Only breath

Rekha Sahay

I wish to know your views about this poem of Rumi. In my opinion Rumi wants to say that we all are same.

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu
Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen. Not any religion
or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up
from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all. I do not exist,
am not an entity in this world or in the next,
did not descend from Adam and Eve or any
origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul.
I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.

19 thoughts on “Only breath”

      1. Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        Na main moman vich maseetan
        Na main vich kufar dian reetan
        Na main pakan vich paleetan

        Na main andar bed kitaban
        Na main rehnda phaang sharaban
        Na main rehnda mast kharaban

        Na main shadi na ghamnaki
        Na main vich paleetan pakeen
        Na main aaabi na main khaki

        Na main aatish na main paun
        Bulla ki jana main kaun
        Bulla ki jana main kaun
        Bulla ki jana main kaun
        Bulla ki jana main kaun

        Na main arabi na lahori
        Na main hindi shehar Nagaori
        Na hindu na turk pashauri

        Na main bhet mazhab de paya
        Na main aadam hawwa jaya
        Na koi apna naam dharaya

        Avval aakhar aap nu jana
        Na koi dooja hor pacchana
        Mai ton na koi hor syana
        Bulle shah kharha hai kaun
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun

        Na main moosa na pharoah
        Na main jagan na vich saun
        Na main aatish na main paun
        Na main rahnda vich Nadaun
        Na main baitthan na vich bhaun
        Bulle shah kharha hai kaun

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      3. Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        [Bulla! I know not who I am]
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        [Bulla! I know not who I am]
        Na main moman vich maseetan
        [Nor am I the believer in mosque]
        Na main vich kufar dian reetan
        [Nor am I in the rituals of the infidel]
        Na main pakan vich paleetan
        [Nor am I the pure in the impure]
        Na main andar bed kitaban
        [Nor am I inherent in the Vedas]
        Na main rehnda phaang sharaban
        [Nor am I present in intoxicants]
        Na main rehnda mast kharaban
        [Nor am I lost nor the corrupt]
        Na main shadi na ghamnaki
        [Nor am I union nor grief]
        Na main vich paleetan pakeen
        [Nor am I intrinsic in the pure/impure]
        Na main aaabi na main khaki
        [Nor am I of the water nor of the land]
        Na main aatish na main paun
        [Nor am I fire nor air]
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        [Bulla! I know not what I am]
        Na main arabi na lahori
        [Nor am I Arabic nor from Lahore]
        Na main hindi shehar Nagaori
        [Nor am I the Indian City of Nagaur]
        Na hindu na turk pashauri
        [Nor a Hindu nor a Peshawri turk]
        Na main bhet mazhab de paya
        [Nor did I create the difference of faith]
        Na main aadam hawwa jaya
        [Nor did I create adam-eve]
        Na koi apna naam dharaya
        [Nor did I name myself]
        Avval aakhar aap nu jana
        [Beginning or end I know just the self]
        Na koi dooja hor pacchana
        [Do not acknowledge duality]
        Mai ton na koi hor syana
        [There’s none wiser than I]
        Bulle shah kharha hai kaun
        [Who is this Bulla Shah]
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        [Bulla! I know not who I am]
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        [Bulla! I know not who I am]
        Na main moosa na pharoah
        [Nor am I Moses nor Pharoah]
        Na main aatish na main paun
        [Nor am I fire nor wind]
        Na main rahnda vich Nadaun
        [I do not stay in Nadaun (city of innocents)]
        Bulle shah kharha hai kaun
        [Bullashah, who is this man standing?]
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        [Bulla! I know not who I am]
        Bulla ki jaana main kaun
        [Bulla! I know not who I am]

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      4. Awesome, very beautiful and deep.
        Thanks for sharing this and special thanks for sharing the meaning Pankazy.
        I have read some of his prayers. The unique thing is – all the great souls thought are almost similar only their language is different.

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  4. Hi Rekha. I agree with you that Rumi is describing a way in which we are all the same, but I think he’s saying also that he was blessed to so fully merge himself with Allah that Rumi ceased to exist. All that remained was the breath that was breathing, and even that breath was Allah, the Infinite Eternal One who is placeless, timeless, and unconstrained by any of the categories/conditions that Rumi listed. From that perspective, we absolutely are all the same! Blessings, Love, & Light, jen

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