Gurmukhi

Awwal allah noor upaya, kudrat ke sab bandey [First, Allah created the Light; then, by His Creative Power, He made all mortal beings.] Ek noor te sab jag upajya, koun bhalley koun mandey [From the One Light, the entire universe welled up. So who is good, and who is bad?] Loga bharam na bhoolau bhai [O people, O Siblings of Destiny, do not wander (aimlessly) deluded by doubt.] Khalik khalak, khalak meh khalik, puur reheyo sarab thanee [The Creation is in the Creator, and the Creator is in the Creation, totally pervading and permeating all places.] ...

Ajj akhan Waris Shah nu is about the horrors of the partition of the Punjab during the 1947 Partition of India. The poem is addressed to the historic Punjabi poet Waris Shah (1722-1798 CE), who had written the most popular version of the Punjabi love tragedy, Heer Ranjha. It appeals to Waris Shah to arise from his grave, record the Punjab’s tragedy and turn over a new page in Punjab’s history. ...

Hindu na nahee musalman, [Neither Hindu nor Muslim,] Bhai tiranjan taj abhiman. [Sacrificing pride, let us sit together.] Sunni na nahi ham Shia, [Neither Sunni nor Shia,] Sulha kuhl ka marg lia. [Let us walk the road of the peace.] Bhooke na nahi ham rajhe, [Neither hungry nor replete] Nange na nahi ham kajhe. [Neither naked nor covered up] Ronde nahi ham hasde, [Neither weeping nor laughing] Ujade na nahi ham vasde. [Neither ruined nor settled] Paapi na sudharmi na, [Neither sinner nor virtuous] Na paap punn ki rah jaanan. [What is sin and what is virtue, this I do not know] Bulleh Shah jo hari chit laage, [Says Bulleh Shah, the one who attaches himself with the lord.] Hindu turak dohe tiyagi. [Gives up being hindu or muslim] ...