One With The Beloved & Crowdfunding

Why Rumi?

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī is a world renowned famous 13th century Sufi poet who’s words are still influencing countless people’s lives today over 800 years later. Rumi is still noted as the top selling poet author in the USA and is respected across the West and the Muslim world with his works translating into 23 different languages.

Learn more about Rumi’s life here.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Rumi himself experienced life as a Refugee fleeing his country of birth (Modern day Afghanistan) at the age of 12 with his family to escape the imminent threat of Genghis Khan’s invading hordes. 

This Rumi influenced project is particularly close to my own heart, after my own experiences as an Iranian refugee migrating to the UK in 1978. I was only three when I left Iran, my country of birth, and joined the many millions who no longer had an official nation state to call home.

I have always seen Rumi as a huge source of personal inspiration. Rumi’s experience of being displaced from his homeland within the then-Persian civilization because of war reflects the story of many, including myself, and is a call for us all to put our humanity first. The story of my newest album is a reflection of this kind of journey, going from a very alienated and troubled place to one of inner peace guided by the Sufi poet’s wisdom.

I feel that a sacred music project drawing from Sufi texts in Rumi’s original language will create something new for people to think about in terms of Iran, Islam and the Middle East and its clear to me this Sufi poet’s voice easily and effectively crosses faith, nationality and ideology. Rumi’s popularity is surging just when the world’s relationship with the Islam and the Middle East seems at its lowest point and I see this as a paradox and an opportunity.

‘One with the Beloved’ Album

My latest album “One with the Beloved” breaks new ground with a unique concept, offering the world’s first Sufi chant (Zikr) in a Sub Saharan African style, accompanied by the Kora and additional meditation instruments that deliver Western and Eastern flavoured melodies and percussion.

Produced by Hi-Phi Music and  Ric Peet from Candy Flip, the album was recorded in Bali and is scheduled for public release in August/September 2017.

Most of these songs are drawn from Rumi’s works which explore the mystical linkages between nature, divinity, and the human heart. Some are relaxing heartsongs and others more rhythmic and upbeat Zikr chants. 

Read 5-Star reviews from world class DJs here and click below to listen to a track from the forthcoming album with our first message of hope as a gift from us for taking the time to engage with this project you can also download this track . . .

The ‘One with the Beloved’ tour will begin in August following the album’s scheduled release with Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and Holland already listed as destinations to be followed by dates for Asia, Australia and the US later in the year.

To learn more about the European leg of the tour, click here.

Connect to the Beloved Workshops and Other Events

The songs on the ‘One with the Beloved’ album also accompany my sacred sound workshop: ‘Connect To The Beloved’.

This workshop is an authentic and positive exploration of the heart’s wounds and a celebration of its joys through movement, voice, music and rhythm, all guided by Rumi’s wisdom.

Accompanying the workshops on the world tour, we also plan to host and facilitate;

• Storytelling events for children

• Interactive theatre events for adults

• Forums and think-tanks for positive cross-cultural dialogue

• Collaborations between local and migrant and\or refugee musicians and other performers\artists

• Cultural enrichment events including Sufi\Middle Eastern food\arts festivals

• And much more!