PESHAWAR: Noted Pashto singer Karan Khan has embarked upon a Sufi journey as he has recently released his sixth volume of Sufi numbers of Rahman Baba and a few modern poets.

“The album has been titled ‘Aatrang’. It is a Pashto word meaning henna pattern on a girl’s hand with eight floral streaks. Aatrang in Pashto also means eight colours. It is just my Ramazan gift to my diehard fans with several music sensations for their spiritual satisfaction,” says Karan Khan.

He says that his new album has new experiments with different flavours of eastern and western touches so it can be made palatable for both young and old people alike.

“It’s the third generation of folk singers in Pashto since Rafiq Shinwari, a great Sufi singer, who pioneered Pashto qawwali on Radio Pakistan, Peshawar towards the second half of the 20th century. But since then neither the music composers nor the singers had really understood the spirit of qawwali. I want to make it a strong soul sensation,” says Mr Khan.

Karan Khan to launch qawwali album on Eid

He says that he wants to introduce qawwali as a separate genre in altogether new colour in Pashto music to spread peace, pluralism and tolerance in the world. “Sufi music has great strength where it can soothe and unite the bruised souls,” he adds.

He claims that Rahman Baba’s qawwali under the title of Khayest (beauty) is a real feat for the Sufi music lovers. He adds that it is his self-sponsored project because he wants to contribute to the cause of peace and humanity through Pashto qawwali. The said Sufi album has in fact eight different variations of music fusion. It opens with Sufi poetry of Rahman Baba followed by a long epic poem of Mustafa Salik, and a duet Pashto peace song titled ‘Lawangeen’ penned down by Syed Shah Saud. The videography has been shot at the shrine of Khawaja Syed Abdul Sattar Shah, who introduced Pashto qawwali in the early 19th century in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.

The album has 12 items including poetic pieces of Ahmaddin Talib, Faisal Faran, Mumtaz Orakzai, Taskeen Manerwaal, Abdullah Zaheer, Karan Khan and Pir Mohammad Karwan.

The seven-member orchestra comprising Asif Khan, Shaukat Paniyal, Javed, Talha Haroon, Shakir Arman, Waqar Atal and Yammy Khan contributed to the Sufi album.

Mr Khan’s earlier Sufi albums -- Chinar, Intezar, Tasweer, Kaif and Saqi had already earned him widespread popularity. He expects that his new album too will captivate Sufi music lovers. He says that Sufi poetry of the album has been released online while the rest will be formally launched on Eid.

Ustad Nazeer Gul, a senior music director, while commenting on the genre of qawwali in Pashto said that Rafiq Shinwari had pioneered it but after him no other music composer had given attention to it for its further improvement. He said that young Karan Khan would hopefully give a new dimension to the genre of qawwali singing in Pashto.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2017