The
Sufi cult is akin to mysticism. It is believed in some quarters that
it was born out of interaction between Semitic Islam and Aryan
Vedantism on the soil of India. This is not the whole truth. Sufism
took birth in Arabia in the ninth century. However, the Aryan
perceptions in Iran and then in India influenced it a great deal, more
particularly in accentuating the emotional content as against the
dry-as-dust self-denial of the Arabs. The Arabs laid stress on
asceticism and disciplining of the body, while the later Sufis in Iran
and India, under the influence of Greek philosophy, Platonic ideology,
Christian faith, Vedantist thinking, Buddhist lore, etcetera believed
in leading an emotionally ~rich life.
They drank and danced and advocated that physical love could sublimate
itself into spiritual love. They had faith in God: they loved the
Prophet but they maintained that the Murshid or Guru could also lead to
realization of the Divine Reality.
Literally speaking, a Sufi is one who is pure or one who goes about with
a woollenblanket. In Greek, he is a Sufi who is enlightened. The
cardinal features of the Suficult are:(a) God exists in all and all
exist in God.(b) Religion is only a way of life; it does. Not
necessarily lead to Nirvana.(c) All happenings take place as per the
will of God; nothing happens if He does notordain it,(d) The soul is
distinct from the physical body and will merge into Divine
Realityaccording to a person's deeds,(e) It is the Guru whose grace
shows the way and leads to union with God,The Sufis believe that there
are four stages in one's journey to realization:(a) Leading a
disciplined life as prescribed in Islam (Shariat),(b) Following the path
delineated by the Murshid or Guru (Tariqat),(c) Gaining enlightenment
(Haqiqat),(d) On realization of truth, getting merged into Divine
Reality (Marfat). The practitioners of the Sufi cult came 10 India
following the Muslim conquerors, more with a view to propagating Islam,
There came to be established several centersat Lahore, Pakpattan,
Kasur, Multan and Uch in the Punjab, 'However, the most popular sects
among them were those which combined in them the best of every faithand
promoted it amongst the people, Bulleh Shah, the noted Sufi poet,
belongs to this group. The Sufis loved God as one would love one's
sweetheart. God for a Sufi is the husband and humankind his wife, Man
must serve, love, undergo asceticism, gainenlightenment and then get
merged in God, The Indian Sufis laid stress on repeating the Name
(Japu), concentration (Dhyan) and meditation (Habs-1~dam), A Sufi
musteschew sin, repent, live a simple and contented life and should look
for the grace of the Murshid or Guru. The Sufis maintain that the soul
has been separated from the Divine Reality and the supreme mission of
human life is to achieve union with God. Like the Iranian Sufis who
sang the praises of Yusaf Zulaikha, laila Majnun and Shirin Farhad, the
Sufis in the Punjab idealised the romances of Heer Ranjha, Sohni
Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun. Preoccupied with the metaphysical, they
restored the use of symbols drawn from everyday life around them like
the spinning-wheel, boat, dowry, etc. As poets, they employed kafi,
baramah, athwara, siharfi, doha, baint and deodh as their favourite
poetic forms. Their language is simple and conversational, light and
lyrical. There is no denying that they made an indelible impression °on
the life and thought of the people of the Punjab. More important among
the Sufi poets who wrote in Punjabi were Shah Husain (1538- 1599),
Sultan Bahu (1629-1691), and Shah Sharaf (1640-1724). They were
preceded by Farid in the 12th century and followed by Bulleh Shah
(1680-1757), Ali Hyder (1690-1785), Hashim Shah (1735-1843) and others
in the 17th and 18th centuries. More important among the Sufi saints
who influenced life in the Punjab were: Data Ganj Baksh, Sheikh Farid
Shakarganj, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Moinuddin Chishti, Nizamuddin
Auliya, Mian Meer and Sarmad.Though he is said to have been born in
1680 A.D., not much is known about Bulleh Shah's personal life. The
little that has been culled from the works attributed to him and the
contemporary records testify that he was born in a village called Uch
Gilania in Bahawalpur. Later his father Sain Mohammad Oarvesh moved
first to a village known as Malakwal and then to Pandoke near Kausur,
not far from Lahore. Bulleh Shah was only six years old at that time.
Here he was put under the tutelage of Ghulam Murtza who was the Imam of
one of the mosques in Kasur. There being no regular schools, the
practice obtaining in the town was that the mosque served as
anelementary school and the Imam of the mosque was entrusted with the
task of teaching children. Ghulam Murtza was a sort of poet who, it is
said, had translated Gulistan from the Persian. When Bulleh came of
age, he became a Murid of Inayat Shah Qadri of Lahore. This was greatly
resented by his people who were Syeds, whileBulleh Shah's Murshid was a
low-caste Araeen, Syeds draw their lineage from Prophet Mohammad.
There is evidence of this unpleasantness in Bulleh's verse. The ardent
devotee in him says:
Those who call me SyedAre destined to hell made for them.Those who call me AraeenHave the swings of heaven laid for them.
