5 verses · ~1 min
खुसरो रैन सुहाग की, जागी पी के संग। तन मेरो मन पियो को, दोउ भए एक रंग।।
खुसरो दरिया प्रेम का, उल्टी वा की धार। जो उतरा सो डूब गया, जो डूबा सो पार।।
खीर पकायी जतन से, चरखा दिया जला। आया कुत्ता खा गया, तू बैठी ढोल बजा।।
गोरी सोवे सेज पर, मुख पर डारे केस। चल खुसरो घर आपने, सांझ भयी चहु देस।।
खुसरो मौला के रुठते, पीर के सरने जाय। कहे खुसरो पीर के रुठते, मौला नहिं होत सहाय।।
इति
The Poet
अमीर खुसरो
Amir Khusrow
1253 · 1325
Amir Khusrow lived and breathed a syncretic culture centuries before the modern world even possessed the vocabulary for it. Born in 1253 in Patiyali, Uttar Pradesh, he served as a scholar, a musician, and a poet under the Delhi Sultanate. Despite his royal appointments, his true allegiance remained with his spiritual master, Nizamuddin Auliya. He is widely recognized as the father of Qawwali and is traditionally credited with the invention of the sitar and tabla. His most profound contribution, however, lay in language. He took the formal Persian of the royal courts and merged it with the everyday Hindavi spoken on the streets. His riddles, verses, and ghazals are entirely alive today, still sung at shrines and in courtyards across the Indian subcontinent. Khusrow did not merely write poetry. He shaped the cultural identity of North India, proving that authentic devotion bypasses all borders of language and religion.
Paired Painting
Lovers on a Couch
This exquisite watercolor by M. V. Dhurandhar invites us into a quiet, deeply personal moment of courtship and intimate conversation. A young man, resplendent in a finely draped turban and traditional finery, leans forward on a cushioned Victorian couch, gazing intently into the eyes of his beloved. She rests gracefully in a rich, dark sari, her posture relaxed yet attentive, framed by the gentle clutter of domestic elegance: including musical instruments like the tanpura and tabla, a plate of fresh fruit, and traditional vessels. Dhurandhar bridges Western academic realism with Indian sensibilities, capturing not just a visual likeness, but the quiet poetry of shared glances, unspoken emotions, and the tender intimacy of human connection.
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