Bulla Ki Janna, a kafi written by Sufi Saint Bulleh Shah (1680 to 1758), from Kasur, (now in Pakistan), is a great aesthetic, spiritual and metaphysical composition.
This is a great, inspirational kafi which has always indulged a divine thought in me. I have always looked for it’s good translation and tried to translate it, but could not do it better. Recently I found it and I am pasting it after a bit of pruning.
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
[Bulla! I know not who I am]
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
[Bulla! I know not who I am]
Na main moman vich maseetan
[Nor am I the believer in mosque]
Na main vich kufar dian reetan
[Nor am I in the rituals of the infidel]
Na main pakan vich paleetan
[Nor am I the pure in the impure]
Na main andar bed kitaban
[Nor am I inherent in the Vedas]
Na main rehnda phaang sharaban
[Nor am I present in intoxicants]
Na main rehnda mast kharaban
[Nor am I lost nor the corrupt]
Na main shadi na ghamnaki
[Nor am I union nor grief]
Na main vich paleetan pakeen
[Nor am I intrinsic in the pure/impure]
Na main aaabi na main khaki
[Nor am I of the water nor of the land]
Na main aatish na main paun
[Nor am I fire nor air]
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
[Bulla! I know not what I am]
Na main arabi na lahori
[Nor am I Arabic nor from Lahore]
Na main hindi shehar Nagaori
[Nor am I the Indian City of Nagaur]
Na hindu na turk pashauri
[Nor a Hindu nor a Peshawri turk]
Na main bhet mazhab de paya
[Nor did I create the difference of faith]
Na main aadam hawwa jaya
[Nor did I create adam-eve]
Na koi apna naam dharaya
[Nor did I name myself]
Avval aakhar aap nu jana
[Beginning or end I know just the self]
Na koi dooja hor pacchana
[Do not acknowledge duality]
Mai ton na koi hor syana
[There’s none wiser than I]
Bulle shah kharha hai kaun
[Who is this Bulla Shah]
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
[Bulla! I know not who I am]
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
[Bulla! I know not who I am]
Na main moosa na pharoah
[Nor am I Moses nor Pharoah]
Na main aatish na main paun
[Nor am I fire nor wind]
Na main rahnda vich Nadaun
[I do not stay in Nadaun (city of innocents)]
Bulle shah kharha hai kaun
[Bullashah, who is this man standing?]
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
[Bulla! I know not who I am]
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
[Bulla! I know not who I am]
Great Kafi.
By: Tosueef Liaqat on September 15, 2006
at 6:09 am
wow.. great
By: sathish on October 3, 2006
at 2:00 pm
Im still confused about the first line. it says ‘Bulla ki janna mein kaun’, wouldnt that translate as ‘Bulla, why know who i am’? like he is questioning – what is the point of knowing who i am?
if you could help me out it would be great! thanks
By: Isra on January 24, 2007
at 7:22 am
Thats wicked poetry i love it.
to isra
Strange cause i thought if you actually read it in urdu/punjabi and then translate properly in english, it would mean
“Bullah doesnt know who i am” or “what does bullah know who i am”
however its the word to word translation that has been done above which makes it confusing.
By: Nafsta on February 13, 2007
at 10:19 pm
gr8888888
godd 2 find my city`s name in this gr8 song.i am frm NAGPUR
By: saurabh on March 15, 2007
at 1:17 pm
Nice! We very enjoyed your site .
By: Arizona Home Equity Loan Ohio# on April 18, 2007
at 12:05 am
What a fantastic translation. One song to unite all religions and very deep in eaning.
By: rajiiv on July 16, 2007
at 3:02 pm
Why is it difficult for Desis to enjoy something for what it is? Why this eagerness to use anything and everything beautiful to “unite all religions”? Is it that difficult to just simply enjoy?
By: SB on January 25, 2010
at 5:55 am
in these lines bulleh means to say that there is nothing as mine or yours. We exist with each others support so he canot define himself as belonging to anything in particular in other words life is universal.
Bulleh ki jaana ma kaun gives us the feeling that he was a selfless man and one line says that besides all this dont mistake me to be innocent(naadan)
By: rabinder on July 28, 2007
at 11:27 am
“Bulla Ki Janna Me kaun?”
I believe he is asking himself what we would call in Western philosophy an Existentialist question. Please correct me if I am wrong but the word “Atish” is Seraiki not Punjabi. I think this is not a Punjabi poetry rather Seraiki.
By: Joe Tareen on November 1, 2007
at 3:56 am
its a great lyrics…i loved it so much. Actually i was trying to download the song but i couldn’t get it because i don’t know the singer’s name nor the title of the song. Can anybody help me??? i am desperate to have the song. Thank you!!!!
By: lanumenla on January 25, 2008
at 1:50 pm
I like and I very love the poetry of baba bulle shah………….
By: farhan on February 23, 2008
at 10:37 am
wow I like it………
By: Amir on February 23, 2008
at 10:39 am
Amazing
By: Mirzah on April 21, 2008
at 3:57 pm
Bulleh shah is great and his poetry is real and True.
By: shah subzwari on May 13, 2008
at 7:28 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTxZy32Fv_0
poem as a song
By: pc on July 7, 2008
at 5:14 am
Definitely agree that its a touching song with touching lyrics…yet, as a Hindu, I sorta feel offended by the following line: “Nor am I in the rituals of the infidel”
Makes me wonder that if the great Bulla Shah was so religion neutral then why call any religion, specifically Hinduism, a religion of infidels?
By: Keerti on August 16, 2008
at 3:08 am
excellent myth…..gr8 superb
only 1 with a vision can get dat.simply beautiful
By: abdul mannan chattha on December 27, 2008
at 6:28 pm
koooolllll dude>>>>
what a beatifulsong>>>
By: vartik aghi on June 9, 2009
at 5:19 am
this is a GREAT service you have done to all the lovers of Sufi poets. You did this effort in 2006, please could you continue this great service translating the famous kafis of great Sufi poets? i am using this piece to arouse interest amongst the younger generation regarding Sufism and Sufi poets.
By: Munir on August 11, 2009
at 3:38 pm
indeed baba bulhe shah is a great mystic poet of pakistan.his kafi ‘kee janan men koun’ is also a wonderful creation.this also teaches us that there is no room amongst us for any kind of hatred either for muslim or hindu or any other religion whatever is it.not like talibani islam.
AKBER KHOSO
TIHSIL JOHI
DISTT.DADU,SINDH PAKISTAN.
By: AKBER KHOSO on August 24, 2009
at 10:10 am
this song expresses the euphoric state of a man where he finds himself in this world of religions (mazhab) and he does does not find himself in any materialistic aspects neitheir in religion nor as a man bound to any worldly rituals…… Its truly mystique poem where a person asks god Bulleh Shah.
By: Sumit Verma on November 27, 2009
at 3:02 pm
This is a great translation – Thank you!! I would never have learnt about Bulleh Shah had it not been for the songs sung by Junoon and the other Singer (forget his name – sorry).
Thanks,
sb
By: SB on January 25, 2010
at 5:56 am