Nevertheless, according to A.N. Walker, Bulleh Shah's sister had to pay
the price for it; she remained unmarried. In 1729 when Shah Inayat
died, Bulleh Shah succeeded him as' the master of ceremonies in the
monastery at Lahore. According to the epitaph on his tomb, Bulleh Shah
died in 1757. He never married. A semi-literate Punjabi peasant, Bulleh
Shah's search for truth led him on to the spiritual path. And it is
when he started enjoying the beauty of truth that his emotional
exuberance drove him to Sufism : singing, dancing and finding
expression in verse. However, neither did he care to prepare a Divan
nor did he or anyone else ever record the story of his life. His poetry
has traveled to us from mouth to mouth mainly through Qawwals.
Similarly, his life has come to us in the form of anecdotes, some of
which are reflected in his verse. Maybe it was due to the fact that the
Punjab was greatly disturbed between 1710-1750. If there were any MSS,
they must have been lost. It was only in 1882 that one Malik Hira
collected his compositions and brought them out from Lahore for the
first time. His first meeting with his Murshid Inayat Shah is said to
have been meaningfully dramatic. It is said that when Bulleh approached
his spiritual master, Inayat Shah was engaged in transplanting onion
seedlings in his orchard. Finding that Bulleh Shah wished to be
initiated into the fold of divine seekers, Inayat Shah remarked, 'It's
not difficult; it is like uprooting here and planting it there. This
clinched the issue. Bulleh Shah became a disciple of Inayat Shah. It is
said that soon after Bulleh Shah annoyed his Master due to some
indiscretion and he was thrown out of the Daira. Several months passed;
Bulleh begged forgiveness, repented, had other devotees speak to
Inayat Shah who would not relent. Suffering the pangs of separation,
Bulleh sang soulful Kafis:
Leaving my parents, I am tied to youOh Shah Inayat! My beloved
GuruWhatever happens is ordained by him.His mandate none dare alter.My
pangs of agony cry aloudSomeone should go and tell my MasterFor whom I
pine.
As time passed, he went sort of crazy and in a fit of frenzy he
disguised himself as adancing girl and barged into his Master's Daira
singing and dancing:
Your love has made me dance allover.Falling in love with youWas supping a
cup of poison.Come, my healer, it's my final hour.Your love has made
me dance all over.
Discovering that it was none other than Bulleh, singing and dancing in
abandon, Inayat Shah relented and took him back in his fold. During the
period of his estrangement with his Master, Bulleh Shah used to roam
about in the streets of Lahore in a deranged state of mind. In the prime
of his youth, with curly tresses flowing on his shoulders, he was the
cynosure of many an eye. It is said, once passing through a street he
saw a middle aged woman doing the hairdo of a newly-wedded bride. Bulleh
Shah liked the hairdo and the next time he happened to pass that way,
he asked the lady to do a similar hairdo for him. Who would not oblige a
charming youth like Bulleh? It is said that when her husband came to
know of it, he gave a severe beating to his wife. As the husband was
giving vent to his jealous anger, there was a knock on the door. Opening
the door they found it was no other than Bulleh Shah asking the lady
to undo his hairdo! 'My husband wouldn't allow it, he beats me,' said
Bulleh and put the woman's husband to shame. Similarly, when Aurangzeb
banned singing and dancing as an un-Islamic practice, Bulleh Shah's
Master, Inayat Shah, is said to have advised him to go from village to
village in the Punjab singing and dancing and thus defy the imperial
injunction which Bulleh did with impunity. Bulleh Shah's times were
out-of-joint. The Punjab was particularly disturbed. Before he died in
1707, Aurangzeb was preoccupied in the South, leaving the North to be
administered by Governors who had to contend with Marathas and the
Khalsa emerging as a formidable force under Guru Gobind Singh. Then
there were incursions from the northwest -whether by Nadir Shah or Ahmed
Shah Abdali. There were also fundamentalists like Sheikh Ahmed
Sarhandi who infused much communal hatred and disharmony inconsistent
with the Sufi way of life and ideology which laid emphasis on the unity
of God, amity and communal cohesiveness. They had little use for
formal religion whether it was Islam or Hinduism. They sneered at
meaningless rituals and ceremonials and propagated liberation of man
from the stranglehold of blind faith. When Guru Gobind Singh, a great
revolutionary of his time, created the Khalsa by baptising the Sikhs of
Guru Nanak with Amrit at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, Bulleh Shah had just
come of age. He was 19 years old. Guru Gobind Singh, a mystic in his
own' right, launched a relentless fight against the time-worn rituals
and ceremonials of the Hindu Rajas entrenched in the Himalayan belt on
the one hand and the bigotedness and unjust rule of the Mughals on the
other. With the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 A.D. the Punjab was plunged
into turmoil. The confusion was worst confounded with the attacks of
Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali, more particularly between 1740 and
1750 A.D. Thus until his death in 1757 Bulleh Shah had to witness
disintegration allover the Punjab. He bemoans it again and again:
The Mughals quaff the cup of poison.Those with coarse blankets are
up.The genteel watch it all in quiet,They have a humble pie to sup.The
tide of the times is in spate.The Punjab is in a fearsome state.We have
to share the hell of a fate.
