Sachal Sarmast (1739 - 1829) was a renowned Sindhi Sufi poet during the Kalhora era. Abdul Wahab was his real name and “Sachal” was the name he used in his own poetry. Sachu means truth in Sindhi and Sachalu means truthful. Sarmast means mystic in Sindhi and Urdu. Suchal Sarmast literally means …
Sachal Sarmast (1739 – 1829) was a renowned Sindhi Sufi poet during the Kalhora era. Abdul Wahab was his real name and “Sachal” was the name he used in his own poetry. Sachu means truth in Sindhi and Sachalu means truthful. Sarmast means mystic in Sindhi and Urdu. Suchal Sarmast literally means ‘truthful mystic’. Sachal Sarmast was an ardent follower of Wahdat-ul-Wujood, an Islamic Philosophy synonymous with Hamah Oost.
Life
He was born in the Daraza village of Khairpur, Sindh in 1739 right around the when the Afghan warlord Nadir Shah invaded Sindh. His real name was Abdul Wahab but he adopted the name Sachal, which means truthful and Sarmast which means the intoxicated.
Sachal lost his father when he was very young. He was raised by his uncle who later became his spiritual master. He married his cousin who died two years later and Sachal did not marry again.
During his childhood, once Sachal went to Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, another great mystic poet of Sindh, who looked at him and said this little boy will complete what he had started.
Sachal was a great lover of music. Touched by music, he would often cry profusely. Couplets would pour out from his lips, which his followers or fellow dervishes would immediately inscribe. Sachal is well known for his kalam as well as kafis conveying his spiritual message in haunting melodies. Sachal preferred solitude and silence. He never traveled out from his village Daraza. He was very simple in his attire, lifestyle, and eating habits. Soup and yoghurt were his favorites. He slept on a bare wooden bed. He was a humble man with long soft flowing hair, and penetrating eyes. He wrote mystical poetry in Arabic, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi, Urdu, Farsi (Persian) and Baluchi.
He once said, “He (God) is everywhere and in each and every phenomenon. He has come here just to witness His own manifestation.”
Three days before his death, he retreated in a small enclave where he finally became one with the Truth on the 14th day of Ramadan in 1829 at the age of 90.
He was buried at the same place that was later on made into a beautiful and well-decorated shrine.
Kalam (MP3 Audio)
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