Pocket Performance: A Dervish Prayer

Sama: it means listening, it has been a sacred practise among Sufis. It's a form of prayer & meditation by listening to music and/or poetry while a dervish intends to travel inward selflessly, to his/her core while remembering the One. It is practised in different forms among Sufis, sometimes seated sometimes whirling.
Rumi says:
"When you enter in Sama, you then leave both these worlds
For outside these two worlds there lies the universe, endless, of whirling.
Whatever there is, is only Hu (the One) . . .
What can I do when Love appears and puts its claw round my neck?
I grasp it, take it to my breast, and drag it into the whirling!
And when the blossom of the motes is filled with the glow of the sun, they enter the Sama whirling . . . "
M. Rumi, Divan e Shams, ghazal 1295 May it be Love
Music: Tanbour by Seyed Khalil Alinejad, Chaharmezrab Ghadim: Maqami,Dardmand-e Feragh · Daf: Hamidreza Khojandi
Farzad AttarJafari studied classical Sufism under the direction of several masters, has trained as a Semazen (whirling dervish), and studied a range of Sufi dances, music, and poetry. He performed across the US and Canada and lives in Toronto, where he serves the Sufi whirling dervishes community and hosts regular sessions.
Rumi Canada is known for its strong adherence to the spiritual Sufi tradition as well as for exploring new movement vocabulary that reaches deep into the soul of those present. Past performances include Inner Journey I (Small World Music Festival), Inner Journey II (Tirgan Festival), and Inner Journey III (Nuit Blanche at the Aga Khan Museum).
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This performance is presented by TD Bank Group.