I sang his hunger. I sang his yearning. I sang his longing. I sang his misery. (p. 167)
The Sufi’s Nightingale by Sarbpreet Singh is beyond the mere retelling of the blessed bond between Shah Hussain and Madho Lal. It is a journey into the nooks and nuances of a sublime relationship between the murshid-mureed, as the re-defining of loss, longing and love in 16th century Lahore.
The story is told in two voices, each with a distinctive soul journey. As Hussain Daddha tells his story, he gradually becomes Lal Hussain and culminates into Shah Hussain. As a malamati, one who constantly keeps his ego, his nafs, in check, Shah Hussain is the embodiment of a being truly reaching the in-divisible self by giving up on the worldly notions of respectability, responsibility and reputation. The other voice is Maqbool, affectionately called bulbul by Hussain. He adores Hussain, longs for his love, and renders the master’s kafis and verses into fine melodies based on classical Indian ragas.
Even the blessings of Allah can feed our nafs. The more pious and obedient we think we have become, the greater the peril that our ego puts us in (p. 243).