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A few poems by Bulleh Shah
Recently, I was asked to help a friend with the original text of Bulleh Shah’s Hindu na Na heen Musalmaan. I found the original Punjabi and also found two other pieces that I am posting here.
Bulleh Shah’s poetry addresses most maladies that we face in this day and age.
——————————
HiNdu na naheeN musalmaan,
Baheeye tiranjan taj abhimaan.
Sunni na naheeN ham sheeya
Sulha kuhl ka maarag leeya.
Bhookhe na naheeN ham rahje,
NaNge na naheeN ham kahje.
RoNde na naheeN ham hasde
UjaRe na naheeN ham vasde.
Paapi na sudharmi na,
Paap pun ki raah na jaanaaN.
Bulhe Shah jo hari chit laage,
Hindu turak doojan tiyaage
Neither Hindu nor Muslim,
Sacrificing pride, let us sit together.
Neither Sunni nor Shia,
Let us walk the road of peace.
We are neither hungry nor replete,
Neither naked nor covered up.
Neither weeping nor laughing,
Neither ruined nor settled,
We are not sinners or pure and virtuous,
What is sin and what is virtue, this I do not know.
Says Bulhe Shah, one who attaches his self with the lord.
Gives up both hindu and muslim.
———————
Partisans live in Dharamsalas, cheats in temples,
butchers reside in mosques;
while lovers (of the Lord) live apart.
He further says :
Bullah is neither Rafzi nor Sunni, nor learned
nor an intellectual nor a Jaini.
I have learnt the lesson of love of God alone.
People say : Bulleh is an Infidel (Kafar)
and an idol-worshipper.
But in the Lord’s court, both the Momin and Kafar
(Believer and un-believer) are treated alike.
—————————————
Kithe Ramdas kithe Fateh Muhammad
Eh do qadimi shor
Mit gia duha da jhagra
Nikal pia kuch hor
(Here was Ramdas [a Hindu] and there Fateh Muhammad [a Muslim]
What an ancient noise between them
But now their quarrel has vanished
And something new has emerged !)
January 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am
[...] podeis ver la versión original transliterada del panjabi y la traduccion inglesa en el blog de Raza Rumi Ni hindúes ni musulmanes Sacrificando el orgullo, sentémonos juntos. Ni Sunnies ni Shina, [...]
January 29th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Thanks for sharing Baba Bulleh Shah’s poetry.
“Parh Parh Aalam Faazil Hoyon , Kade aapne aap nu parhiyaa ee nahin …
Ainven roz shaitaan naal lardain, kade nafas aapne naal larhiyaa ee nahin..
Bulle Shaah Asmaani urhdiaan phardaain, Jehrha ghar baithaa ohnu pharhiyaa ee nahin ”
I did read the play “Bulla” by Shahid Nadeem translated in gurmukhi.
It was phenomenal.
January 30th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Thanks , Raza.
Could you translate (and explain): aik nokthe vich gul mukdee.
Hope all is well in the Philips.
b.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:56 pm
‘aik nokthe vich gul mukdee’
In a Point/Dot the whole mystery is solved.
Esoterically, however, the term ‘point’ is said to signify the point in the center behind the two eyes, the third eye or what jesus Christ called ‘the single eye.’ Muslim mystics have called it Nuqta-I-Suvaida (the Black Spot.). The real merit of meditation lies in concentrating the soul, vacating it from the body, and bringing it to the eye center. This process has been described in mystic or spiritual literature as “dying while living.†This gives the one who practices it immense power and profound knowledge. The real spiritual journey is said to commence from this point.
‘aik nokthe vich gul mukdee’
In a Point/Dot the whole mystery is solved.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:19 pm
‘HiNdu na naheeN musalmaan’
Another version of english translation of above Bulleh Shah Kafi
Neither Hindu nor Muslim,
Shedding the ego in Trinjan.
Neither Sunni nor Shia,
Treading the path of peace and harmony.
Neither hungry nor fed,
Neither naked nor clothed.
Neither weeping nor laughing,
Neither settled nor hopping,
Neither sinners nor sacred,
No truck either with amity or hatred.
Says Bulheh those who are devoted to God,
Have little to do with either Turk or Hindu
Neither Hindu nor Muslim,
Shedding the ego in Trinjan
(K S Duggal)
January 31st, 2008 at 6:23 pm
PaRh paRh ilm hazaar kitaabaN
qaddi apnay aap nou paRhiya naee
jaaN jaaN waRhday mandir maseedi
qaddi mann apnay wich waRhiya naee
aa-vaiN laRda aye shaitan de naal bandeaa
qaddi nafss apnay naal laRiya naee
[yes, yes, you have read thousands of books
but you have never tried to read your own self
you rush in, into your Mandirs, into your Mosques
but you have never tried to enter your own heart
futile are all your battles with Satan
for you have never tried to fight your own desires]
January 31st, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Dear Raza sahab,
I must say that this is an excellent poem by one of my very favorite poets. I’d like to say that it is these great poets who keep a language alive. I experienced this myself so I’m saying this. It was Waris shah and Bulleh shah who forced me to learn to at least understand punjabi gurmukhi. Yet what these words carry is beyond words.
