Shah « Jahane Rumi

7Feb/104

Chal Way Bullehya Chal O’thay Chaliyay – Let’s go where everyone is blind

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.

***

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.

Below a modern rendition of these verses by the inimitable Meekal Hasan Band. They have been instrumental in reintroducing Sufi poetry among the youth of our country.

Tagged as: band, Bulleh, Bulleh Shah, caste, Islam, Kaafi, Meekal Hasan, Music, Muslim, poet, Poetry, Punjab, Punjabi, Religion, Shah, singer, sufi Continue reading

6Jan/101

Bulleh Shah’s admission

Bulleh-a aashiq hoyiyon Rabb da,
Hoai Malamat Lakh Tenon Kafir Kafir aakhdey,
toon aaho aaho aakh

(Bulleh Shah)

Bulleh lover of G-d, a million blames occur
Your title is apostate, answer yes, yes, so it is.
(translation by JH)

Tagged as: apostate, belief, Bulleh, kafir, mystic, poem, Poetry, Punjab, Punjabi, Shah, sufi, Sufism 1 Comment

9Sep/092

Raag Bhitai

Please play this fabulous rendition of Bhitai Raag at the dergha of Shah Abdul latif Bhitai in Sindh. I am completely in love with this piece.

Bhitai Raag, Sindh

Tagged as: Bhitai, Latif, Music, Pakistan, raag, raga, Shah, Sindh, sufi 2 Comments

6Sep/090

My dear friend Nabila has sent this poem that was posted on the Poetry Chaikhana website --It is well known but I loved this translation. At the end there are some comments that elucidate Bulleh's life and message. Please also see this piece of mine based on a longer paper that I authored last year.

Bulleh! to me, I am not known - By Bulleh Shah (1680 - 1758)

Not a believer inside the mosque, am I

Nor a pagan disciple of false rites

Not the pure amongst the impure

Neither Moses, nor the Pharaoh

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not in the holy Vedas, am I

Nor in opium, neither in wine

Not in the drunkard`s intoxicated craze

Niether awake, nor in a sleeping daze

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

In happiness nor in sorrow, am I

Neither clean, nor a filthy mire

Not from water, nor from earth

Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not an Arab, nor Lahori

Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri

Hindu, Turk, nor Peshawari

Nor do I live in Nadaun

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Secrets of religion, I have not known

From Adam and Eve, I am not born

I am not the name I assume

Tagged as: Bulla, Bulleh, India, mystic, Pakistan, poet, Poetry, Punjab, Punjabi, Shah, sufi Continue reading

6Jul/093

Bulleh Shah – on rejecting caste

A popular kafi of Bulleh Shah, sung by Abida Parveen "BULHE NU SAMJHAWAN AAINAN BHAINAN TE BHARJAIAN" earlier posted as " A stove is better than Bulleh" am posting its english translation thanks to Shahidain's invaluable contributions.

People discouraged Bulleh Shah from accepting Inayat Shah as his master and said " Bulleh you are a scholar and a descendent of of prophet Mohammad (pbuh). Does it seem right to you to go to an ordinary gardener of low caste and become his disciple? Is it not embarrassing?" But Bulleh showed great love and reverence for his master and did not pay any heed to this objection.

Tagged as: Bulleh, caste, Inayat, India, Islam, Love, master, Muslim, Poetry, Punjabi, Shah, sufi Continue reading

11May/0915

Sultana Begum, the great grand daughter-in law of last Mughal emperor

Jahane Rumi is grateful to Shivnath Jha for this contribution..

Stiching words together to restore glory to the lives lost in oblivion may not be an easy task.
But eminent journalist Shivnath Jha and wife Neena have successfully launched the 'Andolan Ek Pustak Se' movement in 2007 to help those who did the country proud in the past.

Tagged as: bahadur, Begum, descendenct, Emperor, History, Mughal, Shah, Sultana, Zafar Continue reading

10Apr/097

On Krishna and Ranjha – the syncretic Punjab

I am posting an article by Manzur Ejaz that was published by The Friday Times. This is a great piece:

Fascination with the naughty butter-thief Krishna in the Punjab remained the undercurrent of the cultural milieu for so long that Waris Shah’s Ranjha appears to be a reincarnation of Krishna in many aspects. Khawaja Ghulam Farid, the great Sufi poet, also considered Krishna a sacred prophet of the Hindus like all other prophets. But the question is how did the dark skinned Lord come to dominate the land of the fair Aryans who believed that a dark man ‘seen seated in the market-place [is] like a heap of black beans.’

Tagged as: caste, God, Greek, Hecules, Heer, History, India, Krishna, Pakistan, Punjab, Ranjha, Shah, spititualism, Vedic, Waris Continue reading

29Mar/090

Shah Hussain, Madhu Lal and the festival of lights

Lahore is celebrating Mela Chiraghan - the death anniversary of the elusive saint Shah Hussain who is also known as Madhu Lal Shah for his life long association with a Hindu disciple called Madhu Lal. Each year in spring the festival of lights is attended by thousands of people.

Lighting of lamps is a metaphor for killing the inner darkness that we live with. By invoking spiritual light through love and self-knowledge, we can overcome ourselves and attain the mystical state of union with the beloved.

Madhu Lal's syncretic shrine represents the long-gone era of spirituality rising above religious identities and rituals. Here is a kaafi poem with translation on this blog. A few lines :

They alone know what is love and longing,
Who have it in their lives.
Like digging a well in dry land,
With no cart to carry away the sand.

