Sufi Poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai

[Eve]

Sufi Poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai

Translated In Verse By: Elsa Kazi
Shah Abdul Latif of Bhittai is a very great Sindhi Poet and his art in one sense is "impressionst par excellence". These incidents and episodes are called 'Surs' (musical themes), as if only the hidden music of all, that is seen and felt, is taken note of and expressed.

Hope

I
1
In Infinitude I ross,
O guide no bound perceive mine eyes
Tortuous beauty of the Loved,
Has no limit, has no size-
Here intensive longing lies,
There the Loved-ones do not care!

2
Cursed be duality, Beloved,
From 'Self' do shelter me-
O, hold the 'I' near thee,
But thou canst reach 'thyself', O master.

3
But thou canst reach 'thyself' master;
Nothing but Beauty is;
O doubter, couldst thou doubt dismiss,
There's no Idea then left.-

4
Beloved, hold the 'I' near thee;
All self concern I've cast from me;
Protector mine, with duality
I wasted far too many days!

5
That is real dualism, when
Non-dualist yourself you call;
Be shorn of separateness, and
'Ego' let not thy soul enthral;
For 'this', doth not exist at all;
And 'that' not known is without 'this'.

6
'That' is not known without 'this', and
From 'this', 'that' doth not separate stand;
"Human my secret is, and I
Am his, that thou must understand"-
This voice did spound from end to end,
By seers, and the knowing ones.

7
No one who loaded is with 'Self';
The other side will see,
For God is one, and Oneness loves;
So spurn duality;
And all thy anxious tears "to be",
Shed at altar of unity.

8
The servant too has no beginning,
And no end shall see-
Who the Beloved found, shall be
Absorbed for ever there.

9
Everyone knows where he is
I know not where I stand;
Guides and books there many are,
And they are close at hand-
But I, do seek the distant land
Where 'yes' and 'no'are not.

10
'Yes' and 'no', still within reach
Of earthly idea are;
But beyond all vision far
Is the Beauty that I seek.

11
Sometime or other, beauteous forms
Will be overwhelming thee;
But falcon of Reality,
Let not heedlessly escape.

12
The sensuous beauty thrashed me so
As carders cotton beat;
And now my hands are obsolete,
My body's paralysed.

13
Confound thy senses, and renounce
Thy 'Self'...Him- knowing be;
To recognize the Loved-one, drop
Thy personality;
And then coarse multiplicity
With unity destroy-

II
14
The Loved-one bound me-
Threw me into waters deep;
And said: "Now dry do keep,
And getting wet avoid."

15
One that is into water thrown
From getting wet, how could be free?
Enlightened one, this mystery
How I might solve it, say-

16
"Rely on contemplation, but
Of law neither neglectful be...
Your heart get used to Reality
Which is your Destiny to see;
Be resolute, and verily
You'll be immune from getting wet."

17
Ah, Reality broke my
Existence, so that I;
Can no more breathe without it,
In its presence high;
My soul suffused doth lie,
Exclusive of all else.-

18
Be silent- do not move your lips;
Your eyes do close, your hearing stay...
Drink not your fill, and at your meals
When still half hungry, turn away-
And then a glimpse enjoy you may
Of image that your mind's .depth holds-

19
Would of the august secret
I divulge one whit-
Trees would burn up,-unfit
For growth all earth would be.-

III
20
Let your eyes an offering be
For Loved-one ere you break your fast;
Sumptuous dishes serventy
You'll get by seeing Loved-ones face.-

[Eve]

Some Slected couplets Of Sha Latif

Those who lost their path, searching the rocks,
Learnt much from the lost path,
Giving up both the worlds, beaten track they follow not.
Dust on their bodies for the Beloved they gather,
Some knowledge of "Lahut" seem to possess these wanderers

The heart has but one beloved
Many you should not seek
Just give heart to one
Even hundreds may seek
Weasles they are called
Who get betrothed at every door.

Unity with no equal
Ponder on this reality
Win or lose
This shall be your abode
Surely He will say drink
The intoxicant of heavens!

That which you regard as couplets
Are verses revealed divine
They guide our soul
Towards the essence of the Beloved!

Sufi is not limited by religious bounds
He discloses not the war he wages in his mind
Helps and assists those who with him fight.

[Eve]

When I an arrow do recive
on that spot I remain;
Perhaps my Hero-love again
will strike in mercy sweet.