What seems to have irked Bulleh Shah, and for that matter his
contemporary mysticsthe most, was the widening gulf between the Hindus
and the Muslims of the day. Theroot cause of the misunderstanding was
Sheikh Ahmed of Sarhand who believed: "The glory of Islam wlies in
ridiculing the non-Muslims. Those who give quarter to Kafirs disgrace
Islam... The non-Muslims should be kept at a distance like dogs. They
must not be given any consideration or humane treatment. Violence and
inhuman behaviour with them are like saying one's prayers. Inflicting
Jazia on them is to humiliate them. This leads them not to wear
respectable clothes, do themselves up or make any purchases of luxury
goods." Maktoobat-i-lmam Rabbani The reference to those 'with coarse
blankets' in Bulleh Shah's verse is to the Sikhs. They being an upcoming
community were a thorn in the flesh of the Muslim fundamentalists like
Aurangzeb who would not tolerate even the Shia Muslims. He had his,
own brother Dara Shikoh who was a Shia murdered mercilessly. The same
fate was meted out to Sarmad who was a noted mystic of his time. In his
singleminded pursuit of Islamization, Aurangzeb had Guru Tegh Bahadur,
the ninth Sikh Guru, executed publicly in Delhi. Aurangzeb was
followed by Bahadur Shah who tried to make friends with the Sikhs.
cultivated Guru Gobind Singh as his ally, but essentially a weak ruler,
the newly forged friendship was short-lived. He was followed on the
Delhi throne by Jahandar Shah (1712-1713), Farrukh Sayyar (1713-1719),
Mohammad Shah (1719-1748) and Ahmed Shah (1748-1754). They were all
staunch Sunnis. The Governors appointed to take charge of the Punjab
affairs by them were no Gless narrow-minded and communal Sunnis. They
were: Munim Khan (1707 1713), Abdul Samad Khan (1713-1726), Zakria Khan
(1726-1745), Yahiya Khan (1745-1747), Shah Niwaz (1747-1748), Mir
Moinuddin (1748-1753) and Murad Begum (1753-1754). The Hindus who did
not play their tune and the Sikhs in general were persecuted as never
before in the annals of Indian history. In 1732 A.D. Haqiqat Rai, a
young boy, was executed because it was believed that he had abused Bibi
Fatima when provoked by his Muslim class-fellow with a swearword for a
Hindu goddess. Farrukh Sayyar's regime saw Banda Bahadur subjected to
inhuman tortur before he was beheaded in Delhi. During this period
every Sikh head, alive or dead, had a price fixed on it. Similarly,
Zakariya Khan had Bhai Mani Singh done to death by slicing his limbs,
one after the other. In 1745 Bhai Taru Singh's skull was dismantled and
he was put to death. Then during the tenure of Abdul Samad and his son
Yahiya Khan an attempt was made to wipe out the Sikhs as a community
altogether. They were either put to the sword or driven to the bushes
in the countryside. It is said that, in what has come to be known as
Chhota Ghalughara, about 7,000 Sikhs were rounded up in Kahnuwan forest
and killed,. while 3,000 were captured. Those captured were later
slain in Lahore and their heads arranged to form a pyramid. Another
genocide of the Sikhs took place on 5th February, 1762, when Ahmed Shah
Durrani massacred 22,000 Sikhs in a village called Koop Heera. This
came to be known as Wada Ghalooghara. Both the times Harimandir Sahib
(The Golden Temple) at Amritsar was destroyed and the Holy Tank
defiled. The most unfortunate ignominy suffered by the Punjab during
this period was the repeated incursions of Nadir Shah, starting in 1739
and those of Ahmed Shah Abdali, whose first attack took place in 1747.
These were both a challenge and an opportunity for the Sikhs. Hounded
out of their hearths and homes, they lived virtually on horseback.
Organizing themselves into guerrilla squads, they would attack the
retreating Afghan forces w1th loot and relieved them of their booty and
rescued thousands of Hindu girls accompanying them as slaves. In due
course of time, they evolved themselves into Misals who wielded
considerable influence in the Punjab. And from them emerged a hero
known as Maharaja Ranjit Singh who was the first Punjabi to rule over
the Punjab in the annals of Indian history. Such were the times when
Bulleh Shah emerged as a protagonist of communal amity in the Punjab.
Living in Kasur with his Murshid in Lahore, he could not but be
embroiled in the political changes taking place around him despite the
fact that the Sufis tried as far as possible to steer clear of the
contemporary happenings. Bulleh Shah's was a major voice against
injustice. He called Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Ninth Sikh Guru, who was
beheaded by Aurangzeb, a Ghazi. He hailed Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth
Sikh Guru, as a protector of Hinduism:
I talk about neither yesterday nor tomorrow;I talk about today.Had
Gobind Singh not been there,They would all be under Islamic sway.
I am emancipated, emancipated I am,I am no prisoner of being born a
Syed,All the fourteen heavens are my territory,I am slave to none.Only
they shout loud while calling others to prayerWhose hearts are not pure
.Those who go to Mecca on pilgrimageHave little else to occupy them
here.
It needed a great deal of courage for a Muslim to say all this during
the times Bulleh Shah lived in. The record of the persecution of the
Sufis in India is fairly alarming despite the fact that their
contribution to Islam and to Indian society for promoting amity amongst
the various communities is no mean. Jalaluddin Khilji had Saidi Maula,
an eminent Sufi of his time, crushed under the feet of an elephant.
