Saieen Zahoor

Sain Zahoor Or Saeen Zahur Ahmad Urdu سائیں ظہور B. Around 1945 Is A Leading Sufi Musician From Pakistan. He Spent His Life Singing In The Sufi Shrines And Had Not Cut A Record Until 2006 When He Was Nominated For The BBC World Music Awards Based On Word Of Mouth. He Emerged As The "best BBC Voice Of The Year 2006" An Award That Had Earlier Recognized Other Prominent Sufi Singers Such As Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan And Abida Parveen. Sain Is Not His First Name But An Honorific And Is Also Spelt Saeen Or Saiyan And Zahoor May Be Spelt Zahur. Sain Zahoor Known For His "Magical" Voice Which Is Known To Put His Listeners To Trance. Born In The Okara/Sahiwal Region In The Province Of Punjab Pakistan Zahoor Was The Youngest In A Rural Peasant Family. He Is Said To Have Started Singing At The Age Of Five And From That Early Age He Had Dreamt Of A Hand Beckoning Him Towards A Shrine. He Left Home At The Age Of Thirteen Roaming The Sufi Shrines Of Sind Punjab And Liberated Kashmir Making A Living Through Singing. Eventually Sain Was Walking Past A Small Shrine In The South Punjab Town Of Uch Sharif Known For Its Sufi Traditions When "someone Waved At Me With His Hand Inviting Me In And I Suddenly Realised That It Was This Hand Which I Saw In My Dream." For Some Time He Studied Music Under Ustad Sain Raunka Ali Of Patiala Gharana Whom He Met At Baba Bulleh Shah's Dargah Shrine And Who Became His First Guru For Sufi Kalams Verses . Sain Also Learned Music From Uch Sharif Based Musicians Ustad Ronaq Ali And Sain Marna. Sain Cannot Read Or Write But Is Known For His Memory Of Song Lyrics Mostly He Sings Compositions Of The Major Sufi Poets Bulleh Shah Mullah Shah Badakhshi Muhammad Buksh And Others. All His Life Sain Zahoor Has Performed Mainly In Dargahs Sufi Tombs/shrines And Festivals And In The Streets. He Adopted The Folk Instrument Ektara Ek One Tar String In Its Three-Stringed Version As His Main Instrument. Like Some Traditions Of Sufi Music He Has A Passionate High-Energy Style Of Singing Often Dancing In A Frenzied Style With The Tassels On His Instrument Whirling Around Him See His Performance On YouTube 5 . Dressed In Embroidered Kurta Beads Tightly Bound Turban As Well As Ghungroos Anklet-Bells Worn By Dancers Sain Zahoor Cuts An Impressive Figure. His Voice Has An Earthy Tone Almost Cracking At The Edges But Capable Of A Wide Vocal And Emotional Range. Sufi Singing Is Focused On Poetry With Themes Of Devotional Love Which Shares Much With Persian Mystic Poets Like Rumi And With Other South Asian Traditions Such As The Bhakti Cult. Sufi Traditions Highlight A Softer Multi-Cultural Aspect Of Islam And Are Seen As A Countering "the Extremism Of The Mullahs Who Use The Mosques To Spread Ill-Will" Against Other Cultural Groups According To Some Organizers Of Sain Zahoor's Concerts. In 2006 Sain Had A Record Out Awazay Sounds With Matteela Records. In 2007 He Helped Produce The Soundtrack To The Pakistani Film Khuda Ke Liye. read less