Reagrds,
M S khan
February 1st, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Haajee lok makkey nooN jaaNday
Meyraa raaNjhaa maahee makkaa
nee meyN kamlee haaN
meyN te maNg raaNjhey dee hoiyaaN
meyra baabal kardaa dhakkaa
nee meyN kamlee haaN
haajee lok makkey nooN jaaNdey
meyra raaNjaa maahee makkaa
nee meyN kamlee haaN
wichey haajee wichey gaajee
wichey chor uchakka
nee meyN kamlee HaaN
haajee lok makkey nooN jaaNdey
meyra raaNjaa maahee makkaa
nee meyN kamlee haaN
Jit wal yaar otey wal kaabaa
bhalNweyN phol kitaabaaN chaaray
nee meyN kamlee haaN
The Hajis go to Mecca
My Beloved Rangha is Mecca
O Friend I am crazy
I have become fiancee of Ranjha
My father forces me to marry with someone else
O Friend I am crazy
The Hajis go to Mecca
My Beloved Rangha is Mecca
O Friend I am crazy
In my heart live all the Hajis and gajjies(Ghazi)
Also lives the theif (nafas) in the Heart
The Hajis go to Mecca
My Beloved Rangha is Mecca
O Friend I am crazy
On which direction is the Beloved
Kaaba is also in the same direction
Even you explore all four books
O Friend I am crazy
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Bulleh had virtuous thoughts-Couplets
——————————————————————————–
Main NeevaaN Mera Murshid Uccha…
Main UcchiyaaN naal sang laayee
I am lowly my spiritual guide is lofty!
I have tied my fate to such lofty ones!
Bulleh naaloN chullaah changaa
jis te ann pakaaee daa
ral faqeera majlas keetee
bhora bhora khaaee daa
A stove is better than Bulleh
because at least you can cook food on it
Saints sit together to eat
and share their food with each other.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:04 am
Billo
Nukta is difficult to decipher -
My personal interpretation has to do with the nukta of Being - like the letter Alif that is Single and a Whole.
So we, the created are not different from the Creator. We the lovers and not separate from the Beloved. It is this unity of being and existence that is one and can be reduced to one little nukta - a dot - that has all the answers and comforts we spend our lifetimes attaining. Indeed what Shahidain mentions above is the methodology to imbibe that nukta in one’s conscious self.
hope i am not rambling
I’d like to know what you think of it??
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:05 am
Ah, and that it is simple and not complicated as a little dot is..
but only the ones who can ’see’ and ‘hear’ and ‘love’ can understand..
February 4th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Let me try again to put the meaning of Nuqta/Dot in air.
The Point or Dot is the starting point of anything or everthing.The Dot explodes with Big Bang. And becomes universe. the explosion’s effects are dynamics. The Universe continues to expand. In this universe there are microcosms the earth. man his spirit, etc… All emanates from one point.
It has many layers of meaning and can be read in more than one way.
“aik nokthe vich gul mukdee”’
On one point the matter ends. (Muzaffar Ghaffar)
In a dot the whole mystery is solved ( Saeed Ahmad)
It’s all in one contained ( K S Duggal)
Wisdom is contained in a single point!( J R Puri)
Translation by Suman
At this one point, all talk ends.
Hold tight to this point, forget your calculations,
Leave the miserable state of unbelief,
Do not torment yourself with the fear of death and hell,
For these are imaginary fears.
Only into such a house will truth the enter.
At this one point, all talk ends.
For no reason you abrade your forehead on the ground,
You display your reverence at the mehraab,
You recite the kalma to impress a listener,
But knowledge does not enter your heart.
Can the truth stay hidden?
At this one point, all talk ends.
Many return from Mecca as hajjis,
With blue shawls across their shoulders.
They profit from haj ,
Who can admire such behavior?
Can the truth stay hidden?
At this one point, all talk ends.
Some withdraw to the forest,
Eat a single grain a day.
They exhaust their bodies foolishly,
And return home in bad shape,
Their life sucked dry with useless fasting and prayer.
At this one point, all talk ends.
Hold fast to your murshid,
Become a devotee of all creation,
Intoxicated, carefree,
Without desire, indifferent to the world,
Let your heart be fully clean.
Says Bulha, can the truth then be stopped?
At this one point, all talk ends.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Thank you so much Raza and all those who have posted Baba Bulle Shah’s poetry and its interpretations in the comments section!
June 8th, 2008 at 2:57 am
Hi,
In the initial days of Antakshari on zee tv, Annu Kapur had talked and sung beautifully about Baba Bulleh Shah. Does any one have it? It was extension of the “main nahi bolana”.
regards,
June 8th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Jagmohan ji
many thanks for the comment. I will try and find the video form the net
cheers
Raza
November 12th, 2008 at 5:19 am
November 21st, 2008 at 11:14 pm
thanks for sharing Sarkars poems with us…
‘ whenever I hear your poems or name
lightning passes through my skin and viens
my body turns into a rigid form
my head saluts and bow on its own ‘- baloch