Alif-Allah chambe di bootee, Murshid man wich laayi hoo
Nafee asbaat daa paanee milia, Har rage har jaayi hoo
Andar bootee Mushk machaayaa, Jaan phullan te aayi hoo
Jeeve murshid kaamil Bahu, Jain eh bootee laayi hoo
My Master has planted in my heart the jasmine of Allah’s Name.
Both my denial that the Creation is real & my embracing of God, the only reality, have nourished the seedling down to its core.
When the buds of mystery unfolded into the blossoms of revelation, my entire being was filled with God’s Fragrance.
May the perfect Master who planted this jasmine in my heart be ever blessed, O Bahu!
Allah parhion haafiz hoion, Na giaa hijaabon pardaa hoo
Parhh Parhh aalim faazil hoion, Taalib hoion zar daa hoo
Lakh hazaar kitaabaan parhiaan, Zaalim nafs na mardaa hoo
Baajh faqeeraan kise na mareya, Eho chor andar daa hoo
You have read the name of God over and over, You have stored the Holy Qur’an in your memory, but this has still not unveiled the hidden mystery.
Instead, your learning and scholarship have sharpened your greed for worldly things;
none of the countless books you’ve read in your life has destroyed your brutal ego.
Indeed, none but the Saints can kill this inner thief, for it ravages the very house in which it lives.
Alif-aihad jad dittee wiskaalee, Az khud hoiaa faanee hoo
Qurb, wisaal, maqaam na manzil, Na uth jism na jaanee hoo
Na uth ishq muhabbat kaaee, Na uth kaun makaanee hoo
Aino-ain theeose Baahoo, Sirr wahadat subhaanee hoo
When the one Lord revealed Himself to me, I lost myself in Him.
Now there is neither nearness nor union. There is no longer a journey to undertake, no longer a destination to reach.
Love, attachment, my body & soul and even the very limits of time and space have all dropped from my consciousness.
My separate self has merged in the Whole: In that, O Bahu, lies the secret of the unity that is God!
Allah sahee keetose jis dam, Chamkiaa ishq agohaan hoo
Raat dihaan de taa tikhere, Kare agohaan soohaan hoo
Andae bhaaheen, andar baalan, Andar de wich dhoohaan hoo
Shaah rag theen Rabb nerhe laddhaa, Ishq keetaa jad soohaan hoo
The moment I realized the oneness of God, the flame of His love shone within, to lead me on.
Constantly it burns in my heart with intense heat, revealing the mysteries along my path.
This fire of love burns inside me with no smoke, fuelled by my intense longing for the Beloved.
Following the Royal Vein,* I found the Lord close by. My love has brought me face to face with Him.
* The Royal Vein or shah rag is the central current in the subtle body, starting from the eye centre and leading up to the highest spiritual regions. It is located and followed by means of the spiritual practise taught by a perfect Master. The hindu’s call it sushmana or sukhmana nadi. It is the Royal Highway to the court of the Lord. It is not to be confused with the sushmana naadi of the yogis, which runs up the spinal column.
Alif alast suniaa dil mere, jind balaa kookendee hoo
Hubb watan dee ghaalib hoee, Hik pal saun na dendee hoo
Qaihar pave is raazan duneeaa, Haqq daa raah marendee hoo
Aashiq mool qabool na Bahoo, zaaro zaar ruvendee hoo
When, at the time of Creation, God separated me from Himself,
I heard Him say, “Am I not your God?”* “Indeed you are,” cried my soul, reassured. Since then has my heart flowered,
With the inner urge to return Home, giving me not a moment of calm here on earth.
May doom strike this world! It robs souls on their way to God.
The world has never accepted His lovers; they are persecuted and left to cry in pain.
* According to the Qur’an, God created souls and decided to send them down to inhabit the creation. When he saw them in torment at the prospect of their separation from him, he reassured them by asking, “Am I not your God?” meaning that he was not deserting them for good, and that he would call them back.
Oho nafs asaada belee, jo naal asaade siddhaa hoo
Zaahid aalim aan nivaae, tukrha wekhan thiddhaa hoo
Jo koee usdee kare savaaree, Naam Allaah us laddhaa hoo
Raah faqar daa mushkil Baahoo, Ghar maan na seeraa riddha hoo
Only the mind that works in harmony with my spirit is my friend.
Only the person who has so tamed his mind can realize the Name of God.
This same mind forces the abstinent and the devout To grovel before greed and temptation,
Tough is the path to God, O Bahu, It is not a bowl of your mother’s pudding.
Azal abad noon sahee keetose, wekh tamaashe guzre hoo
Chaudaan tobaq dile de andar, Aatish laae hujre hoo
Jinhaan haqq na haasil keetaa, Doheen jahaaneed ujrhe hoo
Aashiq gharq hoe wich wahadat, Wekh tinhaan de mujre hoo
I have, at last, grasped the beginning and the end: I have seen the whole spectacle of past, present and future Pass before my eyes.
