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Kevin Kenjar
April 10, 2007
The Ineffable State of Transcendental Ecstasy
Kefi, Rebetiko and Sufi Mysticism
In recent studies done on Greek music culture, anthropologists have encountered a
word that is rarely translated, for there seems to be no adequate analogue in the English
language. The word to which I am referring is “kefi”. When the word is translated, it is
often done so with a caveat, showing the word to be “inadequately translated” or “loosely
translated”. It is the aim of this paper to explore the origins and meanings of this word in
the hopes of discovering why this word is so difficult to translate. In order to do this, I
will examine kefi as found in Greek rebetiko music and compare it with concepts found
in Sufism, a mystical trend within Islam. The choice for such a comparison will become
evident in the course of this paper, for I will argue that this term can be better understood
through an understanding of Sufism and Sufi traditions.
Usage of “Kefi” in Rebetiko Music
In a recent anthropological study on Greek rebetiko (a vocal, instrumental, and
improvisatory dance music popular in Greece and among Greek emigrants) Demeter
Tsounis outlines the role played by kefi, which he defines in various ways in his article.
In his first mention of the word, Tsounis writes, “Constructions of emotionality in the
dances are concentrated in the complex notions of kefi, loosely translated as ‘high
spirits’”.1 In his next reference, regarding a specific dance called the tsifteteli, Tsounis
writes:
People regard this as a special time when they have reached the height of
their kefi, their “high spirits” and “mood” for celebration and dancing. A
person who dances the tsifteteli with kefi does so with intense passion and
conviction. His or her mood is externalized in gestures of self-absorbed
concentration and purposeful body movement and co-ordination.
Musicians similarly demonstrate their kefi when they play with intense
engrossment and conviction.2
It should be noted that “self-absorbed” is perhaps not the correct word to describe the
complete concentration of the dancer, given what Tsounis writes elsewhere. When
describing another dance, the zeibekikos, he notes that the kefi experience is marked by
precisely the opposite, the complete abandonment of the ego:
The zeïbekikos, of all the Greek dances, is typified by Greek people as the
most cathartic dance. Comments like, "I break out," "I let go of my
worries and inhibitions," "I don't care what other people think" indicate
that zeïbekikos dancers experience feelings of liberation from the mundane
world and everyday relationships. In this context, the experience of kefi as
a specifically Greek style of celebration requires emotionally abandoning
oneself to dance without feeling self-conscious.3
Tsounis notes the importance of community and social interaction, stating that dancing
with kefi constitutes “a cathartic experience” and that “a paradox of the tsifteteli and
zeïbekikos is the ‘unisonance’4 of ethnic and expressive solidarity that they embody
despite their solo forms”.5
1
Demeter Tsounis, “Kefi and Meraki in Rebetiko Music of Adelaide: Cultural
Constructions of Passion and Expression and Their Link with the Homeland,” Yearbook
for Traditional Music 27 (1995), 92.
2
Ibid, 94.
3
Ibid, 95.
4
“Unisonance” is defined as the agreement or identity of sounds, or the equality of the
number of vibrations of the two sonorous bodies in equal times. (Oxford English
Dictionary, c.f. ‘unisonance’)
5
Tsounis, “Kefi”, 96-97.
2
Etymology
It is clear from the complex description of kefi given by Tsounis that the
definition “high spirits” is indeed inadequate. Cowan argues that “high spirits” refers not
only to “spirits” in the sense of alcoholic consumption, but to an “ideal state of communal
sociability”.6 In his endnotes, Tsounis writes that the etymology of kefi lies in the Turkish
word keyif or keyfi which ranges in meanings from “health; bodily/mental condition;
merriment, fun, good spirits; pleasure” to “whim” and “slight intoxication”.7 However,
none of these definitions are adequate in describing the transcendental state described by
Tsounis.
