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For I do not recognise myself
ATP recently published a piece of mine on Rumi and Bulleh Shah. I have quoted a translation of Rumi’s verse (rendered by Reynold A. Nicholson)  in that post. I am reproducing the lines here -
What is to be done, O Moslems? For I do not recognise myself.
I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem.
I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea;
I am not of Nature’s mint, nor of the circling heaven.
I am not of earth, nor of water, nor of air, nor of fire;
I am not of the empyrean, nor of the dust, nor of existence, nor of entity.
I am not of India, nor of China, nor of Bulgaria, nor of Saqsin
I am not of the kingdom of Iraqian, nor of the country of Khorasan
I am not of this world, nor of the next, nor of Paradise, nor of Hell
I am not of Adam, nor of Eve, nor of Eden and Rizwan.
September 15th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
That’s a very informative post Raza, and the particular poetry you cite here is, indeed, most relevant to our tumultous present which is riddled by cultural conflicts of identity. Your post on ATP referred to Rabbi’s “Bullah’, and I must say the number is mesmerizing to say the least. A friend from India explained the lyrics to me which made the rendition even more poignant and had me captivated.
You are right to say many Americans are in raptures over Rumi.
September 19th, 2007 at 5:26 am
The great Sufis penetrate to the real. Altho’ valuable for many people for different reasons…. and therefore there are different interpretations …. it is best to understand Sufi poetry in its own context.
This sort of poem has a long history in Sufi literature. Hazrat Bulleh Shah RA is referring to the 2 fundamental categories of Rabb & ‘abd. [the Creator & Creation] And of course, the Creation is only alive because “[God] breathed into him of His own spirit” [Qur'an]
So Bulleh Shah might well say he does not recognize himself…….
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Islam Controversy…
Check out this Islam Controversy Blog. http://islam-controversy.blogspot.com...