Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Search the Poetry Chaikhana site:

| View All Poems by Bulleh Shah | Next Poem >>
Bulleh! to me, I am not known by Bulleh Shah (1680 - 1758) Timeline Original Language Punjabi Muslim / Sufi 18th Century 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 Pharaoh 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 intoxicated 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, 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       / Photo by austinevan /	Themes   Awakening   Birth, Rebirth   Fire   Silence   Sleep Recommended Books Baba Bulleh Shah: Music CD, by Abida Parveen Bulleh Shah: A Selection Rendered Into English Verse, by Bulleh Shah Bulleh Shah: The Love-Intoxicated Iconoclast (Mystics of the East series), by J. R. Puri / Tilaka Raja Puri Islamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi, Translated by Mahmood Jamal Saint Bulleh Shah, by K.S. Duggal
| More Poems by Bulleh Shah | Next Poem >>

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Bulleh Shah has given us a riddle to unravel today.

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Ask yourself, What or who is not known when he keeps saying that he is "not known"? How can he say to himself that he is not known?

The little self, the ego, the self of attributes with a place in the world, the self that answers to the name Bulleh ("I am not the name I assume") -- that self can't know the deeper Self. Why? Because the True Self is far too immense. The True Self is "not a believer... nor a pagan." The True Self is not involved "in happiness nor in sorrow." The True Self is too big to be contained by those definitions; it permeates them and encompasses them, without being caught by them.

Not from water, nor from earth
Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth

The True Self is not hemmed in by beginnings and ending.

From Adam and Eve, I am not born

One's True Self is eternal.

I am the first, I am the last

And utterly whole and all-encompasing, with nothing external.

None other, have I ever known

No surprise then that the little self that clings to definitions and boundaries cannot know the Self Bulleh speaks of. The great, flowing vastness one IS, well, it is perceived, but it is not 'known.'

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

If you want to encounter the deepest mystery, look in the mirror.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.