Given that this Greek word is attributed to Turkish origins, one can assume that it
derives not derives not from modern Turkish, but rather from Osmanli, the Ottoman
Turkish language, which was not strictly Turkic, but rife with Arabic and Persian words,
phrases, and meanings. Indeed, words analogous to kefi can be found in other languages
as well in the former Ottoman lands, e.g. Bosnian, where it is rendered as čeif and carries
approximately the same meaning. As Arabic had a strong influence on Ottoman Turkish,
one can find the roots of keyif in the Arabic word kayf, whence the English word “kif”,
which carries the following meanings:
1. 1. A state of drowsiness or dreamy intoxication, such as is produced by the use
of bhang, etc. b. The enjoyment of idleness; ‘dolce far niente’. to make (or do)
kef, to pass the time in idleness.
2. (In Morocco and Algeria, in form kief, keef.) Indian hemp or other substance
smoked to produce this state.8
6
Jane K. Cowan, Dance and the Body Politic in Northern Greece, (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton UP, 1990), 106.
7
Fahir Iz and H.C. Hony, An English-Turkish Dictionary, (Oxford: Claredon Press,
1952), q.v. ‘keyif’.
8
OED, q.v. ‘kif’
3
It is my belief that the citations provided in the Oxford English Dictionary bring
us closer to an understanding of this word, as one citation from 1885 makes a clear
reference to the “trance of the Soufis, the kief of the Turk” .9 Upon further investigation
into the traditions and practices of Sufism, particularly the ceremony known as samā, one
finds an astonishing number of parallels with the kefi felt in the rebetiko of the Greeks.
Kefi: A Samā’-Rebetiko Link?
Concerning the origins of rebetiko, Tsounis notes that rebetiko “can be traced
back to the second half of the nineteenth century in the ports and cities of cities of
Anatolian Greece (Asia Minor)… it spread into the port cities of the Aegean, Greece, and
the United States of America via the travel of Greek Asia Minor emigrants.”10 It is
important to note that the cities and ports of Anatolian Greece from which the rebetiko is
said to have originated, particularly Smyrna (present day Izmir), existed as “Greek” cities
for a remarkably short amount of time, for they were found within the Ottoman Empire
before and after the short-lived Greek rule. Unless the rebetiko was created during the
evanescent Greek rule over the Anatolian ports, we are speaking of an Ottoman tradition.
Thus, a study of the phenomenon of kefi in rebetiko could only be enriched by a study of
similar phenomena in Ottoman music, as both the rebetiko and the word “kefi” itself
derive from Ottoman Empire. Any discussion on Ottoman music naturally leads to a
study on Sufism.
Sufism is a mystical movement within Islam, characterized by distinctive
practices of worship, known as dhikr (literally “remembrance”). Unlike traditional
9
This citation is from Mrs. Humphrey Ward’s translation of Amiel’s Journal: The
Journal Intime of Henri-Frederic Amiel, a French psychologist.
10
Tsounis, “Kefi”, 92.
4
Islamic prayer, dhikr can take a variety of forms (commonly poetry, music, dance,
chanting) and the aim of such practices is the development of a specific state of ecstatic
consciousness of the practitioner. This “ecstasy” has been defined as “the finding of an
existence transcending the consciousness of the finite ego”, for “it is that existence,
(characterized by non-duality), which the Sufis believe is Absolute Being Itself”11. While
puritanical Muslims have historically opposed the use of such music, for the Sufis, music
was a spiritual staple, “not merely permissible (halāl), but a required religious practice
(wājib).”12 Samā’ is a specific liturgy composed of prayer, singing, music and dance and
forms an important aspect in Sufism, and is practiced by nearly every Sufi order (tariqat)
in Islam. This is a particularly important ritual for the Sufi Orders of the Ottoman empire,
such as the Bektashi and Mevlevi, the latter known for their particular “whirling” samā’,
whence the term “whirling dervishes” as the Mevlevi Sufis are colloquially known. As
Schimmel observes,
The intense love for music that the Mevlevis inherited from their master
Jalāluddin (Rumi) has inspired many classical musicians and composers in
the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the best pieces of Turkish classical music,
such as those by ‘Itri (17th century), were composed by artists who were
either members of, or at least loosely connected with, the order.13
Concerning the origins of the rebetiko, a clear link between the Sufi dervishes and
the rebetiko movement can be established. Emery writes,
[The] smoking of hashish was no small part of rebetiko culture. In the
Ottoman empire hashish had been freely available and was openly smoked
in cafes. In Greece too, for a period, people smoked freely. The hash den
11
Leonard Lewisohn, “The Sacred Music of Islam: The Samā in the Persian Sufi
Tradition,” British Journal of Ethnomusicology, 6 (1997), 23.
