The significance and symbolism of the whirling dervish

A plaintive song, accompanied by a drum and flute, starts up. Wearing a tall hat (sikke) to represent the tombstone of his ego, and dressed in a flowing robe symbolising the ego’s shroud, the Sufi whirling dervish starts to spin around meditatively, his robe fanning out like a flower. As the music progresses, the dervish removes his cloak, symbolising a spiritual rebirth. Crossing his hands over his shoulders, he embodies the image of unity with God.

Sufism is an aspect of Islam that emphasises the emotional experience of God’s presence. Its followers believe that these experiences of divine truth and love can be attained through personal encounters with God. The earliest form of Sufism can be traced back to the Umayyad Dynasty in the 7th century. Later on, numerous preachers who built communities established orders (tarikat) named after them, such as the Qadiris from Sheikh Abdülkadir al-Jilânî in the 11th century and the Naqshbandis from Bahâ'uddîn Naqshband in the 14th century.

Each brotherhood carries a lineage of spiritual poetry, which is combined with music for use in prayer ceremonies. Among these, the most frequently represented are the Mevlevi whirling dervish ceremonies (sema) which originated from the famous Sufi mystic and poet Jalaluddin Rumi in the 13th century. He was known to fast, meditate, and dance to reach a state of transcendent enlightenment.

Integral to the music is the Turkish ney (a vertical or end-blown flute). With its mournful sound, it is said to represent the intense longing of the human soul and body for the love of God. Master of traditional Mevlevi Sufi music Kudsi Erguner described it in an interview with J.Y. Atlas:

“The importance of the ney lies in the fact that it is made from hollow reeds. The metaphor is that those who want to be open to the high inspiration, need to be clean and empty like the insides of the reed flute. You have to become like the ney. You have to let God blow through you.

As such, if there is no ney, you cannot properly perform the ceremony because when the ney is not played, there is separation; when the ney is played, there is unity. Separation is the life of this world. Since we are here, we are in separation, but we have this innate yearning for unity.”

Following their main performances at the Esplanade Concert Hall on 4 and 5 Apr, the Turkish whirling dervishes will bring this season to a close with a rousing finale at the Esplanade Concourse on 6 Apr.