Book Review: Nusrat- The Voice of Faith

Pakistani music legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whose musical virtuosity captured the imagination of people worldwide, was essentially a messenger of Sufi poets, his biographer Pierre-Alain Baud tells Amrita Madhukalya

Book: Nusrat: The Voice of Faith

Author: Pierre-Alain Baud

Publisher: Harper Collins India

Pages: 184

Rs: 506

Biographer Pierre-Alain Baud's fondest memory of Pakistani music legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is a rather ominous one. Accompanying Nusrat to the interiors of Pakistan for a party hosted by a friend after a concert, they realised they were in the company of men who do not hold qawwali and Sufi music in high regard. As the evening progressed, things got a tad difficult and, when a power outage struck, they fled.

"We run away as fast as possible and arrive at a tea shop near a creek in the middle of nowhere, and the man there is too surprised to see us," says Pierre. The teashop owner asks Nusrat if Pierre is Pakistani. "To this he replies, 'Not yet.' He had a way of arresting your senses in a way no one could."

Pierre-Alain Baud first met Nusrat at a concert in Paris, a day before he was to leave for Mexico to pursue his PhD on dance and power. The affable Pierre confesses over the phone that the word that can closely describe his feeling at that moment is 'ishq'. "It was October 1985 and, buoyed by a Latin American mood, I saw posters of this big, fat man from Pakistan… at that time he was completely unknown to the Western audience. The audience at the concert was mostly Indians, Pakistanis and people from the Southeast Asia. It's difficult to describe the feeling, but I felt love."


Baud's book Nusrat: The Voice of Faith, was first published in French, and then Urdu, before being translated to English. The book, which picked up many accolades and awards, traces the music and fame of the 'singing Buddha' whose musical lineage trace back to over 600 years, and whose musical virtuosity captured the imagination of many around the globe.

For Pierre, his friend Nusrat's voice was a balm. "Nusrat's voice gives you the feeling of coming to somewhere. He was a simple, accessible man who could leave you in the middle of a field with the divine," says Pierre. "He was deeply inspired by Baba Bulle Shah and Baba Farid, and I think his music was an invitation for me to go further in my own quest. His fundamental core was the transmission of the message of the Sufi poets."

Pierre writes in his book that Nusrat had the phenomenal quality to listen to the local sounds of the place he was touring, and imbibe them in his own music. "When he was in Japan, he spent a lot of time listening to the natural sounds there to include them in his classical qawwali. That was incredible, to come up with particular scales, poems to reflect on the local culture," says Pierre. "During one of his performances in Japan, his oeuvre was outstanding, and the Emperor came to him personally and said, 'Your music is very strong'."

Musicians from the West, including Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel, trained under Nusrat. "Western musicians were looking to Nusrat for inspiration and to expand themselves. What he definitely gave them was a sense of certainty. For Nusrat, collaborating with Western musicians were opportunities to experiment. They were much more in need of him than he was," says Pierre.