Within my heart are fourteen realms*. Chambers of light – ablaze with the profusion of God’s Light.
Those who have not realized God will wander, homeless in this world, destitute in the next.
But watch the lovers dance with ecstasy, as they merge into the oneness of God.
* Some sufi mystics divide the inner journey into fourteen stages or realms, Hu symbolizes the resonant Sound, Word or Kalima; it also stands for God, who pervades the universe in the form of that Sound or Word. The name Bahu is made up of ba (with) and Hu, and therefore means ‘one who abides in God’
Andar hoot e baahir hoo, Hardam naal jalendaa hoo
Hoo daa daagh muhabbat waalaa, Hardam piaa sarhendaa hoo
Jitthe hoo kare rushnaaee, Chhorh andheraa vaindaa hoo
Dohee jahaan ghulaam us Baahoo, Jo hoo sahee karendaa hoo
Hu is within, Hu is without, Hu always reverberates in my heart.
The wound in my heart aches constantly with the continuous pain of Hu’s love.
The darkness of ignorance departs from the heart lit by Hu.
I sacrifice myself to the one, O Bahu, who has realized the significance of Hu.
Addhee laanat duneeaa taaeen, Saaree duneeaa daaraan hoo
Jain raah sahib kharch na keetee, Lain ghazab deeaan maaraan hoo
Peovaan kolon putt kohaava, Bhatth duneeaa makkaaran hoo
Tark jinhaan duneeaa theen keetee, Laisan baagh bahaaraan hoo
Accursed is life in this world; Twice as accursed are they who are attached to it.
Those who have not dedicated their lives to God shall suffer the unrelenting blows of destiny.
Abominable is this sly world – it can even prompt a father to kill his own son.
Those who have renounced this world will enjoy the delights of the garden that is eternally in bloom.
Imaan salaamat har koee mange, Ishq salaamat koee hoo
Imaan mangan sharmaavan ishqon, Dil noon ghairat hoee hoo
Jis manzil non ishq puchaave, Imaan khabar na koee hoo
Ishq salaamat rakkheen Baahoo, Diaan imaan dharoee hoo
Believers pray to God for the protection of faith, but few pray for the gift of His love.
I am ashamed at what they ask for, even more at what they are willing to yield.
Religion is quite unaware of the spiritual plane to which love can raise us.
O Lord, keep my love for You ever fresh, says Bahu, I shall mortgage my religion for it.
Eh tan meraa chashmaan hove, Murshid wekh na rajjaan hoo
Loon loon de mudh lakh lakh chashmaan, Ik kholaan ik kajjaan hoo
Itniaan dithiaan sabar naa aave, Hor kite val bhajjaan hoo
Murshid daa deedaar hai Baahoo, Lakh karorhaan hajjaan hoo
Were my whole body festooned with eyes, I would gaze at my Master with untiring zeal.
O, how I wish that every pore of my body would turn into a million eyes. Then as some closed to blink, others would open to see!
But even then my thirst to see him might remain unquenched. What else am I to do?
To me, O Bahu, a glimpse of my Master is worth millions of pilgrimages to the holy Kabah!
Andar wich namaaz asaadee, Hikse jaa niteeve hoo
Naal qiam rakooa sajoode, Kar takraar parheeve hoo
Eh dil hijar firaaqon sarhiaa, Eh dam mare na jeeve hoo
Sachchaa raah Mohammad waalaa, Jain wich Rabb labheeve hoo
I offer my prayer in the temple of my heart – the only true place to worship God.
I stand in supplication, I bow in obeisance, I tender my prayer without break in its repetition.
Hanging between life and death, my heart burns in the fire of separation from Him.
The path indicated by the Prophet is true, O Bahu: Following it one can find God.
Akkheen surkh te mooheen zardee, Har wallon dil aaheen hoo
Muhaa muhaar khushboi waalaa, Pahuntaa vanj kadaaeen hoo
Ishq mushk na chhuppe raihnde, Zaahir theen uthaaeen hoo
Naam faqeer tinhaan daa Baahoo, Jin laamakaanee jaaeen hoo
Their eyes sleepless, their faces pale, Lovers constantly sigh in grief.
What has become of these faces that once beamed with youth and vivacity?
Love is like musk that cannot stay hidden: its fragrance cannot but reveal its presence.
Only those who abide in realms beyond space deserve to be called ‘faqir’, O Bahu*.
* A faqir is a beggar, a religious mendicant, a dervish, a humble man, but in Sufi parlance a faqir is one who has attained the highest goal in spirituality; a God-realized man.
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