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What a carefree game He plays!

Bulleh Shah, Bulleh Shah poetry, Muslim / Sufi, Muslim / Sufi poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Bulleh Shah
(1680 - 1758) Timeline

English version by
J.R. Puri and T.R. Shangari

Original Language
Punjabi

Muslim / Sufi
18th Century

He said, "Let there be," and it happened.
He made the latent turn into the manifest,
Out of the formless He created the form.
What a wondrous game He played!
What a carefree game He plays!

When He disclosed the hidden secret,
He lifted the veil from over His face.
Why does He now hide from me?
The Real permeates everyone.
What a carefree game He plays!

He said, "We have honored mankind;
None has been created like you;
You are the crown of all creation."
What a proclamation with the beat of drum!
What a carefree game He plays!

He himself indulges in these carefree acts;
He himself feels frightened of himself;
He has taken abode in every house;
And the people keep wandering in delusion.
What a carefree game He plays!

He himself aroused longing to become mad in love.
He himself became Laila to steal Majnun's heart.
Himself He wept, himself consoled himself.
0, what a game of love He plays!
What a carefree game He plays!

Himself the lover, He himself is the Beloved.
Here logic and reason have no part to play.
Bullah rejoices in his union with the Beloved.
Why does He create separation now?
What a carefree game He plays!

 

 

-- from Bulleh Shah: The Love-Intoxicated Iconoclast (Mystics of the East series), by J. R. Puri / Tilaka Raja Puri

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Crown
  Drum
  Heart
  Lover and Beloved
  Separation


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

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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