12
Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 2.
13
Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of N.
Carolina Press, 1975), 325.
5
was known as a tekkes – from the Turkish tekke, meaning dervish convent
– and the rebetes (rebetiko practitioners) who frequented these dens
sometimes referred to themselves as ‘dervishes’.14
The word “rebetiko” (sometimes transliterated as “rembetiko”) may itself be a hint to the
movement’s Sufi origins. The etymology of the word is a matter of debate, with some
subscribing to the idea that it derives from the Turkish “rembet” (meaning “gutter”)
while others believe it to be derived from the Greek word “rembastikos”, meaning
“meditative”.15 If so, the links with Sufism would be beyond dispute. While rebetiko is
seemingly devoid of overt religious symbolism, it is important to note that rebetiko music
has changed dramatically since Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire.
This has largely to do with nature of early Greek nationalism and the attempts to distance
Greek culture from that of the Ottoman Empire. Concerning these attempts in regard to
the rebetiko, Tsounis writes:
The urban café-aman entertainment repertoire was similarly denounced by
the late nineteenth century… for being a treacherous celebration of the
contaminating eastern and Turkish influences of Ottoman rule. There was,
as Chatzipantazis states, an "intense ideological opposition within the
western-nourished bourgeois education at that time towards the domestic
eastern tradition of the 'popular' [working class] strata." (…) These official
and public representations of Greek culture all share a particular
construction of "authentic" Greek culture as belonging to a Hellenistic,
Christian and, above all, western European heritage.16
Thus, it is understandable that the representations of the music may have changed.
Despite this, certain Sufi themes are to be found in rebetiko, such as love, sexuality, and
intoxication. Most importantly, the attitudes towards the rebetiko by those devoted to it
are strikingly similar to those expressed in Sufism toward the samā’.
14
Ed Emery, “Rebetika – A Brief History,” Rebetika: Songs of the Greek Underworld,
ed. and trans. Ed Emery, (London: Saqi Books, 2000).
15
Ibid.
16
Tsounis, “Kefi”, 91.
6
Unrequited Love and Sexual Taboos in Samā’ and Rebetiko
One can find a confluence of themes found in the samā’ and rebetiko, particularly
those dealing with unrequited love, the breaking of sexual taboos, and intoxication. It is
my belief that these themes themselves are key to understanding kefi, as I will illustrate
below.
Tsounis writes that rebetiko songs are “largely about unrequited love, specifically a
feeling of ‘love-sickness’ (sevdas)” and are often filled with textual references to
“underworld” subculture, particularly narcotics and sexuality.17 These sevdas, again
deriving from a difficult to translate Turkish word, loosely translated as “love”, are found
elsewhere in Balkans, particularly among the Muslim population in Bosnia-Herzegovina
where they are known as “sevdalinke”. When conducting an informal interview on the
concept of kefi, and its Bosnian analogue (čeif), one Bosnian resident told me “Čeif is so
hard to define. You feel čeif when you listen to sevdalinke”.
Unrequited love and erotic and homoerotic imagery are frequent themes in Sufism,
both in the samā’ and in Sufi poetry, particularly in the poetry of Jalāluddin Rumi, the
master from whom the Mevlevi dervishes descend. Though difficult to comprehend, the
usage of such imagery is metaphorical. As al-Ghazali writes:
As for amatory poetry, that is, love poetry with description of cheeks,
temples, beauty of figure, stature and the other qualities of women: this
calls for consideration. (…) He who is characterized by such (profane)
passion ought to put aside music and singing (samā’) altogether. For he
over whom such a passion reigns applies all he hears to that passion,
whether the expression suits it or not; for what expression is there that
cannot be applied to ideas by way of metaphorical usage? However, one
whose heart is totally overcome by the love of God is reminded by the
(poetic image of the) blackness of the hair on the temples of a similar
thing, i.e. infidelity; by the brightness of the cheek, of the light of Faith; by
17
Ibid, 92, 95.
