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sweetness and strength in the ilahis

The sweetness of the strength

Lili Castella

Ilahi is an Arabic word which means, roughly, "divine," and also means, by extension, Sufi songs. I must say that many of these compositions (many of these ilahis ) are real gems sound, thanks to the great beauty and wisdom that treasure, and this despite its musical construction may seem at first sight, very simple. Indeed, ilahis usually have regular and stable rhythm, and melodies that beg to be repeated ad infinitum, often moving from joint notes in a sound field that rarely exceeds an octave.

This time, we would like to highlight one of these jewels, Ilahi entitled "Gaflet uykusunda Yatar uyanmaz" ("Who sleeps in oblivion negligent never wake up") , whose music and text were written respectively by Hüseyin Sebilci and Abdal Genc, \u200b\u200band the reader is referred to in the previous entry in this blog. The reason for pause in this brief essay of only eight bars, is in deep shock provokes probably fruit come together in her two apparently conflicting elements, namely the strength of the contents of your letter, and the sweetness of its melody. Indeed, this point is Ilahi implacable lucidity, radical, uncomfortable for anyone who shy away from facing the truth (in capital letters!), Almost (and hardly!) Brutal in its clarity. Talk of the essentials, the only important thing is, waking from oblivion into which we are immersed, in order to live in the memory of the friend sincere and constant divine Him Anything that separates us from His remembrance, is a sham and a hoax. It's simple: no more. The content of this text shock is very strong because trying to embody it would require making a clean sweep of everything that obscures our view of him; require routinely give up our vision of the world, would require breaking the boundaries that hold us hostage to our thinking shaped by religious traditions, by social norms, ideologies, fashion and even the spiritual aphorisms.

But what's great about this Ilahi is that such forcefulness sings a melody that oozes tenderness, closeness and intimacy. This tune has several noteworthy features: it is composed in a way maqâm or musical Rast , which is clean, without darkness, which hides nothing, and does not hide the obvious, is based on the strong beat and simple 4 / 4 Sofyan called, for surely nothing is more solid and simple truth (again, in capital letters!) and moves, without artifice, in a field of only six notes related to joint degrees, except on a few occasions in which small ascending intervals give the melody a poignant tinge of tenderness and humility.

Well, it is precisely this link between the strength of its text and the sweetness of its melody, which makes powerful in this Ilahi. Both strength and sweetness, far from opposing, feed and reinforce each other, because the force would be mere sweetness without violence and force-free sweetness, sentimentality. But surely there's something deeper that underlies this (only) two apparent opposites, something that melts at each other and combines. This something is the only truth that is expressed in and through them. The One True, He is both strong and gentle, relentless and compassionate.

Who, in line with this Ilahi, have news of him, the Divine Friend, feels burned by the knowledge that crosses and compels them hard to sing and share it, and this expression is in turn sweet, as far from the arrogance born, springs from the pure gift of beauty and love of this knowledge.

refer to all these beautiful verses of Mawlana Rumi (d. 1273), master of dervishes:

"
belittle others and weave a web of deceit: Oh
impostor,
think God is a toy in your hands!
mule! In the block has to be (...).

me there another force that raises these harsh words.
is by fire and not by itself
As scalding water.

There is a stone in my hand,
Neither I have any discussion on it. Nobody
contempt, which I'm fresh Well
bed of roses.

This Supreme Power through me express ...
has given you a glimpse, and that is enough.

Let me sit here now,
On the threshold of both worlds,
Lost in the eloquence of silence. "

Lili Castella is a law graduate and pianist. Deburring group 'Ushâq , is coordinator of the activities, or employment of the Institut d'Estudis Sufis of Barcelona