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Poem by Bulleh Shah (1680-1757) set to music and sung by Hadiqa Kiani

Kamlee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oGSq6iGSjQ


Tell me, in the city of Lahore
How many doors and windows are there?
Tell me also about its bricks.
How many are still firm, and how many lie broken?
Tell me, inside the city of Lahore
How many wells have fresh water and how many are ruined with salt?
Think carefully before you answer.
How many are married and how many single?

I will tell you what lies in the city of Lahore.
There are millions of doors and millions of windows.
The bricks burn in the memory of lovers’ footsteps.
Only those lie broken.
Only wells that quench a lover’s thirst
Only those who sit with their lovers are married and others are still single

Pilgrims go to Mecca
My beloved Ranjha is my Mecca.
O! I am crazy
O! I am crazy
Pilgrims go to Mecca
My beloved Ranjha is my Mecca.
O! I am crazy
O! I am crazy


What is the use of wearing kohl
Which is washed away with streaming tears?
Why wear glass
Which can shatter with a nudge?
Why bother putting on color
That would melt away with every drop?
Why bother killing the lover
When he would die with the thought of your anger?

I am crazy indeed
I am crazy
To Ranjha I am betrothed
My father pushes me
O! I am crazy
O! I am crazy
O! I am crazy



If God was to be found by bathing
Then fish and frogs would have found Him.
If God was to be found by roaming in jungles
Then cows and calves would have found Him.
If God was to be found in Mosques
Then bats would have found Him.
He is only found by those
Who are pure at heart.

O! I am crazy


Yes, you have read a thousand books
Books…
Yes, you have read a thousand books
But you have never read your own self
You rush to temples and mosques
But you never tried to enter your own heart
All your battles with Satan are lost
For you have never tried to fight your own desires
Saint Bulleh Shah says
Saint Bulleh Shah says you try to touch the one in the sky
But you have never tried to to touch the one who lives inside your heart


O! I am crazy
O! I am crazy

More from the fabulous women of Sufi from Punjab and Sindh (Pakistan)....

Rang (Color) by Hadiqa Kiani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdz0xrXY9I4
...a love song or ghazal which has a verse
My body and my beloved's mind
The color of both became one
..which sort of reminded me of the LC line 'you've touched her perfect body with your mind'

Ishq Kinara/Uskuder'a Gider Iken by Zoe Viccaji and Sumru Agiryuruyen (sung in Urdu and Turkish)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxds9ELol1A

Nigah-e-Darwaishaan by Abida Parveen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl5eZb4eudc

Mori Araj Suno (Hear my Plea) by Tina Sani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-sZOGBTgcs

poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Hear my plea, O Protector
O Mother, to whom do I describe the anguish of my soul
Hear my plea, O Protector
I am a faithful follower of my Creator
O my Lord, pay heed to my appeal
My true Lord, you had said
“Go Man, you are Master of the world
My bounties on earth are your treasure
You are the viceroy of your Creator”

Countless years have passed by
My Lord, did you ever enquire what transpired with your Man
What has happened to your Man
Did you ever inquire
What this world has done to your King?

In one place, there is the menace of police and state
in another, there is cheating over money and land
My soul is shaken down to my bone
Just like a crane shrieks when caught in a trap

You made a fine king indeed, my Lord
All I have gotten are endless beatings
I don’t want kingship, my Lord
All I want is a morsel of respect
I have no desire to live in palaces or mansions
I just want a small corner to live in
Heed me and I will heed you
I won’t decline a single command of yours
But if you do not look out for me, Lord
Then I shall go and seek another god
Hear my plea, O Protector!


In this manner
Pleading
Recounting the pain
Rowing the boat
Making entreaty
Waiting expectantly
Countless centuries have passed by

Only now the secret has been revealed
The one who you had appealed to
The one who held your hand
the place where your boat had found its shore
From whom you asked for the cure for your pain
The one who did not visit your temple
It was your own self
It was your own self

Couple more great ones by Arieb Azhar....