Physician give no medicine.
may health I never see...
May be, enquiring after me
my love to me will come.

Sacrifice your head, and 'suffer'
if loved-ones send dismay...
Say not, 'Forsaken''t is their way
like this to form their links

Those that cut me up, became
the kindly surgeon too-
The wound they quickly dressed, and cured
within a day the same
Oh heart! and now make this your aim
"stay with them, and be safe from wounds"

As long there is no need, so long
physician is not here...
But when one day pain does appear
it is as though the leech had come!

They read and read, but what they read
their hearts refuse to store-
The more they pages turn, the more
are deeply steeped in sin.

O friend, why are you still inclined
to waste paper and ink-
Go rather forth and try to find
the source where words were formed.

The world with 'I' doth overflow
and with it flaunts about-
But its own 'Self' it doth not know...
't is a migician's spell.

They do not heed the glorious line
that does begin with 'A'-
In vain they look for the Divine,
though page on page they turn.

You only read the letter

[Waseemtabish]

nice collection
gr8

[Eve]

thnx dear...

[Eve]

Ramkali-VII

(Yogis)

I
1
The glorious yogis in this world,<
some 'Fire' bring, some 'Light'-
Who kindle themselves to 'ignite',
"I cannot live without them"!

2
I on a festal bed did sleep,
then from a sigh woke I,
Those who aroused me with a sigh
"I cannot live without them"-

3
The music of renouncing ones
great 'wealth' for me is this
They have no need of words; nor speech
their way and fashion is
Ah, those that have 'become', I wis,
"I cannot live without them"-

4
O nothing with themselves they take,
with 'Self' they parted company-
And those in whom such traits I see,
"I cannot live without them"!

II
5
With hunger yogis pack their bags
preparing for a revelry...
By tempting foods, they are not moved,
and out they pour so lustily
The 'thirst' to drink; their minds they flog
until like beaten flax they be...
So through long wastes they wade, to see
at last fertility and life!

6
Food has no charm for yogis, since
it left them with a bitter taste;
From human beings they beg not;
their call for help is in the waste;
They choose poverty, and embraced
sorrow with reverence sincere!

7
No bowls they carry, nor to ask
from houses they do care;
God-loving, oh so far away
from human-doors they fare
No law they need, within they bear
a court of justice pure!

8
They sleep at sunset, and again
at midnight rise, God-lovers these-
Their faces only wash with dust...
When dawn approaches then one sees
them lie by road-side ill at ease;
that they are 'Yogis', ne'er they tell.

9
These God-lovers, they do unfold
humility within their eyes-
They have no fathers, mothers, castes,
no pedigrees, no ties untold;
God is their One relationship
that they within their pure souls hold;
Of all the treasures mainfold
a lion-cloth all their savings is.

10
And when their lion-cloth they have bound
ablutions more they do not need...
They too had heard the holy call,
Before Islam that did sound
All ties they severed, and they found
at last the guide they wished to meet.

11
The selfless ones you know by this,
that no desire they do bear;
Their sign the non-dependence is,
and freedom from relationship.

12
Whose heads bent on their knees must be,
their beings integrated are;
Their hearts like compass do return
to the Divine perpetually-
divested are by 'Reality';
From sin's account-giving all free,
are those whose state 'Direction' is!

III
13
This night they will with you remain,
tomorrow they will wend their way;
A longing for the patient ones
in every of your veins retain;
For, only fate will bring again
this kind of yogis to your door.

14
They will abide with you today,
tomorrow they will disappear-
On yogis feast, and so enrich
your soul, before they go away...
Oh seek their feet, or else you may
pine vainly after they are gone.

15
Before they leave your homely door,
with them a heart-to-heart talk have;
And sacrifice yourself on them
ten times during the day, or more-
As soon they leave for Hingalore,
then only fate can bring them back!

16
God-seeker's voice today I miss,
the courtyard now is desolute;
The sight of empty places here,
Kills me, so tortuous it is-
Who to the soul gave life and bliss,
the selfless ones, departed are!

17
Today the yogis disappeared,
remembering them, I wept whole night;
Those whom I searched and so revered,
are vanished never to return...

18
As men are hunting after food,
would they journey's direction ask;
E'en creeping , they in holy mood
the track would find, and all woe.

19
And as for bread some chase, were they
in self-same manner seek for God
They'd drag themselves to find the way,
and their sorrows then would end!

