Skip to content
Unitive Knowledge Society
Search

Accents are optional; quotes find an exact phrase.

Qalandar

A wandering dervish who rejects social convention, often shocking in appearance and conduct.

Also: Qalandar

Sufism and Islamic thought

Qalandars were antinomian wandering dervishes from the thirteenth century, shaving their heads and eyebrows and scorning respectability. In Persian poetry the qalandar became a symbol of the free spirit beyond external religion, celebrated by Ḥāfiẓ and others.