7
the mention of consummation, of the meeting with God Almighty; by the
mention of separation, of the veil which is [between him] and God
Almighty while in the company of the outcast... However, the ecstasy of
one who is consumed by divine love is in proportion to his understanding,
and his understanding is in proportion to his power of imagination, and
what he imagines does not necessarily accord with what poet's intended
meaning or language.18
Thus, it must be understood that the imagery used in the text may not reflect the explicit
meaning used by the writer, the singer, or the dancer. Images of unrequited love and
homoeroticism, frequently employed by the Sufis, often reflect the “veils of separation”
keeping them from the attainment of their ecstatic state, obtained only when through
emotionally abandoning their self-conscious state, annihilating the ego.
Kefi: Intoxication
Concerning intoxication, narcotics use is a common theme in rebetiko music, as
noted above. Indeed, the word kefi itself means “intoxication”, as does its Arabic
analogue, kayf, which has come to mean a soporific substance, particularly hashish, in
both Arabic and English. As quoted above, Cowan argues that kefi does indeed refer to
“spirits” in the literal sense if alcohol consumption, though not strictly. Like rebetiko,
Sufi samā’ and poetry make extensive use of narcotic imagery, particularly alcohol,
which is perhaps the most extensively used metaphor in Sufism. For example, this poem
by Mir Husayn Harawi:
How well those adepts in states of heart declared:
"No soul existent, no living ego
may taste this Wine."
Look how all the mystics, legion on legion, here fell prey to passion;
Aghast in God, they vanished in oblivion…
Best let the novice steer clear of all such disquisition.
18
Qtd. in Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 16-17.
8
For samā’s not for one who's bound by nature's urges,
wound up in greed and passion. Unless you cast aside
all this, how should it be fit for you?
Not all who languish merit such an Aperitif.
Only the burning heart
is cut out for it.19
The key to understanding this metaphor is to look at narcotics (wine, hashish, etc.) not
merely as intoxicants, but as the substances that must be taken in order to evoke a
particular state of consciousness. In other words, wine must be “tasted” before one can
know what drunkenness is like. Thus, no amount of learning, education, contemplation,
or other such activities can ever lead to an understanding of this state of spiritual
intoxication, for only those with experiential knowledge of it can possibly understand.
One can see the same themes in rebetiko songs: “I’m a (tough guy), and ouzo is my God
(...) I have a good time, I dance, I drink and I get drunk, with santouris, and violins, and
drums”20 and:
From the time I started to smoke the dose,
The world turned its back on me.
I don’t know what to do.
From sniffing it up I went onto the needle,
And my body began to melt...21
It is important to note that the drug use was not strictly metaphorical. Sufis have
a long tradition of alcohol, opium, and hashish use, used in order to reach altered states of
consciousness. Likewise, rebetiko musicians have historically used narcotics in order to
reach the kefi state.
19
Qtd. in Ibid, 12.
20
Qtd. in Emery, “Rebetika”.
21
Qtd. in Ibid
9
Attitudes Towards Proper Samā’ and Rebetiko Performance
Lewisohn, basing his study on the treatises on samā’ by two Sufi masters and
theologians, Ahmed b. Muhammad al-Tusi and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (al-Tusi wrote his
work in 1248, al-Ghazali circa 1096-1111) writes that the samā’ depends on acoustic
sensibility, spiritual “attunedness” of the soul, and “demands proper time, place, and
brethren”. 22 It is when comparing these three requisites of proper samā’ performance
with the descriptions given by Tsounis of the kefi experience in rebetiko dance that the
parallels become the most striking.
