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Bulleh Shah - 3 poems of love and abandon
Bulleh Shah of Kasur in Central Punjab is another towering voice that provided a mystical message beyond caste, institutionalized religion and ideologies of power. Born in 1860 in a Syed family, he found a Murshid (spiritual master) in Shah Inayat who was an Arain (a lower caste). This enraged his family and they almost disowned him. However, intoxicated with the love for his master and driven by ideas of Unity of existence and equality of humans, he rejected such notions and stuck to his humanism.
Bulleh’s poetry reflected his rejection of orthodox hold of mullahs over Islam, the nexus between the clergy and the rulers and all the trappings of formal religion that created a gulf between man and his Creator. A common theme of his poetry is the pursuit of self-knowledge that is essential for the mystical union with the Beloved.
The yearning for anonymity and connecting with the Beloved requires that there are no distractions, no priorities and no illusions of attachment. Bulleh Shah’s verse and its translation say it so directly and passionately -(thanks again to Shahidain for sharing the translations by Muzaffar Ghafar):
Chal Way Bullehya Chal O’thay Chaliyay
Jithay Saaray Annay
Na Koi Saadee Zaat PichHanay
Tay Na Koi Saanu Mannay
O’ Bulleh Shah let’s go there
Where everyone is blind
Where no one recognizes our caste (or race, or family name)
And where no one believes in us
Ab to jaag Musaffir pyare
Raeen gayi latke taare
Kar le aj karni da weera
Mod na ho si aawen tera…
Awake, dear traveller, you’ve got to move on.
Trailing its stars, the night is gone.
Do what you have to do, do it today.
You will never be back this way.
Your companions are calling.
“Let us go.â€
Awake, dear traveller, you’ve got to move on.
Trailing its stars, the night is gone.
A pearl, a ruby, the touchstone and dice…
With all that you thirst by the waterside.
Awake, dear traveller, you’ve got to move on.
Trailing its stars, the night is gone.
***************
“Parh nafal namaaz guzaarey
Uchiyaan baangaa chaaagaa maarey
Mimbar te charh waz pukaarey
Keetaa teynoo hirs khawaarâ€
translationEndless extra prayers you offer
Jarring prayer-calls are released from your coffer
Mounting pulpit, sermon you proffer
Wretched you became through greed ( Muzaffar Ghafar)
******************
BULHE NU SAMJHAWAN AAINAN BHAINAN TE BHARJAIAN
To counsel Bulleh, his sisters in law have come
MAN NE BULHYA SADA KAHNA CHAD DE PALLA RAIAAN
Pay heed to us and give up mixing with the low caste Araeen
AAL-E NABI AULAD-E NABI NUN TOON KION LEEKAN LAINAN
You are a scion of Ali,the Prophet, why must you shame our fair clime.
JEHRA SANOON SYED SADDE DOZAKH MILAN SAZAIAAN
Those who call me Syed, are destined to hell made for them
JO KOI SANOON RAEEN AAKHE BHISHTEEN PEENGAN PAIAAN
Those who call me Araeen, have the swings in heaven laid for them
RAEEN SAEEN SABHI THAEEN RAB DIAN BE PARWAAIAN
The low caste and the high caste, are created by God who cares not for family
SOHNIAN PARE HATAIAN NE TE KOJHIAN LE GAL LAAIAN
He regards the beautiful and cherishes the not so comely.
JE TU LOREEN BAAGH BAHAARAN CHAKAR HO JA RAEEAN
If you wish to enjoy the glory of the Garden, go and serve the Araeen
BULHE SHAH DI ZAAT KI PUCHNA-EN SHAKAR HO RAZAAIAN
Why bother about Bulleh’s caste? Obey the command that comes from Saeen
(Translation by K S Duggel)
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
PaRh paRh likh likh laaweyN dher
Veyd kataabaaN chaar chafeyr
Girdey chaanan wich haneyr
Aapne aap di khabar na saar
Ikko alaf terey darkaar, ilmoN bas kareeN O yaar
You read and write heaps of books.
Sacred books are piled up all around you.
Surrounded by light, you carry darkness within you.
One ‘Alif’ is all you need, forget the pride in your knowlege, O friend.
PaRh parRh shaikh mashaikh hoyaa
Bhar bhar peyt, neeNdar bhar soyaa
JaaNdi waar nain bhar royaa
Dubbaa wich uraar na paar
Ikko alaf terey darkaar, ilmoN bas kareeN O yaar
Your vast amount of reading has made you a religious master.
