Wandering

हम भटकतें हैं, क्यों भटकतें हैं दश्तों-सहरा में

ऐसा लगता है, मौज प्यासी है अपने दरिया में

कैसी उलझन है, क्यों यह उलझन है

There is no fire in the hell

While reading a book, came across a good folklore about Lal Shahbaz Qalander. Lal Shahbaz Qalanader is arguably one of the greatest Sufi saint ever born. He was originally born as Sheikh Usman Marwandi, near Tabriz in north-west Iran (but some references also say that he was instead born in Marwand, Afganistan) and his lifespan is somewhere around the end of the Thirteenth century. He came to Sindh (now in Pakistan) much in the same way as Jalal ad-Din Rumi traveled from Afghanistan to Turkey, to escape the advancement of Mongol armies. He was totally an unconventional and non-orthodox saint much to the ire of religious fabric of that time. Some say he was truly a Qalander, or holy fool. His tomb is in Sehwan, in rural Sindh, Pakistan.

So, here goes the story...

One day Lal Shahbaz Qalander was wandering in the desert with his friend, Sheikh Baha ud-Din Zakariya. It was winder and evening time, so they began to build a fire to keep warm. They found some wood and then they realized that they had no fire. So Baha ud-Din suggested that Lal Shabaz (Red Falcon) turn himself into a falcon and get fire from hell. Off he flew, but an hour later he came back empty handed. "There is no fire in the hell", he reported. "Everyone who goes there brings their own fire, and their own pain, from this world".

So true and yet people here are busy thinking what can they do to escape the fire of the hell...

Joy And Sorrow - From "The Prophet" By Khalil Gibran

From one of the most read books of 20th century - The Prophet By Khalil Gibran.

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow. And
he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the
selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes
filled with your tears.

And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into
your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was
burned in the potter’s oven? And is not the lute that soothes
your spirit the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are Joyous, look deep into your heart and you
shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is
giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you
shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been
your delight.

Some of you say, ‘Joy is greater than sorrow,’ and others say,
‘Nay, sorrow is the greater.’ But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at
your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and
your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at stand still and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold
and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

To read more about Khalil Gibran, go to here
To download and read 'The Prophet' as ebook, go The Prophet eBook Site

Bulla ki jana mein kaun?

A great sufi song by Baba Bulleh Shah - one of the greatest sufi poets to walk on this earth.
***************************************
Na maen momin vich maseet aan
Na maen vich kufar diyan reet aan
Na maen paakaan vich paleet aan
Na maen moosa na pharaun.

Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen andar ved kitaab aan,
Na vich bhangaan na sharaab aan
Na vich rindaan masat kharaab aan
Na vich jaagan na vich saun.

Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun.

Na vich shaadi na ghamnaaki
Na maen vich paleeti paaki
Na maen aabi na maen khaki
Na maen aatish na maen paun

Bulleh!, ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen arabi na lahori
Na maen hindi shehar nagauri
Na hindu na turak peshawri
Na maen rehnda vich nadaun

Bulla, ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen bheth mazhab da paaya
Ne maen aadam havva jaaya
Na maen apna naam dharaaya
Na vich baitthan na vich bhaun

Bulleh , ki jaana maen kaun

Avval aakhir aap nu jaana
Na koi dooja hor pehchaana
Maethon hor na koi siyaana
Bulla! ooh khadda hai kaun

Bulla, ki jaana maen kaun
***************************************

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 Pharoh

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 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 (Muslim), 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
Not in stillness, nor on the move

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

I am the first, I am the last
None other, have I ever known
I am the wisest of them all
Bulleh! do I stand alone?

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Bulleh Shah & Sufi Cult

.. Tere Ishq Nachaya, Theyya, Theyya ..

Your Love has made me dance to a fast beat,
theyya theyya,

come, O Great Physician,
else i breathe my last breath!

Your Love made a house within me,
i filled my bowl with poison and gulped it myself.
come quick O Great Physician, or i will die!

a peacock cries in this grove of love,
my pretty Beloved to me is Kaaba and Qibla.
You smote me with Love but never inquired about me.

Ishq (divine love) and fire are same,
but the heat of the love is intense.
fire burns the wood,
but ishq burns the heart.

water extinguishes the fire,
what is the remedy of love?

Gulam Fareed says:
nothing remains
where Ishq makes its abode.

black is my robe,
i am filled with sins,
people think i am darvish.

O Fareed wake up,
and wander around the world,
find someone blessed,
that you also be blessed.

come, O Great Physician,
else i breathe my last breath!

Your love has made me dance to a fast beat,
theyya theyya,

This is a translation (courtesy http://mysticsaint.blogspot.com/2008/01/abida-parveen-sings-bulleh-shahs-sufi.html) of a Bulleh Shah song.

In my opinion, Bulleh Shah is the greatest Sufi poet ever born on this earth. Some people may not agree with my thoughts and would like to compare him with Rumi and Shams-i-Tabriz. Because of his pure life and high spiritual attainments, he is equally popular among all communities. Scholars and dervishes have called him "The Sheikh of Both the Worlds", "The man of God", "The Knower of Spiritual Grace" and by other equally edifying titles. His writings are surely the pinnacle of Sufi literature.

Literally speaking, a Sufi is one who is pure or one who goes about with a woolen
blanket. The cardinal features of the Sufi cult 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 not ordain it,
(d) The soul is distinct from the physical body and will merge into Divine Reality according 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 (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).

I have always been fond of Sufi music or Sufi spiritual people. The Sufi cult is akin to mysticism. And I think this is the one aspect which has pulled me towards it. I have been several times to the Dargah Shareef of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer and Hazrat Nizammudin Dargah in Delhi. And whenever I go to these places, I feel a kind of aura around their tombs – which I do not feel at other religious places. And this is one thing that takes me again & again to these places.