Ji Chahe Tu Sheesha Ban Ja

Gateways To Joy

›

Love Poetry

›

Sufi & Bhakti

›

Ji Chahe Tu Sheesha Ban Ja

Gateways To Joy

Love Poetry

Ji Chahe Tu Sheesha Ban Ja

3 Mar 2013

Heard this Sufi composition a couple of weeks ago. Sung by Abida Parveen in the album Raqs-e-Bismil.

An awesome Sufi poem by Hazrat Zaheen Shah Taji.

Step by step, the poet wonders if any of these is worthwhile: to become the chalice? Or the wine? Or the tavern? Or the tale of intoxication? Or one who forgets himself (in devotion)? Or a madman (madly in love with the divine)? Or one who submits to the beloved? Or a moth that cools a candle flame?

Finally, the poet says that none of the above is worthwhile. Be yourself! Peace and joy lies inside. Be content with what you already are! Because you are perfect, you are divinity itself. Be one with yourself. For example, sit in the sun and enjoy a cup of tea. With peace and joy in your heart. With a friend, if possible. Otherwise, by yourself. With the understanding that the Universe is exactly how it should be.

A quote by Ajahn Chah (1918 - 1992), a famous Buddhist teacher from Thailand, is related:

Do not try to become anything.
Do not make yourself into anything.
Do not be a meditator.
Do not become enlightened.
When you sit, let it be.
What you walk, let it be.
Grasp at nothing.
Resist nothing.

Another composition that is similar: Dhoondhoge Agar Mulkon Mulkon (Shaad Azeemabadi).

Roman Script

Ji chahe to sheesha ban ja, ji chahe paimana ban ja
Sheesha paimana kya banna, mai ban ja maikhana ban ja

Translation

If you wish, become the glass, or the chalice.
But why become these when you can become the wine and the tavern.

Roman Script

Mai ban kar, maikhana ban kar, masti ka afsana ban ja
Masti ka afsana bankar, hasti se begaana ban ja

Translation

By becoming the wine and the tavern, become the tale of intoxication.
By becoming the tale of intoxication, become a stranger to life (interpretation: forget yourself, lose yourself in the lust of devotion).

Hindi

Hasti se bagaana hona, masti ka afsana banna
Is hone se, is banne se, achha hai deewana ban ja

Translation

Becoming a tale, becoming a stranger to being:
Better than these, however, is to become a madman (or someone madly in love (with God).

Roman Script

Deewana ban jane se, deewana hona achha hai
Deewana hone se achha, khak-e-dar e janaana ban ja

Translation

Better than becoming a madman is to be a madman!
Better than being a madman is to become dust at the door of a beloved.

Roman Script

Khak-e-dar-e-janaana kya hai, ahle dil ki annkh ka surma
Shama ke dil ki thandak ban ja, noor e dil e parwana ban ja

Translation

What is dust, but kohl ("surma") in the eyes of the people of the heart!
Become the coolness that quiesces a candle, become the moth that illuminates the heart.

Roman Script

Seekh Zaheen ke dil se jalna, kaahe ko har shamma par jalna
Apni aag mein khud jal jaye, tu aisa parwana ban ja

Translation

Learn, Zaheen (the intelligent one) to burn from the heart. Why burn for every flame? Instead, become the moth that burns in its own fire. In other words, submit and realize that you are the fire (inner light) itself, just like a wave is part of the ocean.

gurmeet@gmail.com