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Courting Ecstasy In Songs of Pakistan,The New York Times

09/17/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Toward the end of Abida Parveen's recital of mystial Sufi songs of Pakistan, Men were standing at the side of the hall, swaying and clapping with the beat; others were shouting "Allah" in response to the singer's cues; still others rushed down the aisle tossing dollar bills on the stage in gratitude. This was not inappropriate behavior. The texts, some written by Sufi saints hundreds of years ago, were love poems in Urdu, Panjabi, Sindhi and Seraiki that are meant to have religious meanings. They were similar in that respect to the erotic poetry of "The Song of Songs". The purpose of the music was not to provide pleasure { orthodox Islam, at any rate frowns on such a secular use of music} but to lead the listener into state of ecstacy and religious frenzy."