Jahane Rumi In search of the unsearchable: O, my soul! where would you find your house?

29Jan/0834

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.

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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.

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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 !)

Comments (34) Trackbacks (6)
  1. 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.

  2. Thanks , Raza.
    Could you translate (and explain): aik nokthe vich gul mukdee.

    Hope all is well in the Philips.

    b.

  3. ‘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.

  4. ‘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)

  5. 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]

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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.

  9. 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??

  10. 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..

  11. 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.

  12. Thank you so much Raza and all those who have posted Baba Bulle Shah’s poetry and its interpretations in the comments section! :)

  13. 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,

  14. Jagmohan ji
    many thanks for the comment. I will try and find the video form the net
    cheers
    Raza

  15. 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

  16. Baba Bullay Shah Farmayya …….
    Kaliyan Ishq Kaman okha
    Kisay nu Yar Bnana Okha …………….
    Pyar Pyar Tay har koi Bollay ……………….
    Kar k Pyar nibhana okha ………………
    Har koi Dhukhan Tay HAss Lenda ……………….
    kisay Da Dard wadana okha ………………
    Gallan Nall naye Rutbay millday ……………
    Jogi Bhesa wadana okha……….
    Koi Kisay Di gall naye sunda ……………..
    lokan nu Samjhana okha…………….
    I like this poetry & i like Sooooooooooooooooooo Much
    BABA BULLAY SHAH SAHAB
    if u have then plz plz plz send me on my Mailing address
    Thanx

  17. Thank you Atif for your kind message. best regards
    Raza

  18. Bulle Shah’s songs are wonderful much like Kabir’s in Hindi. I wish I understood Panjabi better to enjoy them in original. Thanks for posting these beautiful intoxicating songs.

  19. A great poem by a a master. Tahnks for the post. Can i copy and post in my website. tahnks

  20. Laxmi ji: thanks a lot for the comment. i visited your blog but I cannot read Hindi alas.

    Captainjohann: Sure please post it on your website. Please give a link to http://www.razarumi.com as the source.

  21. “bullea jagh bina dudh nahi jamda bhave lal hove kad kad ke.”

    Without the required material(enzyme) milk cannot get converted to curd even if it is pasturized and made red hot.

    This sentence renders to the meaning that if you people do not remember God’s name and truth you cannot liberate yourself even if you have read myriads of books and verses

  22. I LIKE THE BULLEH SHAH JI RUBAI AND RUMI,PL SEND SOME FOR ME.I LIKE VERY MUCH IN HINT IS POSSIBLEDI IF I

  23. dis is very coooool subject 4 discotion
    REALY

  24. hi
    can u send some poems of the great BABA BULLE SHAH??????
    on my email address pleasssssssssss
    if you can
    am waiting:)

  25. I liked the efforts of all friends and hope that this darvesh will ever be remembered and contacted.

  26. Baba bullhe shah is not a wordly and self made poet but a heavenly and God selected saint.

  27. I have translated poetry of saaeen bulleh shah in sindhi. Is there any person to publish it and distribute free of cost.

  28. makkke gyaa galll mukdi nayieo bhaave so so jumma parr aayie
    ganga gyaa gall mukdi nayieo bhaave so so goote laaiyee
    o bulle shaah gall tayieo mukdi jud main nu dillo mukayiee
    ibaadt kar ibaadt karn nal gall bandi A,
    kisi di aj bandi A kisi di kall bandi A,
    parr parr ilam kitaba tu naam rakha leaa kaaazi,
    makke ja ja hajj gujaare te tu naam dhraa leyaa hazi,
    fad talwaar joraaawer banyeo te tu naam dhraaleo baaji,
    aje ta bulleyaa tu kuj na khatteaa j tu rubb na kita raaji…..

  29. send bulla shah pujabi poetry

  30. i think the discussion about @ gull ik nuktay vich mukdi aay@

    is more of the difference between the word muhubbat and mehnat in the urdu language… its a subtulty that i presume Hazrat Abdullah Shah i,e Baba Bulleh Shah explored so ebautifully that cannot be imagined…how he translates the concept of love for the pir ( Shah Iniayat) and the higher/divinley body for the fact that working to attain the affection and forgiveness through hard work is a way but how it can be attained bu just rveering your Pir and shwoign affecion such as the incidents of Bulleh Shah dressing up the way a maid did for her hsuabnd….the Nach Kanjri tay Bulleh Wangoon ghungruu tu paa…Rub munn janda …yaar nu manuna aaukha aay …all those things…
    Manyt hanks, Love, rgerads and peace

  31. Pl send more rumi and rubai for bulleh shah and other saints

  32. i need translation of the whole album of meda ishk wi toon.
    can any body help.

  33. bulley shah was sent by allah,rama,krishna to our planet to spread love to humanity.in todays world we again need bulley shah.more and more poems of bulley shah should be posted

  34. this is an awsum foram…………………ALLAH BLESS U ALL


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