Thursday 28 January 2016

Rajab Hamid (Satoora Tral)

Afsoos Duniya, Kainsi Naa Loug Samsaar Seeteey

Patau Laakun Vuchh Taa Kumm Kumm Mazaar Vaeteey In May 1910 this man Rajab Hamid was born in a lower middle class family in a remote village SATOORA in Traal Kashmir .Totally illiterate and devoted to Sufism of Kashmir , Rajab sahib wrote a song that crossed all barriers of time and space . Apart from being echoed in every corner of the Valley , this song has also touched kashmiris in UK , USA, SAUDI ARBIA , MIDDLE EAST and the plains of INDIA. You had the cassettes previously and Now you have the CDs of this song selling in the market ;

Afsoos Duniya, Kainsi Naa Loug Samsaar Seeteey

Patau Laakun Vuchh Taa Kumm Kumm Mazaar Vaeteey

( Alas ! This world never accompanied any one ,

Behold !How all the Great Men finally landed at the Graveyard.)

He was brought to the world of Sufi Mysticism by a great Sufi saint Abdul Gaffar Tantray of Midoora, Tral. This couplet is a testimony to his association with Gaffar Tantray:

Bae Tsaaran Yaar Nishatan Shalimaran

Su Aousum Tral Midoorai Choorey Roozan.

I searched my guide far and wide

But found him just in the backyard, Midoora.

His another Murshid and guide : Ghulam Rasool Fida, popularly known as Lassa Khan Islamabaadi. Late Ghulam Hassan Sofi popularized his song AFSOOS DUNIYA through his magical voice and would weep bitterly like a child while singing it. I am a witness to this fact . I am informed by friends that he also wept bitterly while recording it for the first time .

Alas !This great poet too faced absolute indifference from his people. He died in a state of abandonment and abject poverty. His family continues to reel under this poverty. No institution in Kashmir, though we have many who speak about culture and art, came forward to help him when he was alive, or his family, after his death.. Rajab Sahib has a lot of unpublished work Let some institution like our cultural academy take it upon itself to preserve at least his art for our posterity . Rajab sahib loved his Hubble Bubble ( Hukka ) and lived a simple life of a Dervish .He left this world on 2nd April 2008.Peace be to his soul
( Autar Mota )