You eat excessively and sleep profoundly.
When the time of death arrives - you weep and cry bitterly.
All this repentance is in vain. You drown in the middle of the river - neither reaching one bank or the other. (You drown under the huge weight of your sins.)
PaRh paRh nafal namaaz guzaareyN
UchiyaaN baaNgaaN, chaaNgaaN maareyN
MaNbar tey chaRh waz pukaareyN
Keeta tainooN hirs khawaar
Ikko alaf terey darkaar, ilmoN bas kareeN O yaar
You say prayers upon prayers.
You scream and yell loudly.
Sitting at the pulpit, you deliver sermons.
Greed has brought disgrace upon you.
PaRh paRh mullaaN hoye qaazi
Allah ilmaaN baajhoN raazi
Hovay hirs dino-din taazee
Nafaa neeyat wich guzaar
Ikko alaf terey darkaar, ilmoN bas kareeN O yaar
By means of acquiring knowledge, Mullahs become Qazi (religious judges).
God has no concern with such knowledge.
You refresh your greed day by day.
Your inner-self is always seeking gains.
PaRh paRh masley roz sunaaveyN
Khaanaa shak shubay da khaaweyN
DasseyN hor, tey hor kamaaweyN
Andar khot, baahar sachyaar
Ikko alaf terey darkaar, ilmoN bas kareeN O yaar
You deliver homilies (sermons) every day.
You eat the food of suspicion and doubt.
You preach something and act inversely.
Inwardly - you are corrupt, but, outwardly, you are pious - a liar hidden in the garb of truth.
IlmoN paye qaziye hor
AkheeN waale anhay kor
PhaRdey saadh tey chhaD-dey chor
DoweyN jahaaneeN hoyaa khawaar
Ikko alaf terey darkaar, ilmoN bas kareeN O yaar
As with the help of such false vision they can not find and see the truth,
They capture innocent people and let thieves escape.
In both worlds they are disgraced.
IlmoN miyaaN ji kahaaweyN
TaNba chuk chuk mandi jaaweyN
Dheyla lai ke chhuri chalaaweyN
Naal qasaaiyaaN bohat pyaar
Ikko alaf terey darkaar, ilmoN bas kareeN O yaar
With such knowledge you are called Mian Ji (a title of respect).
You tug up your trousers and go to the market.
You start killing brutally even for a farthing (coin of very little value).
You have excessive affection for the butchers.
Jad meiN sabaq ishq da paRhya
Daryaa weykh wahdat da waRya
Ghuman-gheyraaN dey wich aRyaa
Shah Inayat laaya paar
Ikko alaf terey darkaar, ilmoN bas kareeN O yaar
When I learnt the lesson of love,
I dived into the River of Unity.
I was caught up in its whirlpools.
Shah Inayat helped me to cross it.
- Tranlated by Prof. Saeed Ahmad ( http://sufiwisdom.org/ )
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:50 am
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 am
Sidhu ji
thanks for such an amazing translation - I think I will add this to the post as well
I was caught up in its whirlpools.
Shah Inayat helped me to cross it.
Lucky was Bulleh to have a Shah Inayat in his life - some of us will never see the light - alas
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 am
Thanks are due to Baba Bulleh Shah and Prof. Saeed Ahmad, in that order, I suppose.
I love the way Baba Bulleh Shah puts his perfectly Punjabi sense of humour to good use in each of his poems to make some really strong points! Some of that gets lost in translation, unfortunately. Each language has its own brand of humour, perhaps, which can not be conveyed entirely through translations even by the best of translators.
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Thanks Raza and Sidhu, for sharing Baba Bulleh Shah. Wajad is what one feels while repeating his words or while listening to an audio rendition of his poetry. Everytime you read him, he emerges anew, such is his magic.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Sidhusaaheb
Thanks for sharing such a nice Bulleh Shah Kafi. You may like to listen the same kafi sung by Shazia Manzoor on this links. You would certainly like it.
http://www.folkpunjab.com/shazia-manzoor/
April 4th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Thanks Shahidain!
I also like the version rendered by the rock band Junoon, which can be listened to at http://www.radioreloaded.com/tracks/?5563
April 21st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
The rendition of the last one as a part of the OST of the movie Khuda Kay Liye is very good, according to me, especially because it is based on rock-music.
It can be listened to at http://www.radioreloaded.com/tracks/?10035
May 26th, 2008 at 2:49 am
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-3-2004_pg3_7
Great article about Sufis.