Husn-e-Haqiqi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbp4GXmF0ZQ

Na Raindee Hai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxH5wQtWZqQ


Husn e Haqiqi – Beauty of Truth

- Ghulam Farid (1841-1901)

O’ Beauty of Truth, the Eternal Light!
Do I call you necessity and possibility,
Do I call you the ancient divinity,
The One, creation and the world,
Do I call you free and pure Being,
Or the apparent lord of all,
Do I call you the souls, the egos and the intellects,
The imbued manifest, and the imbued hidden,
The actual reality, the substance,
The word, the attribute and dignity,
Do I call you the variety, and the circumstance,
The demeanor, and the measure,
Do I call you the throne and the firmament,
And the demurring delights of Paradise,
Do I call you mineral and vegetable,
Animal and human,
Do I call you the mosque, the temple, the monastery,
The scriptures, the Quran,
The rosary, the girdle,
Godlessness, and faith,
Do I call you the clouds, the flash, the thunder,
Lightning and the downpour,
Water and earth,
The gust and the inferno,
Do I call you Lakshman, and Ram and lovely Sita,
Baldev, Shiv, Nand, and Krishna,
Brahma, Vishnu and Ganesh,
Mahadev and Bhagvaan,
Do I call you the Gita, the Granth, and the Ved,
Knowledge and the unknowable,
Do I call you Abraham, Eve and Seth,
Noah and the deluge,
Abraham the friend, and Moses son of Amran,
And Ahmad the glorious, darling of every heart,
Do I call you the witness, the Lord, or Hejaz,
The awakener, existence, or the point,
Do I call you admiration or prognosis,
Nymph, fairy, and the young lad,
The tip and the nip,
And the redness of betel leaves,
The Tabla and Tanpura,
The drum, the notes and the improvisation,
Do I call you beauty and the fragrant flower,
Coyness and that amorous glance,
Do I call you Love and knowledge,
Superstition, belief, and conjecture,
The beauty of power, and conception,
Aptitude and ecstasy,
Do I call you intoxication and the drunk,
Amazement and the amazed,
Submission and the connection,
Compliance and Gnosticism,
Do I call you the Hyacinth, the Lily, and the Cypress,
And the rebellious Narcissus,
The bereaved Tulip, the Rose garden, and the orchard,
Do I call you the dagger, the lance, and the rifle,
The hail, the bullet, the spear,
The arrows made of white poplar, and the bow,
The arrow-notch, and the arrowhead,
Do I call you colorless, and unparalleled,
Formless in every instant,
Glory and holiness,
Most glorious and most compassionate,
Repent now Farid forever!
For whatever I may say is less,
Do I call you the pure and the humane,
The Truth without trace or name.

Translation by Arieb Azhar

Daanah Pa Daanah (Grain upon Grain/Multitude of grains) by Komal Rizvi and Akhtar Zahri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3F7kcLrGvA

Nawai Ney (Song of the Reed) by Tina Sani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqD4rns_jY

Click 'cc' for translations

Poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Shaam (Evening)

The trees are dark ruins of temples,
seeking excuses to tremble
since who knows when–
their roofs are cracked,
their doors lost to ancient winds.
And the sky is a priest,
saffron marks on his forehead,
ashes smeared on his body.
He sits by the temples, worn to a shadow, not looking up.

Some terrible magician, hidden behind curtains,
has hypnotized Time
so this evening is a net
in which the twilight is caught.
Now darkness will never come–
and there will never be morning.

The sky waits for this spell to be broken,
for history to tear itself from this net,
for Silence to break its chains
so that a symphony of conch shells
may wake up to the statues
and a beautiful, dark goddess,
her anklets echoing, may unveil herself.

Sufiana Sindhi



Saif al Malook (Excerpts from Journey of Love) with translation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El_C9e5JcWc

The last two lines of the penultimate verse of the song above is translated in the video as "When the Friend is found, I am grateful a thousand fold"
To my ears the lines are actually

Yaar milan dukh jaan hazara
Shukr kare lakhbari

which is better translated as

When the Friend is found, the sadness is gone thousand fold
I am grateful a hundred thousand fold


Rang Laga (Sanam Marvi & Sajjad Ali)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpczer35yBQ

Koi Labda (Sanam Marvi & Symt)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUDpqMdMxTo

Ishq Di Booti (Abrar ul Haq)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLf2ewlaLMA

Ramooz e Ishq (Abida Parveen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0EoMozYWSs

Dastaan e Ishq (Ali Zafar)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UknDjQZr5E

Nahin re Nahin (Ali Zafar)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG26ZAnFJpM

my own imperfect translation...I get the general idea of the song.

socha kya kabhi tu ney yeh
ai tum kaha se ho
jao ge kaha, yeh socha
nahin re nahin!

Did you ever think of this
Where did you come from
Where will you go
No!...No! (or No, friend, No!)

kaise hai yeh duniya dekho
kaise kaise log yeha
tumne isko hai pehchana
nahin re nahin!

