Poetry

Out of Tune,

Out of Step

BULLEH SHAH [Translated by NIKKY-GUNINDER KAUR SINGH]

Those touched by perfect love,



They dance out of tune



They dance out of step.







Do not disturb the distressed,



Let them suffer their anguish;



They escape birth and death,



They know themselves.



Those touched by perfect love,



They dance out of tune



They dance out of step.







Those who wear the robe of love,



They receive the fatwa



From the divine court;



As they sip the cup of revelation,



Their questions and doubts die out.



Those touched by perfect love,



They dance out of tune



They dance out of step.







In whom dwells the divine,



They jump up calling,



“Beloved! O’ Beloved!”



They do not care for rules



They do not care for tunes,



They play their own sports.



Those touched by perfect love,



They dance out of tune



They dance out of step.







O Bullah, I have found



My lover’s true town,



Din and falsity have fizzled out;



For truthful people I tell the truth:



I see immaculate light.



Those touched by perfect love,



They dance out of tune,



They dance out of step.



Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh is the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies and Crawford Family Professor at Colby College in Maine, USA. She has published extensively in the field of Sikhism. Her books include: Of Sacred and Secular Desire (IB Tauris 2012), Sikhism: An Introduction (IB Tauris 2011), Cosmic Symphony (Sahitya Akademy, 2008), The Birth of the Khalsa (SUNY 2005), The Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of the Transcendent (1993), The Name of My Beloved: Verses of the Sikh Gurus (1995; 2001), Metaphysics and Physics of the Guru Granth Sahib (1981).

Her latest book, "Of Sacred and Secular Desire: An Anthology of Lyrical Writings From The Punjab", can be purchased by CLICKING here.

May 23, 2013

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Out of Step" * Your Name



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