The Concept of Birha in Punjabi Sufi Poetry
Birha is separation which implies longing for reunion. The Punjabi Sufi seeks
God and craves for oneness with him. The supreme ideal is Fana-Fi-Allah (The
annihilation of the self in God). But the union can also be attained by
identifying oneself with the attributes of God and His creation. The Punjabi
Sufi, like the other Sufis the world over, considers God his Beloved. But the
Beloved here, contrary to the Islamic tradition, is masculine. The human soul,
the woman separated from her lover, yearns for union with the spouse.
Sheikh Ibrahim Farid Sani (1450-1554) is the first Punjabi Sufi poet although
some scholars consider Baba Sheikh Farid Shakar Ganj (1175-1265), the pioneer of
Punjabi Sufi poetry. He regards separation as a painful experience when his
limbs ache and he lies awake the whole night. 'Farid is prepared to burn his
body and the bones in the fire of separation in a bid to have communion with
God.' He lays stress on wifely devotion for the attainment of the love of God.
Like a coy bride who does not know the secrets of love and seeks favour from the
bridegroom for acceptance. Still the essence of life exists in Birha which
purges the soul of dross. This is the reason why Farid Sani finds Birha (pain of
love) as a mystical manifestation-
Birha birha aakhiye, birha tu sultan
Faridajis tan birha na upjai, so tanjaan masaan (The others talk ofBirha
casually but for me it is all-in-all. The body which is devoid of Birha is like
a dead body in the burning ground).
Farid enjoys communion with God daily. But separation even for one day becomes
unbearable for him. Expressing his pain of separation, he says,
I have not slept with my spouse tonight,
and my limbs ache.
Go and ask the deserted ones
how pass they their nights awake?
Shah Hussain (1538-1599) is a poet ofBirha. His poetry is full of "the waitings
and lamentations caused by the pang of separation." He choose the imagery of a
married girl who is stillin her parental home. She is keen to enter the house of
the bridegroom but she has so far been denied access to it. The intervening
period is full of travails and tribulations. She finds herself tossed into the
fire of separation wherein her body, the flesh, the blood and the bones are in
the throes of excruciating pain. The affliction is so intense that he is
writhing like a fish out of water. In the words of Dr. S. R. Sharda- "Shah
Hussain excels all other Punjabi Sufi poets in the intensity of his feelings and
varied expression of love in separation."
Shah Hussain ever longed for union with God. In a way he celebrated Birha in his
own unique manner. He not only gave words to the pain he suffered in separation
but also sang in that state of divine ecstasy. His ecstatic dancing had a
wonderful effect on the people who gathered around him for imbibing his mystic
ideas. He did not care to give his poetic works the form of a book but the Kafis
that have come down to us are highly inspiring-
Rabba mere haal da mehram tun
Ander tun hain bahar tun Tun hain tana tun hain bana
Sub kuchh mera tun
Kahe Hussain Faqir Sain-da
Main nahin sub tun
(O'God ! you are aware of my pitiable condition You are inside as well as
outside You reside in the pores of my body You are the warp, you are the weft
You are all-in-all for me Hussain, the mendicant of God says-
Not I, but you are everything.)
Bulhe Shah (1680-1758) has been universally acknowledged as the foremost Sufi
poet of Punjab. Dr. Lajwanti rightly observes that "no Sufi of any country can
venture to dispute the spiritual summit which Bulhe Shah attained." Indeed Bulhe
Shah is the Rumi of Punjab. He soars high in the spiritual domain and his
utterances convey variegated mystic experiences. "He never sought the shelter of
a woman's love. He fell in love with the universal Lord and, therefore, found
worldly love entirelysuperfluous. This was the first and the chief cause why his
poetry was essentially non-erotic. His poetry represents truly what is naturally
felt in loving the divine. His verse is suffused with the love divine."
Bulhe Shah is with Shah Hussain in describing the pain caused by separation from
the Lord. He laments the period he has to spend in Birha and longs for the
union. His sleep has abandoned him as he spends his nights in weeping and
wailing in the pain of separation. He has lost his appetite and has become
careless of his dress. "The fire of homesickness is burning and baking the flesh
and the blood of his body. The bones too are roasting though the flames are not
visible." Bulhe Shah realizes that the whole world is longing for union with
God. He sees the image of God not only in his heart, but in the external world
too. He conveys his thought succinctly that nothing else pleases the heart of a
separated lover.
Punjabi Sufi poets resort to the love tales of Punjab with a view to expressing
their deep mystic love. The love tales of Heer-Ranjha, Sassi Punnu and Sohni
Mahival have occupied their minds for centuries. The foremost among these is
that of Heer-Ranjha as it signifies eternal longing for union and the desire for
losing the I-ness in the other self. When the Sufi attains union with God, he is
no more Heer but becomes Ranjha. This love tale is peculiar in the sense that it
depicts pain and sorrow inflicted by separation as well as the joy and bliss
attained in the union. So the tale reveals the whole gamut of human suffering
for the attainment of the ideal as well as human rejoicing at the merger of the
temporal into the eternal.