Tagged as: 'Madhoo Lal', 'Shah Hussain', Baghbanpura, Chiraghan, Hussain, Lahore, Lahori, Lal, lamps, lights, Madhoo, Madhu, mazaar, Mela, Pakistan, Shah, shrine, sufi Continue reading

5Feb/092

Imagined homeland

It irks me when I hear simplistic platitudes on Pakistani society, state or people. The heterogeneity of Pakistan is by itself an anthropologist's dream, a planners' headache and a sociologist's challenge. Despite the sixty-one years of drumming the uniform nationalism mantra, Pakistan's regions and their peoples refuse to toe the line sponsored by the official textbook masters. This is why one minute there is a delightful speech on being a Pakistani and the other minute caste, tribe or ethnicity raise their discrete heads and the linear formulae dissolve into thin air.

Recently I was in Karachi and discovered that the drawing room chattering there was vastly different from that of Lahore's. The immediate urban crises of the Sindhi capital overshadow discussions that the Punjabi heartland loves to indulge in. The war mongering that has been a recent pastime on TV channels and in influential quarters of Lahore, is looked at with suspicion and, dare I say, contempt by many Karachi wallahs. It was refreshing to be reminded that, much in line with South Asian history, Pakistan is a diverse, multifarious place. That this country cannot be boxed easily and therefore appointed labels dissipate easily.

Tagged as: ajrak, Benazir, Bhitai, bhitshah, Bhutto, Hyderabad, icon, Karachi, Lateef, mystic, Pakistan, Sehwan, Shah, Sharif, Sindh, sufi, Sufism Continue reading

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.

------------------------------

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.

Tagged as: Bulleh, Bulleh Shah, Hindu, infidel, Muslim, Mussalman, poet, Poetry, Punjab, Punjabi, Shah, Shia, sufi, Sunni Continue reading

17Jan/089

Shah Ast Hussain

Khawaja Ghareeb Nawaz's immortal verses on the status of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS)
Shah ast Hussain, Badshah ast Hussain
Deen ast Hussain, Deen Panah ast Hussain
Sardad na dad dast, dar dast-e-yazeed,
Haqaa key binaey La ila ast HussainAnd a rough translation -

Ruler is Hussain, Emperor is Hussain,
Faith is Hussain , guardian of faith is Hussain .
Offered his head and not the hand to Yazid.
Indeed, Hussain is the foundation of La-ilah

Tagged as: Ajmer, Ast, Chishty, Data, Hussain, India, Khwaja, Lahore, Muinuddin, Saheb, Saint, Shah, Shah-ast-Hussain, sufi, Sufism Continue reading

20Jun/073

Enough of learning, my friend! – Bulleh Shah

Enough of learning, my friend!

Enough of learning, my friend!

To it there is never an end

An alphabet should do for you,

It's enough to help you fend.

You've amassed much learning around,

The Quran and its commentaries profound.

There is darkness amidst lighted ground.

Without the guide you remain unsound.

Learning makes you a Sheikh or his minion,

And thus you create problems trillion.

You exploit others who know not what,

Misleading them with wild opinion.

You meditate and you say your prayers

You go and shout at the top of the stairs.

Your cry reaching the high skies,

Its your avarice which ever belies.

The day I learnt love's lesson,

I plunged into the river of divine passion;

An overwhelming gale, I was confounded and lost

When Shah Inayat cruised me across.

Source: here

Abida Parveen sings Bulleh Shah’s teray ishq nachaya..

As I recited Bulleh Shah's poetry this evening, a friend sent a link to another video of Abida Parveen singing Bulleh's mystic poetry in her inimitable style. Lo and behold, I also found an online translation of the verse:

Here is a translation of the verse rendered in this video:

O Physician, come back! my life is ebbing away.
Compelled by love, I dance, I dance.

This love has set up camp inside me.
It is I, who filled the cup with this poison and drank it.
Come back right away, else, I will surely die.
Compelled by love, I dance, I dance.

The sun has set, its glow remains.
Grant me a sight of you again! I would die for it!
What a mistake I made, not going with you.
Compelled by love I dance, I dance.

Mother do not bar me from this love.
Whoever turns back unloaded boats that have left?
How foolish I was, not going with the boatman.
Compelled by love I dance, I dance.

Peacocks sing in the groves of love.
My beautiful beloved is my Ka'ba, my Qibla.
He injured me, then turned away.
Compelled by love I dance, I dance.

Bullhe Shah, I sit at Inayat's door,
He clothed me in robes of green and red.
When I stamped my heel, I found him.
Compelled by love I dance, I dance.

(and now the video).

Here is the source of translation

For another version of Punjabi and English, please click here.

Tagged as: Abida, Abida Parveen, Bulleh, Bulleh Shah, dance, Inayat, Kaafi, Love, Pakistan, Parveen, Punjab, Punjabi, Shah, singing, South Asia, sufi, teray ishq nachaya, video 6 Comments

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West Bengal in turmoil – end of an era? - 2 emails
Imam Hussain: The Beloved of the Beloved - 1 email
Shah Ast Hussain - 1 email
Holi has a Muslim History too - 1 email
On Bhagat Singh, his vision and Jinnah’s support for his struggle - 1 email
Voices of the oppressed – Dalit literature - 1 email

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

Chal Way Bullehya Chal O’thay Chaliyay – Let’s go where everyone is blind

Bulleh Shah’s admission

Raag Bhitai

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Bulleh Shah – on rejecting caste

Sultana Begum, the great grand daughter-in law of last Mughal emperor

On Krishna and Ranjha – the syncretic Punjab

Shah Hussain, Madhu Lal and the festival of lights

Imagined homeland

A few poems by Bulleh Shah

Shah Ast Hussain

Enough of learning, my friend! – Bulleh Shah

Abida Parveen sings Bulleh Shah’s teray ishq nachaya..

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