“Right Time”
Concerning the proper “right time”, Lewisohn writes:
[The] proper “time” for samā’ is largely unconcerned with the temporal
realm, but rather pertains to the proper “spiritual mood” of “mystical
state” possessed by the Sufi, the right conditions which will enable him to
enter correctly into genuine musical reverie, a time of the heart or soul
rather than a specific temporal reality of the body. Thus, concludes al-
Tusi, ‘during a time of when [the Sufis] assemble, the illumination which
graces the hearts of certain of them is reflected into the hearts of others, so
by the gathering the general light, revelation, clarity, and cheer is
increased’. Time’s metaphysical arrow, one could say, must strike the
Sufi’s heart before it hits the body.23
It is clear from this description that time is not be understood in a typical temporal
manner, but rather in a spiritual, metaphysical way. Concerning the rebetiko, Tsounis
writes, “For Greek people, the essential criteria required to dance and make music is
simply that you have kefi”.24 Thus, the proper time requisite for both the samā’ and the
rebetiko are the same.
22
Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 9.
23
Ibid, 9.
24
Tsounis, “Kefi”, 94.
10
“Right Place”
Concerning the “right place”, Lewisohn writes:
Again, just as the "right time" is both a temporal "moment" and a
metaphysical condition which connotes the heart's detachment, the
condition of "place" must not to be interpreted too literally. Thus, the
"place" of the concert is also paradoxically a "no-place", a u-topos, a
"heart-land”, rather than any specific bodily locus. A "place" is sacred by
virtue of the heart's presence there rather than the heart's presence
physically contingent upon the geographical locus of the body…25
Once again, the notion of “right place” is not to be interpreted spatially. It is not where
the samā’ is performed that matters, but where the hearts of practitioners are. Lewisohn
cites the writings of al-Tusi, who states:
When the brethren of purity assemble in a place of worship wishing that
the light of their enjoyed by the hearts of some be conveyed unto the
hearts of others so that their mutual illumination increase and that the
purity of their souls be amplified, their souls become fortified by the light
of that place, heightening their mystical states and perfecting their innate
characters.26
Thus, once again, the spatial locus of the participants is not of importance, but rather the
hearts and moods of the participants, who unite in a “heart-land”, felt by all.
Tsounis, who conducted his studies among Greek immigrant communities in
Adelaide, Australia, also notes that the spatial locus of the rebetiko dance is not
important. He stresses the rebetiko in Adelaide serves the important function of “creating
a symbolic synchronicity of time and place” and the “particular ‘unisonality’ of
community constituted within constructions of passion in rebetiko music-making and
dancing” beyond that characteristic of typical patriotic songs.27
25
Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 9.
26
Qtd. in Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 10.
27
Tsounis, “Kefi”, 92.
11
“Right Company”
The final requisite of proper samā’ performance is “right brethren” or “right
company”. Lewisohn, writes that al-Tusi describes a samā’ concert as a “stirring of the
spirit by listening… the abandonment of the attachments of created things, and being
drawn to spiritual stages”, and thus concludes that the samā’ is an “esoteric activity
demanding a refined degree of understanding on the listener’s part, [and thus] is usually
considered a ceremony proper for ‘members only’”.28 Importantly, the Sufi have a clear
hierarchy and it has been a matter of dispute among Sufi masters and theologians as to
which levels should be allowed to participate in the samā’, with some, such as the
theologian al-Ghazali, arguing that “neophytes in Sufism should not be permitted to
engage in the samā’ at all. Beginners posses neither the ability nor the “taste” for
samā’”.29 While various stages of Sufi progression have been defined by different Sufi
orders, al-Tusi describes the final state as that of “the brethren of purity and ecstatic
consciousness, gnostic sciences, seclusion, heart-savor, yearning, and perfection”.30 The
word translated as “heart-savor” (dhawq) is the same used by al-Ghazali for “taste”.
These views are also to be found concerning the rebetiko. Concerning two specific
dances, the tsifteteli and the zeïbekikos, Tsounis writes:
These two dance forms are, furthermore, typified as the favorites of
remaining ‘die-hard’ music lovers and dancers, the meraklides, people
with meraki who have reached the height of their kefi. Zachos confirms
that meraki means to have an all-consuming passion for and detailed
knowledge of something, as does a connoisseur. The term also has the
evaluative connotation of ‘good taste’.31
28
Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 10.
29
Ibd, 10.
30
Qtd. in Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 11.
31
Tsounis, “Kefi”, 96.