Similarly, Alauddin Khilji had almost got Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya
beheaded but for a miraculous escape. It is said that Mohammad Bin
Tughlaq had Sheikh Shahabuddin Bin Ahmad murdered with his mouth filled
with dung. A similar fate was meted out to Nasiruddin Chiragh Oehlvi
who was tortured with holes bored in his cheeks. Firoz Shah had Ahmed
Bihari executed since Bihari's disciples addressed him as God. Jehangir
had Guru Arjan, a friend of Mian Mir, tortured to death. Aurangzeb had
Guru Tegh Bahadur beheaded. It was, therefore, highly bold of Bulleh
Shah to have challenged the mindset of the bigoted Muslims of his time:
The Mullas and Qazis show me the lightLeading to the maze of superstition.
Wicked are the ways of the worldLike laying nets for innocent birdsWith
religious and social taboosThey have tied my feet tight.Be that as it
may, Bulleh Shan maintained:Shariat is my midwife, Tariqat. is my
motherThis is how I have arrived at the truth of Haqiqat.Despite this,
when he was denounced as a heretic, Bulleh Shah shouted back:A lover of
God?They'll make much fuss;They'll call you a KafirYou should say -yes,
yes.He does not differentiate between the Hindu and the Muslim. He
sees God in both ofthem. When he decides to ridicule them, he does not
spare either:Lumpens live in the Hindu templesAnd sharks in the Sikh
shrines.Musclemen live in the Muslim mosquesAnd lovers live in their
clime.
Sick of the sophistications of the academicians, he would rather be
happy in thecompany of the uneducated. He preferred simple folk with
faith to the so called The Sufis of the Punjab were close to the saints
of the Bhakti Movement. Bothdenounced fundamentalism. While the Sufis
laid emphasis on love, the saintsemphasized devotion. Some of the
spiritual stages of the Sufis have parallels in thesaints of the Bhakti
Movement :'Aboodiat' of the Sufis is the 'Seva Bhav' of the saints,
meaning selfless service.'Similarly, 'Zuhd' is 'Tapassiya', meaning
asceticism, 'Tassawar' is 'Dhyan', meaningmeditation, 'Habs-i-dam' is
'Pranayam', meaning Yoga breathing exercise, 'Zikr' is'Simran'. meaning
repetition of Name, 'Wisal' is 'Milap',meaning union and 'Fanah' is
'Abhedata', meaning merger with the Divine.There were three main cults
of Sufism prevalent in India: Qadri, Suhrawardi andChishti. Bulleh Shah
belonged to the Qadri denomination. The main features of theQadri cult
were:(a)Developing the spiritual potential byexercising discipline and
self-denial.(b) Discarding rituals and ceremonials of anyfaith, of any
type.(c) Disregard for Shariat as such.(d) Man can gain realization of
the Divine Realitythrough the intervention of his Murshid orGuru.Bulleh
Shah has delineated his spiritual journey of a Sufi through various
stages as He started his spiritual journey as a conformist. Most of the
seekers do so.Shariat is the preliminary stage when the Salik conforms
to the Sharia or the code ofconduct as dictated by Islam. It is saying
prayers five times a day, observing fastsduring the month of Ramzan.
besides faith in the supremacy of God and ProphetMohammad as His
Messenger. It is said that Bulleh' Shah knew the text of the HOLYQURAN
by heart. The way he quotes the Islamic scriptures in his verse
speaksvolumes for it. Says Bulleh Shah:Understand the One and forget the
rest,Shake off your ways of a non-believerLeading to the grave and to
hell, in quest.Tariqat: If Bulleh Shah's verse is any guide, he did not
take long to leave Shariat as aspiritual path behind, At best. he
employed it as a stepping-stone. He moved on toTariqat. which is an
important landmark in a Salik's career. The cardinal feature ofthis
stage is the assistance provided by the~ Murshid or Guru. In fact, what
Shariadoes in the life of a common devotee, Tarriqat does in the case
of a Sufi. The literalmeaning of Tariqat is manner or observance.
Tariqat according to Bulleh Shah is thePurslat of Baba Farid, the
bridge which helps the seeker pass the arduous path ofhard spiritual
exercises with the help of the Murshid. The Guru or Murshid is like
thephilosopher's stone which converts metal into gold. Good deeds are
the dowry thatthe bride collects at this stage and then qualifies for
union with the lord. In the firstinstance, Bulleh Shah discards the
rituals and the ceremonials prescribed by theShariat:Burn the prayer
mat, break the water pot,Quit the rosary and care not for the staff.
