ocumentation of traditional recitation in South Asia has been even more scant than that of music. Superficially, the two appear to be sisters. Deep down, however, they are of different genetic makeup. For its impact music relies exclusively on sur (note) treating the text or the lyrics at best as an aside. The recitation, on the other hand, is primarily a celebration of the text, even if exceptional artistes tend to blur the distinction.

Little attention has been paid to recitation in the languages spoken in Pakistan. All the widely spoken languages - Punjabi, Seraiki, Sindhi, Pashto, Hindko, Balti, Brushishki, Brahvi and Dari, as well as their various dialects - have a rich repertoire of religious texts and of ways these are chanted or recited. The tradition is preserved mostly through the effort to keep true to the intonation. The formal aspects are probably less subject to change in rural communities and settings. In big cities, particularly with languages like Urdu, the intonation of these compositions is exposed to all kinds of influences that weigh upon us due to easy facilitation by modern technologies.

Nayyar Masood and Aqeel Abbas Jafri have written about the relationship between the text and the mode of recitation. However, this is primarily with reference to the tradition as it evolved in Lucknow and other urban/ cultural centres during the decline of the Mughal Empire and the rise of the regional rulers. Some of the practices in the Deccan were transferred to the Northern India in roughly the same period. The closer we get to the present times the more information is available as the haze of the exclusively oral tradition lifts a little. More distant past is a happy hunting ground for conjecture.

The tradition of reciting or chanting religious or quasi-religious texts is quite ancient. References to the practice are found even in areas where Muslims lived in sparse, scattered communities.

Drawing on the tradition of reciting holy texts, possibly the longest unbroken tradition in the Indian subcontinent has been that of qawwali. Referring to the word qawl, it was meant to be a chanting or recitation of the text - most probably from the holy scriptures initially. With the passage of time, other texts - liturgical, associated with the liturgical or otherwise - found their way into the repertoire of the qawwali. Similarly, text in praise of God and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) - hamd and naat - too were recited. There is also a whole qawwali repertoire revolving round the events in Karbala. Many recordings are available of such well-known qawwals as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Abdul Halim Sharar’s writings on Luchknow show that during the nawabs’ rule in Awadh, specialist soz or marsiya khawans, comparable to the best known vocalists or singers, were instrumental in the evolution of the form of recitation prevalent now.

In the absence of documentary evidence on the recitation of the marsiya over the centuries it can only be surmised that marsia recitation is as old as the poetical form. An ancient pre-Islamic Arab poetical form, marsiya has been associated in the Islamic period mostly with the tragedy of Karbala. It become more formal as the mourning during Muharrum became increasingly ritualistic.

In the Indian sub-continent, marsiya was initially not taken as a serious form of poetry as the verses were meant to be recited. That the poetic quality was not consistent or very high is known. It is a little difficult, however, to say with certainty what its melodic quality was like. It is not known whether the top vocalists of the time took part in the recitation especially during the period of mourning when traditionally no music was played. It appears that it became a more specialised form as a distinct community of marsiya goes or soz khawans emerged. Abdul Halim Sharar’s writings on Luchknow show that during the nawabs’ rule in Awadh, specialist soz or marsiya khawans, comparable to the best known vocalists or singers, were instrumental in the evolution of the form of recitation prevalent now. The practice of having a lead vocalist accompanied by others who identify the tonic note or at best recite the refrain seems to have been perfected in the Nineteenth Century Awadh.

Kamal-ud Din Husayn bin Ali Waiz Kashifi wrote his Rawzat-ush Shuhada (The Garden of Martyrs) two years before his death (1503). It was first translated from Persian into Turkish by Fazuli in about 1534. In the Indian subcontinent, three independent translations of this book were made in Deccani poetry. In 1812, Haydari wrote an abridged version named Gul-i- Maghfirat, but the watershed Urdu translation was Karbal Katha by Fazal Ali Fazli.

How these texts were recited is far from clear today. The form of recitation has probably changed with the changing aesthetic and social requirements.

The author is an art critic based in Lahore