Going with the last name, Imran Aziz Mian is one of the nine sons of the famous Aziz Mian Qawwal, who ruled over the hearts of millions of fans in South Asia for many years until his death in 2000. Aziz Mian, who holds the record of singing the longest commercially released qawwali for 150 minutes, was known as ‘Shahenshah-e-Qawwali’ (King of Qawwali). He attainted stardom overnight when he performed in front of the Shah of Iran Reza Shah Pahlavi who was so awe-struck by his performance that he gave Aziz Mian a gold medal and his musical career.
Imran Aziz Mian and his party (Humnawa) ascended the throne and welcomed the guests at Jashn-e-Qawwali which is part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Serena Hotel Islamabad under their cultural diplomacy program which initially started with ‘Mehfil-e- Mushaira’ a few months back.
As the scion of the King of Qawwali started his rendition, the powerful and raspy voice brought back memories of his late father for many in attendance. ‘Nabi Nabi Ya Nabi Nabi’, ‘Aadmi Hay Benazir’, ‘Allah He Janey Kaun Bashar Hai’ were the hits he sang one after another thus setting the tone for the night.
Following the footsteps of his father, Imran began delivering in a gentle tone and built steadily to a very high energy level to induce a hypnotic state both among the musicians and within the audience. The instrumental prelude complimented by harmonium and tabla was followed by improvised variations of the melody. The lyrics of the main verses sent the audience into a trance casting a spellbinding effect in the hall.
Qawwali music was introduced in the 13th century in India by the great Sufi Saint Amir Khosrow by fusing Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Indian traditions informed Imran Aziz Mian while talking about the origins of qawwali, adding that gathering of such nature to listen to qawwali is called Mehfil-e-Sama.
The poetry selected for such occasions is implicitly understood to be spiritual in its meaning, even though the lyrics can sometimes sound wildly secular, or outright hedonistic, he explained.
Sufi qawwali in the Pakistani music genre revolves around love, devotion and longing (of man for the Divine). But in the context of qawwali, these songs of intoxication and yearning use secular metaphors to poignantly express the soul’s longing for union eventually with the divine and its joy in loving the Divine. Similarly, many of Aziz Mian’s renditions are taken to be in spiritual context attaining spiritual knowledge. The words frequently used in the famous qawwali’s of his, like “wine” (sharaab) represent “knowledge of the divine”, the “cupbearer” (saaqi) is God or a spiritual guide, and the “tavern” the metaphorical place.
It is being said that the reaction to qawwali is intended to bring everyone involved to a spiritual union with God and in bringing listeners to a state of religious ecstasy hypnotizing both performers and listeners and Imran Aziz Mian successfully managed to achieve that challenge.
As the clock struck 3:00 AM, Imran’s finale, ‘Dama Dum Must Qalander’ served the cherry on the top. The audience was swinging in ecstasy and some devotees were physically performing ‘dhamaal’ near the stage.
The night came to an end with the announcement for ‘suhoor’, set up in the foyer and ‘aangan’ area with spacious sit-down seating arrangements. Piping hot puris swimming in the oil wok were dished out fresh for the guests alongside assortments of ‘nan’ from ‘tandoors’, ‘paratha’ from woks and bread from toasters. A wide variety of food to choose from was on displace but the beeline at the ‘Lassi stall’ indeed was the show stopper.