Having done that. he -"I surrenders to the Murshid who is going to hold
h1s handand cruise him to his destination. Bulleh's love for his Guru
is like that of Heer forRanjha or Sohni for Mahiwal. It is physical
love sublimated into spiritual love:Why must I go to KaabaWhen I long
for Takht Hazara?People pay their homage to KaabaI bow before my
Ranjha.Haqiqat: The third stage of his spiritual journey to which Bulleh
Shah refers time andagain in his verse is Haqiqat or the realization
of truth. The devotee understands andaccepts the existence of God. God
is truth. God exists in everything around us. Thisconcept has been
described in the Sufi idiom as Hamaost. When the Salik comes torealize
it. he no longer discriminates between the Hindu and the Muslim. the
templeand the mosque. He hears the call of the Muezzin in the
flute-strains of an idolworshipper:Pour not on prayers, forget the
fasts.Wipe off Kalma from the sight.Bulleh has found his lover
within,Others grope in the pitch-dark night.What a spark of knowledge is
kindled ~I find that I am neither Hindu nor Turk.I am a lover by
creed;A lover is victorious even when swindled.At this stage Bulleh Shah
has little use for books and learning:The rest is all but idle talk,
What counts is the name of Allah, it looks.Some confusion is created by
the learned,And the remaining g1ess is entailed in books.Marfat: This
is the last stage of the spiritual evolution of a Sufi. It is the
merging intoDivine Reality called Fana and thus attaining the life
eternal known in the Sufi idiomas Baqa. The Murshid helps the seeker
arrive at this stage but it is the grace whichmakes possible the
ultimate union. The moment this happens, caste and creed ceaseto have
any meaning. The Atma (Soul) and Paramatma (God) become one. WhenBulleh
attained this stage, the entire world appeared to him as a reflection
of theDivine Reality, Bulleh has merged in God:Remembering Ranjha day
and night,I've become Ranjha myself.Call me Dhido Ranjha,No more I be
addressed as Heer.I abuse Ranjha but adore him in my heart.Ranjha and
Heer are a single soul,No one could ever set them apart.Be that as it
may, Bulleh Shah's Sufism is Quranic Sufism. At least to start
with.When he breaks this code, he hardly ever goes beyond the limits
laid down by histribe earlier. However later in due course, he is
influenced by the Saint traditionprevalent in the Punjab during his
times. Like a practicing Yogi, he advocates Habs-idamor Pranayam which
leads to union with God: .Heer and Ranjha have already met,In vain she
looks for him in the orchard;Ranjha rests in the knots of her net.
Similarly, he refers to the ten Dwars of the yogis:It is for you that I
am imbued with greed.Closing the nine Dwars, I went to sleep.I come to
the tenth and ask your leave.My love for you is ever so deep.The place
Bulleh Shah gives to his Murshid in his spiritual evolution reminds one
ofthe importance of the Guru in the Sikh faith as obtaining in the
tradition of theBhakti Movement :Leaving my parents I am tied to you,O
Shah Inayat, my beloved Guru!Keep the promises made,Do come to me.The
immortality of the soul is indicated thus:I was in the beginning, I'd be
in the end,Who could be wiser than me?In the tradition of the saints
of the Bhakti Movement, Bulleh Shah styles himself asthe bride. God is
the bridegroom :How many knots should I tie for my wedding?My learned
friend, advise!The marriage party must come on the prescribed date,Will
forty knots be wise?
Unlike the general trend of the Sufi poets, Bulleh Shah is humble. He
finds faults inhimself. He has faith in his Master's mercy. It is the
grace of Godwhich will eventually cruise him across :I'm a poor
scavenger of the court of the True Master.Bare-foot, unkempt hair, I
have been summoned from beyond.In order to kill one's ego and cultivate
control over all temptations, unlike hiscontemporaries, Bulleh Shah
does not prescribe Zuhd and torturing the body tosubmission. on the
other hand, like the Saints of the Bhakti Movement, he believes inlove
and devotion. At the most, he is seen suffering the pangs of separation
and nomore:In my passion of union with him,I've lost all count of
form;I laid my bed in the public parkAnd went to sleep in my lover's
arms.I am broken, I am bent,Tell him how I am pining for him;My
disheveled hair, with the tying band in my hand,Feel not embarrassed,
do go and tell him oh messenger!Bulleh Shah goes a step further. He
seems even to have been influenced by what isknown as the Bhagwat
tradition. He is enamored of Krishna's flute. The flute notesseem to
have a peculiar pull for him :Bulleh Shah was captivated
An interesting incident of this period in the life of Bulleh Shah
presents a graphic picture of his ecstasy, generosity and fearlessness
of public opinion. It is said that as a result of disgust from people's
attitude, Bulleh Shah purchased a few donkeys so that people should
ridicule him. They started calling him "The man with donkeys." During
those days, a poor man's wife was abducted by a Muslim Chieftain. In
despair, the husband went to Bulleh Shah, and asked for his help in
recovering his beloved wife. After a few moments spent in thought,
Bulleh Shah told the man, "Go and see, my friend, if there is any music
or dance going on somewhere near about." The man soon came back and
reported that a group of eunuchs was dancing in the village nearby,
accompanied by a band of musicians. "That is good, " said Bulleh Shah.
"Come now and sit on one of my donkeys, and we shall both go to watch
the dance. " As soon as the saint arrived at the dance, he joined the
group and also started dancing. He got into an ecstasy and asked the
man, "Where does the Muslim Chieftain live ?" The man told him that he
lived in a certain part of the city near the orchard of dates and the
grove of mangoes. Then Bulleh Shah called out with directed attention :
There is a mango grove, it is said,and an orchard of dates.The owner of donkeys calls you,
Wake up, if you are asleep.Sorrel is thus hulled in the mortar,Sorrel is thus hulled, my friend!