Look at how this world is
Who are the people who are here
Do you recognize some of them
No!...No!

ik tu aur ik tera maula
woh bole mujhe bataa
tumne us se batein ke
nahin re nahin!

There is you and there is your God (or One is you and One is your God)
He says "Tell me"
Did you talk to him
No!...No!

tu ne kya banaiye
tu ne kya sajaiye
sab ke haat? us ke
tu ne baat banaiye

What did you make
What did you enhance/decorate/make beautiful
He did everything
You did the talking

kisi ka mil? hai
kisi ka hai yeh marzi
tumne jhaaka hai usme
nahin re nahin!

someone has put this mix together(not sure?)
This was someone's Will
Did you look into this
No!....No!
(not sure about this verse)

zindagi yeha hai
waqt pareshan hai
is ke hakikat ko jaana
nahin re nahin!

This is Life here
Time is getting exhausted
Did you know the truth/reality of this
No!...No!

jo tera khuda hai
woh mera khuda hai
tera kaha na manoo to
mujhe keo saja hai

The one who is your God
He is also my God
If I do not accept your words
Why punish me

kadi aa tu dil ke andar
kadi aa tu dil ke andar
mai tera mast qalandar
mai tera mast qalandar

Come sometime inside the heart
Come sometime inside the heart
I am your Qalandar*/Highest Self
I am your Highest Self

socha kya kabhi tu ney yeh
ai tum kaha se ho
jao ge kaha, yeh socha
nahin re nahin!

ik tu aur ik tera maula
woh bole mujhe bataa
tumne us se batein ke
nahin re nahin!

* Concept from Sufi Islam cannot be translated into English but perhaps Highest Self is not a bad approximation.

Bridging the divide with music, poetry and a smile...Tina Sani of Pakistan singing the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the predominantly Hindu nations of Nepal and India. She is like the Joan Baez of South Asia.


Bol, ke lab azaad hain tere (Speak, for your lips are free) and Hum Dekhenge (We Shall See) - Live in Kathmandu, Nepal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMYms5ukbN8


Kuch Pehle (Live in India)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBFTT5zDcc

Suneeta Rao rocks out on Bulleh Shah's poetry in Bangalore, India.

Mast Qalandar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfUmD4YFxjU

She sang Hallelujah at the same concert (also posted in covers section). Probably the only time ever Bulleh Shah and Leonard Cohen has been sung at the same concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GxqGv7IAaU

*translation of Bulleh Shah song is given under the Komal Rizvi link Daanah Pa Daanah (Mast Qalandar is the latter part of the song) posted earlier on this thread. Leonard Cohen needs no translation.

Two awesome ghazals in Urdu with translations included in the video - sung by Sanam Marvi and Tina Sani

Parishan ho ke meri khaak aakhir dil na ban jaye (If my scattered dust should become a heart again)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOdusjG2dfw

I am not sure "parishan" literally means "scattered" - it is probably an untranslatable word, more like a combination of upset/frustrated/scattered/broken.



Mere Dil mere Musafir (My heart, my traveller)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLwc5Wcs-9c

In the first link the song starts about 4 mins into the video...


Punjabi folk song by Sanam Marvi and Arif Lohar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBikcOgneUk

The musicianship is awesome on this one....


Rabba Ho by Saieen Zahoor and Sanam Marvi (translation included with 'cc')
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEjfiBWPHmA

What a beautiful post—thank you for sharing this. Bulleh Shah’s poetry always feels like it transcends time, but hearing it brought to life through Hadiqa Kiani’s voice adds another layer of emotional power. “Kamlee” really captures the essence of spiritual longing and the madness of love that Sufi poets like Bulleh Shah were never afraid to embrace fully.

I love how the poem dances between the physical and the metaphysical—using Lahore, bricks, doors, and wells as symbols for inner states and emotional truths. The line “Only wells that quench a lover’s thirst” hit especially hard; it’s such a vivid way to show how meaning is created through love, not through dry statistics or empty rituals.

That verse about rituals—bathing, roaming, fasting, even reading—is so sharp in its critique. It reminds me how much Sufi philosophy asks us to strip away layers of pretense and ritual to find the divine within, not outside. Bulleh Shah’s challenge is always the same: look inward.

Also, the refrain “O! I am crazy” feels both joyful and tragic—like a cry of liberation and an admission of helplessness before love and truth. That tension is what makes this poem so powerful, and probably why it still resonates centuries later.

Thanks again for posting this—it’s a great reminder of how art, poetry, and music can touch the parts of us that are hard to reach with reason alone.