Dama Dam Mast Qalandar
The dhamaal of the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, sung by every great Sufi voice of the Punjab.
This is a devotional song in honour of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, the thirteenth-century saint of Sehwan in Sindh. Its earliest form is often attributed to Bulleh Shah; it was later reworked by others. It is sung to drive the dhamaal, the ecstatic dance performed to drums at the saint's shrine every evening.
Noor Jehan, Reshma, Abida Parveen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Sabri Brothers all recorded it, and Runa Laila made it famous in Bangladesh and India. Each version is different, but the driving refrain, 'every breath for the intoxicated Qalandar', stays the same.
It is perhaps the best known Sufi song of the region, sung at weddings and cricket matches as well as at shrines.
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