20
What feast is for the vulgar, know
sweet hunger that for yogis is;
They love to keep the fast and go
ne'er near where feasts they see.

21
The yogis that are favouring still
delicious morsels, garments fine;
To get near God they never will
but far away from Him they dwell.
22
as always wet they are...
They wake and weep and so they keep
sleep at a distance far!


23
Alas! correctly you don't hear
with ears appended to your head-
The 'Message' you should hear instead
with ears that are within you placed.

24
In asinine ears do not trust,
dispose of them without delay;
Purchase such ears with which you may
IV

25
Purpose that made them yogis,
so long that's not attained,
So long renouncers' life constrained
To tears and longing is.

26
They never laugh, nor do they feast-
With no man do converse-
In depths profound they do immerse
'These' are the mystery!

27
Where there's no height, no heaven,
And of the earth no trace;
Where moon doth never rise, nor sun
Doth ever show his face;
There yogis see their limits,
And see their resting place-
Their clues reach far, till now their gaze
Found in negation Reality!

[Eve]

Asa-V

(Hope)


21
If my eyes at rise for other
Sight than the Beloved care-
From their sockets I will tear
My eyes as morsels for the crows.-

22
Facial phenomenalists
Do not try to see with those,
Longing gapings with those eyes
Never Loved-ones features shows-
Only when both eyes you close
The Beloved you will see.

23
Dwell in mine eyes Beloved fair
That I can close them now;
No one may ever see you there
And I nought else shall see.

24
Acquire eyes that able are
to visualize Beloved's face;
Not then at any other gaze
Loved-ones are very sensitive.

25
About dead Elephant amongst
the blind arose parley-
They handled it all over, but
Blind eyes could nought convey-
Decisive word can say-
The 'seers' only can display
The genuine truth of things.-

26
The sense of wonder doth not dwell
Within the vulgar mind-
Secret of Love to trace and find
Is no task for the blind.-

27
For whom so anxiously we pine,
We ourselves are those;
O doubt, be gone with all your woes
For Loved-ones we have found.-

28
Eyes weep and yet rejoice each day
to look and to adore-
The more they see loved-ones, the more
drunk they with love do get.

29
The more I prohibited eyes
to look, the more they longed;
They crossed the sleeping world, to find
loved-one at any price-
They killed me ah...but in this wise
peace for themselves secured.-

30
Relationship with the 'visible',
In no case do desire-
Why not you for the real enquire
and set out, seeking that?

31
Hear, and take note, that you yourself
are 'barrier', and what is
Between the union and its bliss
Is nothing but yourself.

32
The love wants that love's secret
alone his own shall be;-
But eyes that flow continuosly
and sinking heart;...betray. -

IV
33
Corrupt ones can corrupt, whose love
Is very weak, indeed-
But whom love has consumed, succeed
they can't for he the vile one slew.-

34
When praying, think not of yourself,
Or prayers are in vain;
All thinking of yourself restrain
Drop self, and then do pray.-

35
You profess to be a 'faithful'
Holy maxims you recite...
But your heart deceit is hiding
Duality-satanic spite-
Faithful outward, you delight
in idolate'rise inside.-

36
Seek not the form of one that your
'Beloved' you do call,
As conversation not at all
can happen face to face.-

37
Converse you hold when cross you are
Can never loved-one reach
Some mischief monger longs to mar
your heart, and spoil your love.

38
For to be cross is not the way;
two stones, can they unite?
'tis love that doth the cosmos sway-
through love alone it lives.-

39
Each claims to be on right path here;
But I have lost myself-
Desiring and acquiring are
So very, very near-
I set my mind on distant sphere
where 'yes' and 'no' are not.

40
Demerits world decries, loved-one
at so-called merits cross would be-
My deeds, I mentioned with my tongue
now all undone in dust I see.-
Then I discounted all my deeds,
which once I thought were charity,
An embassage I sent of shame;
Regrets and deep humanity,
But oh...my love made up with me
only when 'I' had disappeared. -

41
Whose body is a rosary,
the mind a bead, a harp the heart.
Love-strings are playing there the theme
of unity in every part;
The nerves do chant: "There's none like thee;
the 'One' and only one thou art.-
E'en sleeping beauty they impart,
their very sleep their worship is!

[Sureshlasi]

Superb agglomeration...........Keep it up !!!

[Eve]

thnx alot dear...

[Waseemtabish]

nice sharing please carry on
waseem abbas tabish