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Bulleh Shah

Punjabi philosopher and poet (1680–1757)

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Born in Uch, Multan Subah, Bulleh Shah belonged to a family of religious scholars. In his juvenile years, his family moved to Malakwal, and later Pandoke, in the Subah of Lahore; where he got his early education from his father, while working as a herder, in the village. He received his higher religious education at Kasur from Hafiz Ghulam Murtaza; and later studied in Lahore under Shah Inayat Qadiri.

Bulleh Shah's poetry resonated with a wide audience due to the use of colloquial language; employing metaphors and imagery to convey complex spiritual ideas to those outside formal religious circles. He became known for his mystic poetry, which blended his philosophy of oneness of god, divine love, social equality; and critiqued social norms and institutions for exploiting the ordinary people. Bulleh Shah's works also left an impact on the Punjabi language, marking a new era of Punjabi literature which helped propagate a literary variety of Punjabi, based on colloquial speech, employing nuances from various local forms of the language.

He spent most of his life in Kasur, where he died at the age of 77. His poetry has been ingrained in Punjabi proverbs, qisse, and folk traditions; and has been recited at many cultural events, particularly his kafis, including one organized by UNESCO. The songs based on his lyrics have been sung on important occasions, including one at White House. It has also brought forth many modern renditions, particularly in the form of qawwali.

Biography

Early life and education

There is no consensus on Bulleh Shah's real name. While mainstream historians assert it was 'Abdullah,' some scholars argue that it was 'Bu Ali.'

Bulleh Shah was born around 1680 in Uch, Subah of Multan, in Mughal Punjab into a Sayyid family.

Bulleh Shah's father, Shah Muhammad Darwaish, was well-versed in Arabic, Persian, and the Qur'an. For unknown reasons, in his early life, his family moved to Malakwal, a village near Sahiwal. Bulleh Shah had at least one sister who was also Sufi. Both siblings never married. According to another account, he had two sisters and none of them ever married.

Later, when Bulleh Shah was six years old, his family moved to Pandoke, which is 50 miles southeast of Kasur. Bulleh Shah was schooled by his father along with the other children of the village. Most sources confirm that Bulleh Shah had to work, as a child and adolescent, as a herder in the village. It is confirmed that he received his higher education in Kasur. Some historians claim that Bulleh Shah received his education at a highly reputed madrassa run by Hafiz Ghulam Murtaza, where he taught for some time after his graduation. After his early education, he went to Lahore where he studied with Shah Inayat Qadiri, a Sufi murshid of Lahore. Bulleh Shah later became an eminent scholar of Arabic and Persian.

By social stratum, Bulleh Shah was a peasant. He had at least one unmarried sister. Among his friends included Darshi Nath, a Hindu fakir.

One of the oldest texts to mention him is Gazetteer of the Multan District (1901–02) prepared and published by Edward Douglas MacLagan in 1902. The text identified Shah as the "best known, and it is said the first, writer of kafis." However, his kafis were published for the first time as "Qanun-i-Ishq", in 1889, by Anwar Ali in Lahore.

Persecution

There is a fort-like gurdwara in Daftuh that was built in the 18th century by the Sikh chieftainess Bibi Isher Kaur, who donated 80 squares of land for its construction. Bulleh Shah took refuge in this gurdwara after a group of Islamic fundamentalists started threatening his life.

In his bad times, when even his family looked down upon him (for accepting a lower-caste Shah Inayat Qadiri as a teacher), his sister loved him and stood with him.

During his lifetime, he was outcast as kafir (non-believer) by some Muslim clerics.

Death

He died in 1757, at the age of 77. According to Christopher Shackle, he died in 1758. He was buried in Kasur, where he had spent most of his life. As he was declared a kafir (a non-believer), religious fundamentalists of Kasur claimed it was prohibited to offer the prayer at his funeral. He was then buried on the outskirts of Kasur and his funeral prayer was led by Syed Zahid Hamdani, a renowned religious personality of Kasur.

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