The moment he uttered these words, the abducted woman ran out from the
nearby garden and came to Bulleh Shah. Bulleh Shah stopped dancing and
called to the husband, "Here is your beloved wife, brother! Take her
home and guard her well." Then once more wrapped in ecstasy, he
continued to dance to the bewitching music. The gossips lost no time in
going to Bulleh Shah's father, an orthodox Muslim, and told him all
that had happened. Not only was his son now hiring out donkeys, but he
had also started to dance with the eunuchs. Greatly distressed and
enraged, the saint's father, with a rosary in one hand and a staff in
the other, hastened to the place where his son was dancing. " Ah! it is
you, father" said Bulleh Shah as he heard his name called. He looked
at his father intently and began to sing :
People have only chaplets but my father has a rosary.The whole of his
life he has toiled hard,But has not been able to uproot a single
hair.Sorrel is thus hulled in the mortar .Sorrel is thus hulled, my
friend !
As the son, filled with spiritual ardor, gazed at his father, the inner
eye of the father was opened and he had a divine vision. With a serene
and radiant smile on his face, .he joined his son in the ecstatic
dancing and singing, and as he danced, he sang over and over again :
Blessed are the parents whose sonsare dyed in such divine color !They
bring salvation even to their parents.Sorrel is thus hulled in the
mortar.Sorrel is thus hulled, my friend !
The beginning of love is fascinating, but its path is difficult and its
destination far. Even a small error or omission on the part of the
lover can become a cause of great annoyance for the beloved. 'That
creates a mountain of calamities for the lover. Such a thing happened
to Bulleh Shah, when his Master got annoyed with him for an omission on
his part. Some writers have attributed the reason for his Master's
annoyance to Bulleh Shah's open criticism of rituals and customs
practiced by Muslims, and this was not to the liking of Inayat Shah.
This reason, however , does not appear plausible, because criticism of
external observance .is common to all Sufi saints, and it was not
unknown in the Qadiri tradition. They were certainly not the
worshippers of this system. The second reason given for the annoyance
is quite different in nature. It is said that once Bulleh Shah invited
his Master on the marriage of one of his relatives,The Saint deputed
one of his disciples to represent him at the function. This disciple
belonged to the Arain caste and was poorly clad. Now, Bulleh Shah's
family was proud of belonging to the clan of Sayyiads. They did not
give proper attention in receiving this poorly clad man. Even Bullah
happened to make this omission. At least he should have shown proper
respect to the representative of his Master, But under the pressure of
his family or the fear of public opinion, he did not give the guest due
honor. When the disciple returned from the marriage, the Saint asked
him how the marriage was celebrated. He told his Master the whole story
, and complained that because of his low caste and tattered clothes,
neither Bulleh Shah nor his family showed him due respect. The Saint
replied, "How dare Bullah behave like this ?" And then added, "What
have we to get from this useless man ? We shall change the direction of
the flow of water from his fields to yours !" He had only to utter
these words to bring a calamity in Bullah's life. As soon as the Master
changed the direction of his grace, his spring turned into autumn. His
inner visions vanished, leaving him dry and barren. Light changed into
darkness and bliss into mourning. It was a stunning blow to Bullah.
One who has never experienced inner bliss and who has never had a
glimpse of the divine glory of his Master within, his case is quite
different. But the one who has enjoyed the wealth of inner experience
and who is suddenly deprived of this treasure, he alone knows the pangs
of such a torture. In fact, the lord of spiritual wealth is the
perfect Master, and there is nothing in the hands of the disciple.
Apparently, the disciple is himself seeking the Master, and with his
own effort treads the path and progresses on it, as shown by the
Master. But, in reality the disciple cannot search for the Master with
his mind and meager intellect, nor can he find the true path with his
own power and cleverness. N or can he rise to spiritual realms with his
own endeavor. Finding the true path and achieving spiritual progress
are all gifts of the Master's grace. Bulleh Shah has himself written,
"The Guru does whatever he wills." But to realize this he had to suffer
the annoyance of his Master and cross the frightening ocean of the
fire of separation. As soon as his spiritual experiences were stopped,
Bullah hastened to his Master, but the Master turned his back on him
and asked him to leave the place. For one thing, the annoyance of his
Master '. for another the command not to see him! What greater torture
could there be for a disciple ? Bullah was miserable. He began to burn
in the fire of repentance, and his condition was like that of a fish
out of water . In the compositions of Bullah, many references can be
found of this heart-rending state of his mind. In many of his kafis
there is a touch of his personal life. No one can say with certainty
when these kafis were written. But the descriptions in these poems
bespeak of such a mental state. The pain of separation erupts in them
like turbulent waves. "In poignancy of emotion, sincerity of feeling,
ardor and longing, these kafis are matchless. " From the kafi given
below it is evident; that the memory of the bliss of union with the
beloved and the pain of separation from him are continuing to burn
Bullah to shes like a house on fire. He cannot give up love, but in the
separation of his beloved, he can find peace neither by day nor by
night. He is not blessed with the sight of his beloved, but without
seeing him, fire rages within his breast, and his heart is breaking. It
is hard to bear such a state of mind, but it is also impossible to
relinquish love. So he hangs between life and death :
I have been pierced by the arrow of love,what shall I do ?I can neither
live, nor can I die.Listen ye to my ceaseless outpourings,I have peace
neither by night, nor by day.I cannot do without my Beloved even for a
moment.I have been pierced by the arrow of love,what shall I do ?The
fire of separation is unceasing !
