Printable Version of Topic

Click here to view this topic in its original format

Hamara Forums _ Shayaris & Tukbandis _ Bulleh Shah

Posted by: hassan261 Feb 3 2008, 04:32 PM

IPB Image

Bulleh Shah (1680 � 1757) (Punjabi: Shahmukhi: بلہے شاہ, Gurmukhi: ਬੁੱਲ੍ਹੇ ਸ਼ਾਹ), whose real name was Abdullah Shah, was a Punjabi Sufi poet. He is believed to have been born in the small village of Uch, Bahawalpur in 1680 in modern day Pakistan. His ancestors had migrated from Bukhara in modern Uzbekistan . At the age of six months, his parents relocated to Malakwal. There his father, Shah Muhammad Darwaish, was a preacher in the village mosque and a teacher. His father later got a job in Pandoke, about 50 miles southeast of Kasur. Bulleh Shah received his early schooling in Pandoke, and later moved to Kasur for higher education, to become a student of the prominent professor, Ghulam Murtaza.

Baba Bulleh Shah was a direct descendant of Muhammad, through the progeny of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Gillani of Baghdad.

A large amount of what is known about Bulleh Shah comes through legends, and is subjective; to the point that there isn�t even agreement among historians concerning his precise date and place of birth. Some "facts" about his life have been pieced together from his own writings. Other "facts" seem to have been passed down through oral traditions.

Bulleh Shah practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry established by poets like Shah Hussain (1538 � 1599), Sultan Bahu (1629 � 1691), and Shah Sharaf (1640 � 1724).

Bulleh Shah lived in the same period as the famous Sindhi Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhatai (1689 � 1752). His lifespan also overlapped with the legendary Punjabi poet Waris Shah (1722 � 1798), of Heer Ranjha fame, and the famous Sindhi Sufi poet Abdul Wahad (1739 � 1829), better known by his pen-name, Sachal Sarmast (�truth seeking leader of the intoxicated ones�). Amongst Urdu poets, Bulleh Shah lived 400 miles away from Mir Taqi Mir (1723 � 1810) of Agra.

A Beacon of Peace
Baba Bulleh Shah's time was marked with communal strife between Muslims and Sikhs. But in that age Baba Bulleh Shah was a beacon of hope and peace for the citizens of Punjab. While Bulleh Shah was in Pandoke, Muslims killed a young Sikh man who was riding through their village in retaliation for murder of some Muslims by Sikhs. Baba Bulleh Shah denounced the murder of an innocent Sikh and was censured by the mullas and muftis of Pandoke. Bulleh Shah maintained that violence was not the answer to violence.

Bulleh Shah also hailed Guru Tegh Bahadur as a ghazi (Islamic term for a religious warrior) and incurred the wrath of the mullas.

Modern Renditions
In the 1990s Junoon, Asia's biggest Sufi rock band from Pakistan, has also rendered such poems as Aleph (Ilmon Bas Kareen O Yaar) and Bullah Ki Jaana. Bulleh Shah's verses have also been adapted and used in Bollywood film songs. In 2004, Rabbi Shergill successfully performed the unlikely feat of turning the abstruse metaphysical poem Bullah Ki Jaana into a Rock/Fusion song, which became hugely popular in India. Another version was performed by Lakhwinder Wadali titled simply Bullah. Examples include the songs Chhayya Chhayya and Thayya Thayya in the movie Dil Se.

Posted by: oye_sonu Feb 3 2008, 04:39 PM

Bulle Shaah ji Very highly respected figure in Punjabs( pakistani and Indian)

( one reason his name often comes in Sufi and Sikh - Hindu relgious sects)

(Another such muslim saint is Baba farid. ! In our side we even have a colleges institues named after Baba farid ! )

one of my fav lines :

"Mere yaar nu manda na bolin......bhaanve meri zind kad le !"

Sonu

Ps : Thanks for the article !