#bhitai

[tasavvuur]

Don’t fall in love with those who wander in boats. When sailors set sail, those standing on the shore are left grieving.

- kabhi waqt mile toh fursat se suniyega 👆🏼

[bakaity-poetry]

My beloved tied me up and threw me into deep water. He just stood there and told me not to get the hem of my clothes wet.

“Risalo” by Shah Abdul Latif, edited and translated by Christopher Shackle

[sufisofsindh]

Music of Soul: Alan Fakir Alan Fakir singing majestic verses of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai from Sur Sassui

[sindhiance]

Shah Latif - the poet extraordinaire | II

In 1718, when Shah Inayat (an eminent Sufi scholar and unmatched social reformer) was assassinated by the Kalhora rulers [details of this historical deception in some other post], Shah Latif was deeply affected. Agonized, Latif composed some eight verses in Sur Ramkali:

اڄ ﻧـ اوﻃــــﺎﻗـــﻦ ۾، ﻃــــــﺎﻟــﺐ ﺗــﻨــﻮارﯾـــﻦ

آدﯾــﺴــﻲ اﭤـــﻲ وﯾـــﺎ، ﻣڙھــﯿــﻮن ﻣﻮن ﻣﺎرﯾﻦ

ﺟـﻲ ﺟﺊ ﮐﻲ ﺟﯿﺎرﯾﻦ، ﺳﻲلاهوتي لڏي ويا

اج ﻧـــﮫ اوﻃـــﺎﻗــــــﻦ ۾، ﺳــﻨـــــﺪي ﺟــﻮﮘـــﯿـــﻦ ذات

ﺳـــــﺎري ﺳــﻨــﯿــﺎﺳـــﻦ ﮐــــﻲ، رﻧـــﻢ ﺳــــــــﺎري رات

ﻣﻮن ﺗﻦ ﺟـﻨــﯿﻦ ﺟﻲ ﺗﺎت، ﺳﻲ ﻻھﻮﺗﻲ ﻟـڏي ويا

Good seeker’s voice today I miss,

The courtyard now is desolated,

The sight of empty places here،

Kill me, so torturous it is

Who to the soul gave life and bliss

The selfless ones are departed

None of the ascetics is available in any house today.

I kept weeping whole night in their memory: The 

Lahutis whom my heart remembers have departed.

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Shah Inayat shaped much of Latif's political ideas. He was a proponent of social system sans of economic exploitation, caste and religious discrimination. As opposed to Makhdooms and Mullahs (religious leaders) he opposed enjoying a political clout and leading a contemporary socio-political life. Many Sufi followers emphasize Latif's focus on religious freedom, equality of humans and social justice beyond caste and creed (it is important to note here that many current followers of Shah Inayat are going exactly the way of Makhdooms, Pirs and Syeds' regal ways of living life, which Shah Sb fought against for). His poetry also prays for the prosperity of other countries of the world along with Sindh's. In Sur Sarang Shah Latif wishes:

ﻣـوٽي مانڊاڻن ﺟــــﻲ، واري ڪﯿــﺎﺋﻮن وار

وﭴــــــﻮن وﺳــــــﮡ آﺋـــﯿـــﻮن، ﭼـــﻮ ڏس ﭤــﻲ ﭼـﻮڌار

ڪي ﭤﯿﻮن اﺳـﺘـﻨـﺒﻮل ڏي. ڪي ﻣڻيون ﻣـﻐﺮب ﭘﺎر

ڪﻲ ﭼـﻤڪﻦ ﭼـﯿﻦ ﺗﻲ، ڪﻲ ﻟــﮭﻦ ﺳﻤـﺮﻗـﻨـﺪن ﺳﺎر

ڪﻲ رﻣﻲ وﯾﻮن روم ﺗﻲ، ڪﻲ قابل ڪﻲ ﻗﻨﮅار

ڪﻲ دﻟـــﻲ، ڪﻲ دﮐــﻦ، ڪـﻲ ﮔـڙن ﻣــــﭥــﻲ ﮔﺮﻧﺎر

ڪﻦ ﺟــﻤــﺒﻲ ﺟــﯿــﺴــﻠﻤــﯿــﺮ ﺗﻲ، ڏﻧﺎ ﺑﯿڪﺎﻧﯿﺮ ﺑـڪﺎر

ڪـﻦ ﭜـــﭷ ﭜـــﭹــﺎﺋــﯿــﻮ، ڪﻨــﯿــﻦ ڍٽ ﻣـــﭥــﺎھـــــﯿــﻦ ڍار

ڪــﻦ ﻋــــﻤــﺮ ڪـﻮٽ ﺗـــــﺎن، وﺳـــــﺎﺋـــﯿــﺎ وﻟـﮭـﺎر

ﺳـــﺎﺋـــﯿـــﻨـﻢ ﺳـــﺪاﺋــﯿـــﻦ، ڪﺮﯾﻦ ﻣـﭥﻲ ﺳـﻨﮅ ﺳــڪﺎر

دوست ﻣـــﭡـــﺎ دﻟـــﺪار، ﻋــــﺎﻟــــﻢ ﺳـــﭛ آﺑﺎد ڪـﺮﯾﻦ

All signs of downpour have appeared.

The skies are covered with clouds and there is a lot of lightning all around.

Some of these clouds and lightning have left for Constantinople and some have turned towards West.

Some have moved to China and others went to Samarqand.

Some of them are destined for Kabul and Rome.

Delhi, Deccan, Girnar, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Bhuj would also receive their share of rain.

Some clouds trekked to Umarkot for the purpose of bringing prosperity to the people of that area.

O my Lord! Keep Sindh prosperous for all times to come 

and also bless the entire world with happiness and prosperity.

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The last two verses make a very preciously-popular prayer among Sindhis.