyaala tureyaa suwairon shaam! Ki aakhaan main ki si peeti? Loki dassan haraam! Kaafar aakhan saarey mainoon laawan sabh ilzaam! Mukh fairan sabh maidey wallon naal kaddan dushnaam! Rowey Hussain maidey Saain nu Madho chheti pej salaam!

Madho Lal! My dear what is this trust on life? You fly out in the morning and become a stranger, to take on an unknown road! Those that have pleased our Master in this life do they have to fear death which is the hereafter? Says Hussain the pride less mendicant, cast off this body of ashes! O Madho! I have been greatly defamed! After drinking last night from my cup of sorrows, I have wandered from morning till evening. What can I say that I had drunk of? People say it was the forbidden wine! All here call me an infidel and accuse me of transgression! They turn back their faces from me and abuse me! Wails Hussain O Madho fast send my prayer to my Master!

See also

• List of Punjabi language poets
• Qawwali

References

1. Sufis - Wisdom against Violence (profile of Madho Lal Hussain on the-south-asian.com website) Retrieved 5 November 2018
2. "Shah Hussain — the pioneer of Punjabi kafi". Daily Times. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
3. Annual Mela Chiraghan (Festival of Lights) in Lahore, Pakistan Dawn (newspaper), Published 4 April 2016, Retrieved 5 November 2018
4. Lal, Mohan. (2006) Encyclopaedia of Indian literature. Vol. 5, Sahitya Akademi, Delhi, p. 3940. ISBN 81-260-1221-8.
5. Hussain, Shah (1987). Kafiyan Shah Hussain: Kalaam Aur Urdu Tarjumah.
6. "Hamid Ali Bela sings Shah Hussain poem". dailymotion.com. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
7. "Profile of 'Shah Hussain'". travel-culture.com. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
8. Amin Naqshbandy, Sheikh Parvaiz (2001). Hazrat Maadho Laal Hussain. the University of Michigan: Umar Publications. p. 120.

Further reading

• Great Sufi Poets of The Punjab, by R. M. Chopra, Iran Society, Kolkata, 1999.
• Verses of a Lowly Fakir poetry of Madho Lal Hussein translated by Naveed Alam 2016. ISBN 0670088277

External links

• Complete works of Shah Hussain in Punjabi (Shahmukhi) language, Academy of the Punjab in North America (APNA) website