abstract
| - The term is derived from a Persian word which can mean, among other uses, "portal" or "threshold". Many Muslims believe that dargahs are portals by which they can invoke the deceased saint's intercession and blessing (see Tawassul). Over time, musical offerings of dervishes (mendicants) in the presence to the devout at these shrines, usually impromptu or on the occasion of Urs, gave rise to music genres like, Qawwali and Kafi, where Sufi poetry is put to music and sang as an offering to the murshid, the Sufi Guide. Today they have become popular form of singing throughout South Asia, with exponents like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Parveen taking their music to various parts of the world .
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