CONTEMPLATING THE FACE OF GOD part 1: SUFI ART

"A way and a means of striking a root through the 'narrow gate' in the depth of the soul out into the
domain of the pure arid un-imprisonable Spirit which itself opens out on to the Divinity." That is how
Ahmad Al Tajani (a revered Sufi born in modern day Algeria) defines Sufism and even though there have
been a many definitions, this addresses the core embodiment of the Sufi philosophy.

Sufism like art knows no bounds it could be found in hands of the darveish in India while also residing
with Alawiyya community in France. Sufism echoes through history and paves way for a more
meaningful future and to aid this ART is at its forefronts. It begins deep rooted in Sufi philosophy but
perhaps let’s start with the most well-known Jalal al-Din Rumi.

I died to the mineral state and became a plant,

I died to the vegetal state and reached animality,
I died to the animal state and became a man,
Then what should I fear? I have never become less from dying.
At the next charge (forward) I will die to human nature,
So that I may lift up (my) head and wings (and soar) among the angels,
And I must (also) jump from the river of (the state of) the angel,
Everything perishes except His Face,
Once again I will become sacrificed from (the state of) the angel,
I will become that which cannot come into the imagination,
Then I will become non-existent; non-existence says to me (in tones) like an organ,
Truly, to Him is our return.

Rumi’s work revolves around a common theme of finding yourself by finding God he wrote a many
ghazals his pen and ink being the greatest form of Sufi art. His words gently kissed by time point
towards the immortality, the benevolence and the veiled notion of God himself and perhaps the idea
of dreams and desires is one where he paints His God as one needing no face and as one who only
unveils His face to the greatest of His followers.

In India during the 1640s, Muslim devotional art saw a radical change under imperial Mughal patronage.
Under the direction of their sheikh, Mulla Shah, two of Emperor Shah Jahan's children joined a Sufi order
at this time. The emperor's favoured daughter, Jahanara Begum, rose to prominence as a major sponsor
of Sufism in North India. She commissioned pictures of her lord as well as paintings of contemporary
Muslim saints. Scenes with Muslim mystics tended to be either metaphorical or historical before she
entered Sufism, frequently created to support the Mughal idea that their monarchy was divinely
destined. Many of these portraits took on a contemplative quality after her introduction. In order to
explain the fundamental purpose of devotional portrayals, this essay examines the works of three of
Mulla Shah's disciples: Jahanara Begum, her brother Dara Shikoh, and Tavakkul Beg.

Anyone who gazed, with honest devotion, upon the face of Shah
Wheresoever he looked, he saw the face of God
 A fascinating depiction of the saint in the British Museum's
collection offers a visual allegory for Tavakkul Beg's account of
Mulla Shah. The saint is seen in the picture sitting on a platform
beneath a plane tree while donning his typical white Afghan hat.
His Sufi lodge, or khnqh, which was outside of Srinagar, is where
the action is taking place. According to Dara Shikoh's Saknat-ul
Awliy (The Tranquillity of the Saints), “At present your blessed
abode, which is the Ka’ba of seekers and the qibla [place of prayer
facing the Ka’ba] for the needy, is located in the middle of the
Kashmir Fort on Koh-Hari Hill, which is a very pleasant place with
a view of most of the city below.” The sprawling metropolis may
be seen in the backdrop, hidden from view by the shadows of the
majestic Himalayas, on the shores of Lake Dal. Mulla Shah is seen
apart from the bustle of the world, sitting with his legs up and
counting beads. The plane tree represents his level of spirituality.

So for Indian Sufi Art God was hidden but perhaps in the
surroundings of Mullah Shah and it was only in his surroundings
that by virtue of his spirituality could you see or feel God. The need to see God was so that even later
Emperor Jahangir was thought to have preffered Sufis saints to kings. We can observe by the features of
the paintings and the values ascribed to them that for India and Indian saints God was hidden in Nature
and only revealed Himself in the presence of few.

Ney, Oud and Komuz are perhaps the final attempt of the Arabic world to decipher the face of God for
them it exists in melody and music as they reinforce the tradition of Zikr. Singing the praises of their
Lord a Deity that is All knowing, Utterly Just and the All Wise. It is perhaps the Song of the soul Ghazali a
revered scholar says;

‘What causes mystical states to appear in the heart when listening to music (Sama) is a divine mystery
found within the concordant relationship of measured tones (of music) to the (human) spirits and in the
spirits becoming overwhelmed by the strains of these melodies and stirred by them - whether to
experience longing, joy, grief, expansion or constriction. But knowledge of the cause as to why spirits are
affected through sound is one of the mystical subtleties of the science of visionary experience.'

There is no form of sufi music only styles with Turkey and its Whirling Dervish, Pakistan and its Qawali,
Morocco and Gnawa all signaling to perhaps finding God in their own way but through the same
mechanism.