Let someone take care of my love.How can I be saved without seeing him?I
have been pierced by the arrow of love,what shall I do ?O Bullah, I am
in dire trouble !Let someone come to help me out.How shall I endure
such torture ?I have been pierced by the arrow of love,what shall I do
?I can neither live, nor can I die.In another kafi he describes his
pain thus :He left me, and himself he departed;What fault was there in
me ?Neither at night nor in the day do I sleep in peace;My eyes pour
out tears !Sharper than swords and spears are the arrows of love !
There is no one as cruel as love ;This malady no physician can
cure.There is no peace, not for a moment,So intense is the pain of
separation !O Bullah, if the Lord were to showerHis grace, My days would
radically change !He left me, and himself he departed.What fault was
there in me ?
As the period of separation became longer, Bullah's condition became
worse. On the one hand~ there was the pain of separation, on the other,
the ridicule of people. He prostrates before the memory of his Master,
and repeatedly entreats him to show his face to him at the earliest.
Why do you tarry , my Beloved ?O Bullah, now narrate your love story.He
alone knows who has experienced love.There are rebukes within, taunts
withoutSuch is the comfort I have found in love !My eyes have taken to
the habit of weeping.For one, it is death, for another, reproach from
the world.
The pain of separation has tightly squeezed my life.O Love, I have cried out my heart in anguish !
Bullah was full of repentance over his blunder. He was keenly desirous
to be forgiven by his Master. In his mind he pleads to his Master to
heal his wound of separation, and to apply. balm to his heart by showing
his face to him.
I suffer from the pain of my mad love.Come, dear Ranjha, cast a glance
at me,and forgive me my faults.From the throne of Hazara set out
Ranjha,the Master of artless Heer.The bridegroom visits the homes of all
others;What is the flaw that vitiates Bullah?
Bullah does not only describe the state of his suffering, but also hurls
complaints at his Master. On the one hand, he regrets his own lack of
wisdom, on the other, he reproaches his Master, who, after piercing his
heart with the arrow of love, has hidden himself and has never
inquired after him.
Inflicting a wound you hid your face;Who has taught you such thefts, my
Love?With your fancy you captivated my heart,But then you never showed
your face.
This cup of poison I have drunk myself ;
Indeed I was unripe in wisdom!
He calls his Master "the beloved Thug of Lahore" and complains that he
has robbed him with his love, and made him useless for the world.
Never be taken in by its guiles ;It gives not peace in forest or
city.When the traveler left after casting a glance,Suddenly a noose was
hung round my neck.He then showed no concern for me.Oh, I have met the
"beloved Thug of Lahore" !
To be incessantly weeping in separation of his Master had become the
usual routine for Bullah. This separation of his had assumed the
proportions of madness, and he started roaming in streets and lanes. The
intense longing to see his Master produced a kind of fire within him,
to extinguish which he began to think out some plans. "I He knew that
his Master was a lover of music. It is said that Bulleh put on the garb
of a woman, got hold of a sarangi and went to the house of a dancing
girl. He learnt dancing from her and became an adept in it. He then took
along with him a drummer and a harmonium player and went to the tomb
of a holy man in whose memory an annual function was being celebrated.
Shah Inayat had also come to attend it. While all other dancers and
singers got tired and sat down, Bullah, in ecstasy, continued to dance.
His voice was extremely doleful and heartrending. It is .said that
Bullah sang many kafis on the occasion. At last even Inayat Shah's heart
melted. With a voice full of compassion he said, " Are you Bullah ?"
Bullah ran and fell at his Master's feet and replied with his eyes full
of tears, "Sir, I am not Bullah put Bhulla. " I The Master is never
indifferent to his disciple. When he realized that the fire of
repentance and separation had purified Bullah and turned him into pure
gold, he forgave him his lapse and pressed him to his heart. The reason
why the Master put Bulleh Shah to such a hard test -the torture of
burning in the fire of separation and longing ~ was to make him fit to
receive the invaluable wealth of the Word of God. With this spiritual
treasure he was not only to become rich himself, but also to make other
seekers the recipients of this wealth. When the fountain of the
Master's grace started flowing once again, the arid fields of Bullah
began to revive, and the fragrance of the flowers of bliss spread all
around. According to the author of Qanun-i-Ishq, the Master pressed
Bullah to his heart, took him along with him, and intoxicated him with
the wine of union. Bullah's soul got dyed in the hue of his Master's
soul, so that no distinction remained between the two. One of Bulleh
Shah's kafis gives a graphic description of his state of merging in the
Master (Fana-fil-Sheikh) :
Repeating the name of RanjhaI have become Ranjha myself.O call me ye all
"Dhido-Ranjha,"let no one call me Heer .Ranjha is in me, I am in
Ranjha,no other thought exists in my mind.I am not, He alone is.He alone
is amusing himself.
The Master is one with the Lord. So, merging in the Master is
transformed into merging in the Lord. This state is expressed by Bullah
in the following lines of two kais
1. You alone exist, I do not, O Beloved!2. Repeating the name of the
BelovedI have become the Beloved myself.Whom shall I call the Beloved
now?
