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QAWWALI IS THE DEVOTIONAL MUSIC OF SUFI MUSLIMS. Soaring vocal improvisations, incantatory refrains, steady     hand clapping and surges of tabla playing characterize the performance of Muslim Sufi devotional songs called Qawwali.             It is derived from the Arabic word "qual" or saying. An ensemble of 9 to 12 members sing from the Sufi text of devotional     poetry extolling spiritual ecstasy.

The texts deal with divine love (ishq) the sorrow of separation (hijr or firaq) and the union (visal). These powerful concepts expressed symbolically in the Sufi poetry transcend all barriers and account for Qawwali music's inclusiveness and universal appeal. The repertoire consists of verses in Urdu and Persian, with some very powerful and moving poetry in Seraiki, Punjabi and Hindi. However, over the centuries as Urdu became the lingua franca of most of South Asia, it also became the main language of Sufi poetry.

The music gives the spiritual essence of this poetry an expressive form that Sufis use to attain trance and mystical experience.

Originating in the 10th century and drawing from Arabic, Persian and South Asian languages and musical influences, Qawwali blossomed in its present form in the 13th century. Amir Khusrau (1254-1325), the poet, composer, mystic and the court  musician at Delhi, is revered as the originator of qawwali.

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