Urs of Bulleh Shah

https://i0.wp.com/www.pakistanlink.com/images/URS.jpgThe annual Urs of Bulleh Shah, the Punjabi mystic poet, concluded yesterday in Kasur yesterday. 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.

 

 

Adil Najam’s post on Bulleh Shahhas a great selection of links to audio recordings of Bulleh’s poetry and also some of his beautiful verse. I love this one

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]

Here are a few more translations that I found here.
 

Being cleansed, I am withdrawing
From my head, feet and hands
I even got rid of my eyes
I have attained my goal
It has ended so well.

O Bulleha! Lord prevails everywhere
Now none appears a stranger to me.
 
Quazi and mullah stray away
And paddle their religion
like hawkers
They are like bird trappers
Of this world
And throw away their nets
Everywhere to catch innocents.

Source of translations please click [here]

I will conclude with these immortal lines:

jay rabb milda naataiN dhotaiN
tay rabb milda daddouaN maachiaN nou
jay rabb milda jungul phiraiN
atay rabb milda gaayaN wachiaN nou
way Bullayaa, rabb unnaaN nou milda
attay dilaiyan sachiyaN aachiyaN nou

A literal and evidently inadequate translation by me:

If God was found by bathing and cleansing

He would have been found by frogs and fish

If God was found by wandering in the jungles

Stray animals would have found him

O Bulleh, the Lord can only be found 

By loving hearts – true and pure..

Published on September 2, 2006 at 2:29 pm  Comments (8)  

The URI to TrackBack this entry is: https://razarumi.wordpress.com/about/urs-of-bulleh-shah-3/trackback/

RSS feed for comments on this post.

8 CommentsLeave a comment

  1. On September 15, 2006 at 6:00 am Samar said:

    Thankz for sharing such lovely verse.

    ps/have u listened to abida parveen rendition of bulle shah.its amazing!!!!!!!11

    Reply
  2. On March 13, 2007 at 4:17 pm shahid said:

    In which Bulleh shah bpook can i find these verses?

    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]

    Thanks

    Shahid

    Reply
  3. On April 6, 2007 at 9:33 am JAS' said:

    THANK U FOR ALL SUCH LOVELY VERSES AND I WANT MORE PLEASE IN PUNJABI AS U WRITTEN ABOVE LIKE “paRh paRh ilm hazaar kitaabaN” I AM SURE U READ ABOUT “RANJHA RANJHA KARDI NI MAI” WILL U WRITE FULL LINES OF HIS SUFI POEM

    THANK YOU

    Reply
  4. On September 4, 2007 at 8:08 pm shahidain said:

    Visiting this site after a long time due to my commitments. Hope that you can still get benefit out of it. Delay is regretted.

    “RaaNjha RaaNjha Kardi Ni MaeN”

    RaaNjha raaNjha kardi ni maeN
    Aape raaNjha hoi,
    Sado ni menu dhido raaNjha,
    Heer na aakho koi.

    RaaNjha maeN vich maeN raaNjhe vich,
    Hor khayaal na koi,
    MaeN naheeN, o aap hai
    Aapani aap kare dil joi.

    RaaNjha raaNjha kardi ni maeN
    Aape raaNjha hoi,
    Sado ni menu dhido raaNjha,
    Heer na aakho koi.

    Jo koee saaday aNder wassey
    zaat asaaDee ohee
    jis dey naal meyN niyooNh lagaayaa
    oh jehee hoee

    RaaNjha raaNjha kardi ni maeN
    Aape raaNjha hoi,
    Sado ni menu dhido raaNjha,
    Heer na aakho koi.

    Hath khunDi, mere ahge maNgu,
    MoDHe bhoora loe,
    Bulha heer saleTi vekho
    Kithe ja khaloi.

    RaaNjha raaNjha kardi ni maeN
    Aape raaNjha hoi,
    Sado ni menu dhido raaNjha,
    Heer na aakho koi.

    Repeating his name, I have become RaaNjha .
    Call me Ranjha , not Heer .

    Ranjha is in me and I in Ranjha .
    No other thought exists.
    It is he who has done this, not I.
    He does it to amuse himself.

    Repeating his name, I have become RaaNjha .
    Call me Ranjha , not Heer .

    Whoever dwells in me, He is my caste
    Whoever I love, I have become exactly like Him

    Repeating his name, I have become RaaNjha .
    Call me Ranjha , not Heer .

    Staff in hand, bowl outstretched,
    A coarse brown blanket on his shoulder.
    Look, says Bulha ,
    Where Heer stands!

    Repeating his name, I have become RaaNjha .
    Call me Ranjha , not Heer .

    Reply
  5. On September 4, 2007 at 8:15 pm shahidain said:

    RaaNjha raaNjha kardi ni maeN

    (Translation by Prof Saeed Ahmad and Suman)

    Reply
  6. On May 24, 2010 at 5:33 am sakshi g said:

    thank you for bringing these beautiful verses to us. Looking forward to learning and enjoying more.

    Reply
  7. On July 18, 2010 at 4:34 pm Ravi Chander said:

    Bulleh Shah is my favorite Sufi poet. I wrote about his some time back and included his poem sung by Rabbi Shergill. Particularly relevant to the Indo-Pak differences. Listen to it –

    http://en.wordpress.com/tag/bulleh-shah/

    Reply
  8. On July 19, 2010 at 12:03 am Ravi Chander said:

    Sorry, I made a mistake earlier. The correct link is http://datafine.com/2008/12/23/i-know-not-who-i-am/

    Thanks..Ravi.

    Reply

Leave a comment