The same thought is conveyed by Jesus Christ in the Bible thus : "At
that day ye. shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in
you." Arriving at this stage, the illusion of duality disappears, and
the glory of the Beloved is seen to pervade everywhere. Bulleh Shah
declares that love for the Lord has so radically changed him that his
individual self or ego has been totally eliminated. He has now realized
his true Self hidden behind the veil of the physical body. His
identification with the Supreme Being has opened for him the floodgates
of divine light. In this light no one has remained a stranger. All have
become His own.
I have got lost in the city of love,I am being cleansed, withdrawing
myselffrom my head, hands and feet.I have got rid of my ego,and have
attained my goal. Thus it has all ended well.O Bullah, the Lord pervades
both the worlds;None now appears a stranger to me.
In the transcendence of the finite to the Infinite; all disputes of
religion, of good and evil, disappear. To Bullah now all began to appear
as virtuous; none seemed to him as evil or a stranger.
Remove duality and do away with all disputes;The Hindus and Muslims are
not other than He.Deem everyone virtuous, there are no thieves.For,
within every body He himself resides.How the Trickster has put on a
mask!
Saturated with the love of God, Bullah became the personification of
compassion and forgiveness. He began to see the divine in every being,
and distinctions of caste and religion, friend and foe, ceased to have
any meaning for him. The following incident of his life illustrates this
sublime state of his mind in a beautiful way: It is said I that "once
Bulleh Shah was engaged in meditation inside his chamber. It was the
month of Ramzan. Some of his disciples were sitting outside eating
carrots. After some time a group of orthodox Muslims who were keeping
the fast happened to pass them. When they saw the disciples sitting at a
faqir's abode and violating the fast, they were enraged. " They
shouted in an angry voice, " Are you not ashamed of eating in the month
of Ramzan, and that also at the abode of a faqir?" The disciples
replied, "Brother believers, take your path. We are feeling hungry.
That is why we are eating. " The group of believers felt suspicious
about their faith. So they asked, "Who are you?" They replied, "We are
Muslims. Don't the Muslims feel hungry?". The believers again commanded
them to stop eating, but the disciples did not heed. The believers who
were on horses, alighted. They snatched the carrots from the hands of
the disciples, and threw them away. They also gave a few blows to them.
As they were about to leave, it struck them that the pir of these
impious people must have been cast in the same mould. So they turned
back to ask him what kind of instruction he had given to his disciples.
They went to his chamber and said, "Who are you?" Bullah who was
meditating with his eyes closed, raised his arms and moved his hands.
They asked him again, "Why don't you speak? Who are you?" Bullah once
again raised his arms. The riders taking him to be a mad man, went
away. Soon after they left, the disciples entered the chamber, raising a
hue and cry that they had been beaten. Bullah told them that they must
have done something to provoke the believers. The disciples denied to
have done any such thing. Bullah said, "What did they ask you?" The
disciples replied, "They asked us who we were, and we said we were
Muslims." Bullah retorted, "That's why you were beaten. You became
something and you suffered. I didn't become anything, and they said
nothing to me." To consider oneself something emanates from the sense
of .ego. Such a person is still under the sway of maya, and has not had
a vision of Truth so far. One who has had such a vision comes to know
his true Self and gets liberated from the bondage of caste, religion
and country. There are numerous instances in the poems of Bulleh Shah,
which show that the soul, like the Lord, has no religion, no caste, no
country. All these distinctions are born out of time and space, but the
soul is unborn and timeless. It has neither a beginning, nor an end,
nor is it bound by the limitations of caste and religion. Bullah
recognizes only the primeval relationship of soul with God :Having
realized the Truth within, Bulleh Shah became the embodiment of Truth
himself. He spent the rest of his life in disseminating the message of
this Reality. Till the end of his sojourn in this transient world he
was engaged in meditation of the Lord, and guided all those who came in
contact with him, on the same path. His magnetic personality, his pure
living and his divine writings spread his fame far and wide. Many a
seeker after Truth was attracted by his charm and derived much
spiritual gain under his guidance. The last years of his life he passed
in Kasur, and here he died in 1758-1759. His t6mb can be seen in Kasur
even today. It is mentioned in Bang-i-Auli-va-i-Hind : Bulleh Shah was
an evolved soul, a perfect faqir and a true lover. Through the love
for his Master he realized the Lord. In his love one finds poignancy,
ardor and longing besides sincerity, sacrifice and renunciation. Under
the canopy of love he made his offerings of caste and learning. His
love for his Master never wavered for a moment despite the fire of
separation and longing through which he passed. His writings, as also
his life, manifest transcendence of physical love ( of the Master) to
divine love ( of the Lord). Indeed, this is. the path of all true
mystics, all true lovers of God. Whosoever has attained union with the
Lord has done so by traveling on this path, and whosoever will attain
this union, will do so by becoming a traveler on this path of love.
Bulleh Shah's life and writings are replete with subtle secrets of the
path. They do riot only strengthen the love of a true lover, but also
encourage him to undergo the severest hardships for reaching the
spiritual goal. The life and compositions of Bulleh Shah will serve as a
lighthouse for times immemorial to true seekers of spiritual
realization
