{"id":118,"date":"2012-08-15T01:49:18","date_gmt":"2012-08-15T06:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/?p=118"},"modified":"2022-05-17T15:39:11","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T20:39:11","slug":"aziz-mian-it-doesnt-get-much-better-than-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/2012\/08\/15\/aziz-mian-it-doesnt-get-much-better-than-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Aziz Mian-It doesn&#8217;t get much better than this&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 id=\"watch-headline-title\">Mein Kya Janu Raam<\/h1>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>Oh God how can I figure out\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Your unfathomable ways?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Probably my favorite qawwal. \u00a0The imagery, the rhythm, the sincere intensity, the pure poetry of the performance is almost overwhelming<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1_iPjanhIyc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<h6><strong>Every wise man has given up<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>what strange disguises man has adopted in this curious world of Yours<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>God how can I figure out your unfathomable ways?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>O wise man, understand this, but do not use this understanding<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Do not use it, why?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Reason is cunning, it changes its face too often<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Abraham leapt into Nimrod&#8217;s flames<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>reason is fascinated by outward charms<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>O wise man, understand this<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>reason dictates pleasure<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Love dictates suffering<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>reason dictates wealth<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Love dictates poverty<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>reason strives for glory<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Love strives for wilderness<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>reason strives for the glitter of the world<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Love for the beloved&#8217;s humble home<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>So you wise men, understand this<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>but do not use this understanding<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>If you can understand something, then do so<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>But say nothing<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>If you speak, say only:<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Oh God how can I figure out<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Your unfathomable ways?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Do the perverse stars in the sky belong to you or me?\u00a0 How can I figure that out?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>You are educated people-I am making my point in an unusual way<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>I am yearning for the one whom I cannot forsake<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>I am searching for the one whom i cannot find<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Why?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>O God you are invisible<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>and it is futile to search for the Invisible One<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>But what am I to do?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>The invisible is omnipresent<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Why?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>O God, you are found in everything<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>O God, you are found in everything-Why?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>What a way You have with You<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Wherever I look I see You<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>O God you are found in everything<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>without a doubt<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Yet you are still invisible<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>When I set out to search for you I kept saying &#8220;invisible&#8221;, &#8220;invisible&#8221;<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6>&#8220;in visible&#8221;&#8230;&#8221;in\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0visible&#8221;&#8230;<\/h6>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>How can I figure this out, why?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Your glory is everywhere<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>wherever I look I see you<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>You are everywhere<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>You are everywhere in everything and in You<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Beloved I have seen you everywhere<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Obvious here, concealed there<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>At times human, at times divine<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>At times possible, at times certain<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>perishing here, eternal there<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>a prince here, a pauper there<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Love here, yearning for love there<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Here a sacrifice, there an executioner<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Sounds of truth and of lies<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>A flowing river and a shore<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>In the places of worship<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>in the tragic tales of legendary lovers<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>in the goblet of a king<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>in the full moon<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>in the verses of the Qur&#8217;an, flowing water, mortality<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>and in the splendor of martyrdom<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>O God when You are everywhere-then can I ask<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Who has come to this altar with prayer beads?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>If your name is uttered with every bead, then what of the bead itself?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>If you reside in a settlement, then who is in the wilderness?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>If You are the flame, then who is the moth?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>If you are the cup-bearer, then who is in the cup?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>If you are in Mecca, then who is in idols?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Oh God how can I figure out<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>Your unfathomable ways?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MfnzBYV5fxs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Mein Kya Janu Raam &#8220;Oh God how can I figure out\u00a0Your unfathomable ways?&#8221; Probably my favorite qawwal. \u00a0The imagery, the rhythm, the sincere intensity, the pure poetry of the performance is almost overwhelming Every wise man has given up &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/2012\/08\/15\/aziz-mian-it-doesnt-get-much-better-than-this\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4522,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[139164],"tags":[65704,65703],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-qawwal-2","tag-aziz-mian","tag-qawwal"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7NI4C-1U","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4522"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3212,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions\/3212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/sulaymanibnqiddees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}