Speaking the truth creates chaos.
Telling a lie saves one scarce.
I am afraid of both these.
Afraid I am both here and there.
I must utter what comes to my lips.
He who has this secret known.
He must peep into his own
Lives He in the shrine of peace
Where there are no ups and downs
I must utter what comes to my lips.
It is indeed a slippery park.
I take precautions in the dark
De inside and see for yourself
Why this wild search afar?
I must utter what comes to my lips.
It is a matter of good form
A norm to which we all conform
It’s God in every soul you see
If he is in me why not in you?
I must utter what comes to my lips.
(Says Bulleh) the master is not far from me
Without him there none could be
That explains the suffering and pain
But mine is not the eye to see
I must say what comes to my lips.
It’s all in One contained.
Understand the One and forge the rest.
Shake off your ways of an apostate pest
Leading to the grave to hell and to torture
Rid your mind of dreams of disaster
This is how is the argument maintained
It’s all in One contained.
What use is it bowing one’s head?
To what avail has prostrating led?
Reading Kalma you make them laugh
Absorbing not a word while the Quran you quaff
The truth must be here and there sustained
It’s all in One contained.
Some retire to the jungles in vain
Others restrict their meals to a grain
Misled they waste away unfed
And come back home half-alive, half-dead
Emaciated in the ascetic postures feigned
It’s all in One contained
Seek your master, say your prayers and
surrender to God.
It will lead you to mystic abandon
And help you to get attuned to the Lord
It’s the truth that Bulleh has gained
It’s all in One contained
Hold tight to this point, forget your calculations,
Leave the miserable state of unbelief,
Do not torment yourself with the fear of death and hell,
For these are imaginary fears.
Only into such a house will the truth enter.
At this one point, all talk ends.
For no reason you abrade your forehead on the ground,
You display reverence at the mehraab,
You recite the Kalma to entertain a listener.
But knowledge does not enter your heart.
Can the truth ever remain hidden?
At this one point, all talk ends.
Many return from Mecca as hajjis,
Blue shawls across their shoulders.
They profit from the merit earned by haj.
Who can admire such behavior?
Can the truth ever remain hidden?
At this one point, all talk ends.
Some withdraw to the forest,
Eat a single grain a day.
Bereft of understanding, they exhaust the body,
And return home in bad shape,
Their life sucked dry with useless fasting and prayer.
At this one point, all talk ends
Hold fast to your murshid
Become a devotee of all creation,
Intoxicated, carefree,
Without desire, indifferent to the world.
Let your heart be fully clean.
Bulla asks, can the truth then be stopped?
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Sufi Poetry 