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March, 2016

  1. The Mysticism of Bulleh Shah !

    March 24, 2016 by hjz5060

    Bulleh Shah was a Punjabi Sufi poet who lived through the 17th century. He was a  humanist and a philosopher.  His first spiritual teacher was Hazrat Shah Inayat Qadri, a sufi spiritual leader of Lahore(city in modern day Pakistan). Bulleh Shah gathered spiritual treasures under the guidance of his spiritual leader and was known for the miraculous powers he had when it came to poetry. Today I want to shed light upon the profound poetry of a man whose sole purpose of life was to educate a person to dwell inside himself and discover the treasure that is hidden therein.

    You read several books of knowledge,
    But failed to read your own self.

    Bulleh Shah is implying here that to have gathered so much knowledge, went so many places in the thrust for knowledge that you forgot who you really were. You did understand what the books or their knowledge is, but failed to understand your own self, so what good has all this knowledge done to you? You should know yourself first and then you should know what or who others are because that is the essence of your existence.

    Off you run to enter temples and mosques,
    But failed to enter your own heart.

    Bulleh Shah is now addressing all the priests and Rabbis that you people have a thirst to enter places of worship, but you never cared to enter your heart. I would like to relate a famous quote here, “If being religious has made you more judgmental, rude and harsh, a backbiter, you need to check if you are worshipping God or your ego.” A person should love everyone else and not try to enforce religious on them. If someone is kindhearted and a nice human being, then you don’t need to enforce religion on them because being a humble person is a basic tenant of every religion. You shouldn’t necessarily go to places of worship to find God but should go inside your heart to find Him.

    You wage wars against Satan,
    But failed to fight your own ego.

    Satan is like a scape goat for everything bad that is going around in the world but that is not the case. In reality, it is your ego that is troubling you. If you want to get rid of the evils in the society, you should get rid of the evils present in your own ego first. You should try to be a humble human being and that is the solution for eternal happiness.

    Proclaims Bulleh Shah, you try to fetch floating objects,
    But failed to fetch what was at your home.

    Ever wonder why a man is so depressed? Psychiatrist would say that this is because a person is not getting his desire fulfilled. Why is this so? It is because we have high hopes. When you get a B on your exam while you were expecting an A is something that you would be upset about. But if you aimed for a C and then got a B, you would be over the moon. That is what Bulleh Shah is saying that you should be happy with what you have and always keep your hopes aligned with modesty.

     


  2. Oh You Jealousy of The Moon ! Part 2

    March 18, 2016 by hjz5060

    The gentleman’s integrity was bought out
    Looking at the beauty my friend melted away
    Until today how aloof he was,
    His chastity was finally robbed, I was so ecstatic

    Just to make one thing clear, ‘gentleman’ here refers to a pious man, someone who propagates religion. The poet is implying that all these pious people have mocked him of loving his beloved because they claim it is against the religion. But the lover knows that if these people were in the situation I was in, they would have done exactly what I am doing right now. He mentions that one day the saint finally gets to see the beautiful face of the person the poet loves. He was awestruck while admiring her beauty. His faith had been bought now. Why was he still looking, isn’t it against the religion? His strict following of the religion melted away slowly and he became more considerate whilst watching the beautiful face. He did not know what he was missing until he saw what true beauty meant. Now he knows he was wrong all along. His chastity was robbed, his integrity shattered, his self-esteem stumbled. Now he knows what I was undergoing, now he can’t comment on my situation, this made me ecstatic.

    Intoxication spread from the bottle,
    Glasses clinked in this gathering-of-disrepute
    Pleasure started showering on the wine house
    When the storm cloud broke and fell all around, I was ecstatic

    The poet is comparing the beauty of his love to a day at the wine house. You are like a bottle of wine from which intoxication emanates. Whoever looks at you wants you immediately, hence if you were wine, all the glasses would clink as if to demand a sip of your intoxication. When you entered this wine house, mischief descended there and it was as if a storm was going to come. Everybody was befuddled with what to do now but I stood there admiring this confusion, I was ecstatic.

    Thank my End, today, after my death
    She started revering my love
    With her own hands, on my grave
    She spread a blanket of flowers, I was ecstatic

    Now I am dead. Today I will truly know what my love actually thought about me. I am grateful that today after my demise she has maintained the honor of my love. She has started to revere it, glorify it, remember it. I don’t think its too late for her to know the importance of my adoration. I only wanted her to realize how much I loved her, I don’t care even if this happens after my death. With her own hands she spread a sheet of flowers on my grave, I was ecstatic.

     


  3. Oh You Jealousy of The Moon ! Part 1

    March 1, 2016 by hjz5060

    The title of this Qawwali may fool you if you let it. The place where I come from, the moon is thought to be rich with beauty and whenever someone is praised, the moon is used as a metaphor. ” You’re so beautiful like the moon”. Jealousy of the moon is pointed out to the person I love thereby proclaiming that you are so beautiful that even the moon is envious of your beauty.

    Oh you jealousy-of-moon, when for the first time
    You met your eyes with mine, I was ecstatic
    It felt like lightning, it finished everything off,
    It set all on fire so, I was ecstatic

    The poet is proclaiming that my love you are my love of first sight. When your eyes met mine I went crazy instantaneously. When that moment occurred, it felt to me like a bolt of lightning struck within myself and lit a fire which burned with the desire of having you. That moment was so pure, so alive,  that  I loved every second of it.

    Pouring the pleasures of beauty into my glass
    Moonlight smiled on me, I was ecstatic
    In the shade of the moon, oh my lover
    You got me drunk so, I was ecstatic

    This stanza is totally an analogy so don’t confuse it with its literal meaning. Pouring the pleasures of beauty in the glass of wine I had,is actually referring to the moment when you used to meet me hence making me absorb your beauty just as one sips wine. That moment was so blissful that it seemed as though moonlight smiled upon me. In the shade of the moon oh my lover, you got me so intoxicated with your beauty that I felt ecstatic.

    There was shyness in the eyes at every meeting
    Her cheeks turned red at the talk of love
    Embarrassed by my questions
    She bent her neck so, I was ecstatic

    Ah the innocence of the person you love, so beautifully put. Whenever we used to meet, she was always shy as if she was hiding something from me. Whenever I told her how much I loved her, she used to blush. I used to pop the question every now and then to know if she loved me or not? And when I did that,she bent her neck signaling a yes. In that moment we were infinite, I was ecstatic.

    Dropping her veil she stood in front of me
    And youth clashed with youth
    Her eyes fought with mine so,
    Looking at this fight I was ecstatic

    Reiterating the scenario of conventional lovers, it was believed that the female used to wear a veil to signify her modesty. Now she stands in front of me and drops that veil. I see her face for the first time and my youth meets with hers. Youth here can mean exuberance or the literal meaning as well. When you stood there looking at me our youths clashed, and your eyes met with mine. They started to have a clash themselves, I embraced this fight as a sign of happiness. Looking at this fight I was ecstatic !


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