Bulla Ki Jana Main Kaun

Normally i can't listen to a song more than 1-2 times a day no matter how much i like it,since i get bored by any kind of monotony pretty easily; but there's this 1 number which i find myself listening to again and again, innumerable times a day since i read it's translation sometime back.The song is the much popular no. 'Bulla ki Jaana' by Rabbi Shergill, though i doubt if most people take the trouble of understanding the mumbo-jumbo being mouthed by the sardar clad in all-white; they probably just like the guitar or maybe the out of the box video, and lo and behold, the song is a super success! That's the indian music industry for most of us !

Anyhow,this song was originally written around 300 years ago by the highly revered sufi poet called Bulleh Shah who lived in Multan(now in Pakistan),in Saraiki, which was the local spoken language of that time.His poetry usually reflects the eclectic fusion of the various cultures which made Punjab the most diverse region in the entire Indian sub-continent...from acting as the gateway of India for early Aryans to the Turks,Mongols and Mughals, and from acting as a breeding ground for Hinduism,Islam and the newly founded Sikhism.Even though the language is somewhat similar to Punjabi, yet i had to go through the translation to understand the meaning of each and every word penned by the great poet.Below is the translation i picked from a website:

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
(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)

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
(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)

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
(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)

Na maen arabi na lahori
Na maen hindi shehar nagauri
Na hindu na turak peshawri
Na maen rehnda vich nadaun
Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun
(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)

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
(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)

Avval aakhir aap nu jaana
Na koi dooja hor pehchaana
Maethon hor na koi siyaana
Bulla! ooh khadda hai kaun
Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun
(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 )