tum nahin ya hum nahi
Hamein To Loot Liya Vol 2 — Urdu Qawwali MP3
The second volume of this collection extends the same premise as the first — a cross-section of Pakistani sufi qawwali from performers working in Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi. The sofiyana kalam of the great poets provides the textual foundation: Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah, Rumi in translation, Amir Khusrau. These texts have been set to music by qawwals for centuries, and each generation's recordings offer a different reading.
Language and Reach
The performers in this collection navigate multiple languages with the ease that comes from being trained in an oral tradition rather than a literacy-based one. Classical qawwali education happened through apprenticeship — you learned the kalam by hearing it, repeating it, understanding its internal logic through performance rather than study. This is why qawwals from the Punjab who learned texts in Persian or Arabic often performed them with a conviction that academic scholars of those languages sometimes lack. The meaning was embodied rather than analyzed.
Aziz Mian Qawwal and Abid Mehar Ali Qawal both brought this same quality to their work — a performer's relationship to the text rather than a scholar's. This collection falls in that same tradition.
Stream or Download Free
Vol 2 is available on iRulz for free streaming and mp3 qawwali download alongside the rest of the various-artists catalogue.
FAQ
How does Vol 2 differ from Vol 1? It draws from different recording sessions and may feature different contributing artists, but both compilations cover the same thematic territory of classical sufi kalam in qawwali performance.
Is the audio quality consistent across the collection? Quality varies as it does across all Pakistani qawwali archives — some recordings were made in professional studios, others in mehfil settings with basic equipment.
Who should listen to this? Anyone interested in the breadth of the Pakistani qawwali tradition beyond the three or four internationally famous names.
You may also enjoy the qawwali of Aziz Mian Qawwal, Abid Mehar Ali Qawal, and Ibadat Sufi Qawwalies. Listen to more Various Qawwali.