12
It should be noted that “meraki” is yet another difficult to define concept deriving from
Turkish, meaning “curiosity”, “[or having a] passion (for something)”, “connoisseur”,
“devotee”32, as well as “longing/yearning”, “good taste/artistry” and “high spirits”33. The
description of the meraklides as those who have obtained the “height of their kefi”
indicates that kefi is achieved in stages, with the only the elite achieving the highest stage,
clearly having parallels with the Sufi understanding of developmental nature of
consciousness. Thus, we see a confluence of terms, with the terms “taste” and “yearning”
used to describe the elites capable of fully appreciating samā’ and rebetiko. These
meanings of “meraki” can be paired with, and thus further elucidate, the themes of
narcotics/alcohol (“taste”; ”high spirits”) and unrequited love (“longing/yearning”).
Similarities between the devotees of samā’ and rebetiko can also be seen in their
mutual rejection of those who lack the proper state of consciousness participating in the
performances. Lewisohn writes that it is the presence of this attribute that “precludes,
preconditions, encompasses and, ultimately, defines the ambience of the [samā’]”.34 Al-
Ghazali writes,
If it so happens that a proud and worldly person be present, or the singer
has profane motives, or some pretentious person be continually dancing or
feigning ecstatic experience or a group of people heedless of God be
attending who practice samā’ to indulge in their own vain humors or make
small talk… such samā’ is to no avail.35
Likewise, for the devotees of the rebetiko, the feigning of kefi is equally rejected, as it
negates the entire rebetiko experience:
People recognize such externalized markers of kefi with remarks about the
32
Iz and Hony, English-Turkish Dictionary, q.v. ‘merak’
33
Stavropoulos, qtd. in Tsounis, “Kefi”, 101.
34
Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 12.
35
Qtd. in Ibid, 12.
13
"honest" expression of the musician or dancer. For Greek people, the
essential criteria required to dance and make music is simply that you have
kefi. In opposition to this, music-making and dancing without kefi is
considered to be pretentious and a clear marker of cultural estrangement.36
Conclusion
Due to the complex meanings of the word kefi, which I have shown to be
intimately linked with the Sufi mystical tradition that formed the cultural milieu from
which the term originated, I conclude that all attempts to translate the term for those who
have not experienced it for themselves will be in vain. Attempts to define kefi as “high
spirits”, “trance” or mere “intoxication” fall far short of the nature of the word, for it is a
word originating in the ineffable “ecstasy” of Sufism, despite the fact the rebetiko
practitioners may not interpret ecstatic existence as divine, as the tradition has been recast
in Greek national terms. I believe a better translation could be approximated through the
working definitions used for “ecstasy” found in literature on Sufism. The following
description, given by al-Ghazali, is perhaps the closest approximation to the accounts
given by those attempting to explain kefi to Tsounis, with their frequent accounts of
“breaking out”, “letting go” and “abandoning oneself”:
Ecstasy is lifting of the veil, contemplation of the All-Observant,
presence of understanding, study of the Unseen Realm, converse with the
soul's transconscious, and association with what one lacks. It consists in
the annihilation and termination of "you" in respect to all you are. (...)
When directly experienced by the mystic through heart-savor (i.e.
“taste”), its light illumines his heart and all doubt and uncertainty leave
him.37
36
Tsounis, “Kefi”, 94.
37
Lewisohn, “Sacred Music”, 23.
14
Works Cited
Cowan, Jane K. Dance and the Body Politic in Northern Greece. (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton UP, 1990).
Emery, Ed. “Rebetika: A Brief History.” Rebetika: Songs from the Underworld. (London:
Saqi Books, 2000)
Iz, Fahir and H.C. Hony. An English-Turkish Dictionary. (Oxford: Claredon Press,
1952).
Lewisohn, Leonard. “The Sacred Music of Islam: The Samā in the Persian Sufi
Tradition.” British Journal of Ethnomusicology. 6 (1997).
Tsounis, Demeter. “Kefi and Meraki in Rebetiko Music of Adelaide: Cultural
Constructions of Passion and Expression and Their Link with the Homeland.”
Yearbook for Traditional Music. 27 (1995).
Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. (Chapel Hill: University of N.
Carolina Press, 1975).
15