Like the Iranina Sufis who sang the praises of Laila-Majnun, the Sufis in the
Punjab, particularly Shah Hussain and Bulhe Shah, were deeply immersed in the
lore of Heer-Ranjha. It was in the mystic poetry of Shah Hussain that the echoes
of the legendary love of Heer and Ranjha were heard unmistakably. When the poet
found himself in the pangs of separation (Birha), he cried out inconsolably-
Dard Vachhore da haal,
nee main kainu aakhan
Ranjhan Ranjhan phiraan dhudhendi
Ranjhan mere naal, nee main kainu aakhan
Kahe Hussain, Faqir Saain da, vekh namaanian da haal
Nee main kainu aakhan
(To whom should I relate
the pangs of my separation
I am seeking Ranjhan (in wilderness)
but Ranjhan is within me.)
Looking into one's soul to find out the true source of love was the time-
honoured Sufi concept. Apart from the repetition of the cherished name,
meditation and concentration on it was the other essential attribute of true
love. In Shah Hussain's Kafis can be discerned a happy intermingling of Iranian
thought and the Indian way of life. In this way the philosophical concept was
imbued with the local social bearing in a spontaneous manner. In another state
of his mind, Shah Hussain says-
Mahi Mahi Kukdi
Main aape Ranjhan hoi
Ranjhan Ranjhan mainu sub koi aakho
Heer na aakho koi
(While repeating Mahi Mahi
I myself have become Ranjhan
All of you should call me Ranjhan
No one should call me Heer.)
In a similar strain, Shah Hussain dwells on the theme of true love that exists
between him and his Beloved. There is no scope for any patch up with Heer's
in-laws as they are no more in the picture. God knows the secrets of love
whereas Heer's love for Ranjha is no more a secret-
Nee maaye, mainu kherian di gall na aakh
Ranjhan mainda, main Ranjhan di, kherian di koodijhaak
Kahe Hussain faqir Sainda, jaan-da maula aap
(O' mother ! do not talk about the Kheras Ranjhan is of me, I am of Ranjhan. The
Kheras are the victims of delusions Hussain, the mendicant of God, says, 'God
knows all about it.'
Later, Bulhe Shah gave new dimensions to this theme of the love of Heer and
Ranjha. He was indeed a singular mystic who firmly established Sufi tradition in
Punjab. The longings of a woman, long separated from her spouse, sometimes take
deeper philosophical overtones.-
Haji lok Meccay nunjaande Mera Ranjhan mahi Mecca Nee Main kamli aan Main the
mung Ranjhe di hoiaan Mera babul karda dhekka
Nee main kamli aan Haji lok Meccay nunjaande Asaanjaana Takht Hazare Nee main
kamli aan
(Hajj Pilgrims go to Mecca
My Ranjhan is my Mecca Indeed I am insane
I am engaged to Ranjha
My father coerces me in vain Indeed I am insane
Hajj pilgrims go to Mecca
I am bound for Takht Hazare Indeed I am insane)
In the Kqfis of Bulhe Shah's references to the Punjabi folklore occur again and
again. He is fully aware of the role of legendary romances in the lives of the
common people. In view of this, he takes up again and again, in his poetic
creations, the concept of the eternal love of Heer and Ranjha. The mystic love
of these two legendary lovers has gained sanctity in the utterances of the holy
men. Bulhe Shah transcends the bounds of self-centred love and invests it with
divine significance-
Ranjha Ranjha kardi nee
main aape Ranjha hoi
Saddo nee mainu Dhido Ranjha
Heer na aakho koi
(By repeating Ranjha Ranjha
I have become Ranjha myself
You call me Dheedo Ranjha
Heer I am no more.)
In the end I want to sum up that the Punjab Sufi poets based their philosophy of
love on man- woman relationship. They argued that profane love (Ishq-e-Majazi)
leads to divine love (Ishq-e-Haqiqi). They considered God husband and the human
being wife. The period of separation (Birha) could be best utilized by repeating
the name of the loved one. In this way the soul separated from the divine
reality can achieve reunion with God. In this process, Birha is of utmost
significance.
Bibliography
1. Lajwanti Ramakrishna, Punjabi Sufi Poets, London, 1938
2. Sharda S. R., Sufi Thought, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi, 1974.
3. Satwant Kaur, Punjabi Sufi Kav Vich Maut Di Chetna, Languages Deptt.
Ph., 1998.
4. J. R. Puri and T.R. Shingari, Sain Bulhe Shah, Fiction House, Lahore,
1999.