silsila-e-sūr | Dara Shikoh & Nithin Shams

Qawwali took shape more than seven centuries ago at the Sufi shrines of Delhi, where Amir Khusrau is said to have set the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) to music. Its name comes from qawl (Arabic; a saying). A qawwal repeats a line until it moves past its words, which is why you don’t need the language to feel it. Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, heir to a family of qawwals going back six hundred years, carried this tradition across class and borders. He is remembered as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, and by the title Shahenshah-e-Qawwali, the king of kings of qawwali.

On his 29th barsi (yearly remembrance), Shikoh and Shams play some of his beloved recordings back-to-back for an hour on Berlin’s airwaves.