Saturday night guests at Occidental College’s Thorne...

Saturday night guests at Occidental College’s Thorne Hall may not have heard of Amir Khusrau, or speak Urdu, but that’s OK.

The whole point of a special performance at the college is to expose an American audience to Pakistani history and culture through the poetry, prose and music of Amir Khusrau, the 13th-Century Indian writer and composer known for perfecting the sitar and tabla.

The night will consist of 2 1/2 hours of drama and traditional Pakistani song and dance, including performances by two star dancers, Naheed Siddiqui of Great Britain and Arifa Siddiqui of Pakistan. In addition, a cast of 30 will perform a traditional Pakistani wedding ceremony and farewell song accompanied by sitar and tabla music.

To teach the audience more about Amir Khusrau’s life, two men will enact a dialogue, in English.

Similar productions in Persian and Urdu--the languages in which Amir Khusrau wrote-- have catered to Middle Eastern audiences. But this time, the poetry was translated into English by Carl W. Ernst, chairman of Pomona College’s religion department.

The songs, however, weren’t. “You can’t translate those,” said Dr. Aziz Khan, a Whittier surgeon who helped organize the event along with Pasadena’s Pacific Asia Museum. “They’d lose the rhythm and they’d lose the meaning.”

The performance begins at 8 p.m. Black tie is optional. Tickets are $35, $50 and $100, and can be reserved by calling (818) 449-2742. The $100 tickets include a reception with the cast after the performance.