“Saday Wal Mukhra Mor Wey Pyarya” (Turn Your Face Towards Me, O Beloved) is a touching Kaafi by Bulleh Shah. This poem expresses the intense longing of the soul for its Creator. Using metaphors of puppet strings and traditional folk stories (like Heer-Ranjha), Bulleh Shah illustrates that the Divine is the ultimate mover of all things and the only true destination for a restless heart.
ساڈے ول مکھڑا موڑ
دے پیاریا
ساڈے ول مکھڑا موڑ
Saday wal mukhra mor
Day pyarya
Saday wal mukhra mor
Turn Your face towards me,
O my Beloved,
Turn Your face towards me.
آپے لائیاں کنڈیاں تیں
تے آپے کھچ داہیں ڈور
Aapay laiyan kundiyan teen
Tay aapay khich daheen dor
You Yourself have cast the hooks of love,
And You Yourself pull the string.
عرش کُرسی تے بانگاں ملیاں
مُکے پے گیاں شور
Arsh kursi tay baangan miliyan
Mukkay pay gayyan shor
The calls to prayer reached the Divine Heavens,
And an uproar arose within Mecca itself.
ڈولی پا کے لے چلے کھیڑے
ناں کُجھ عذر نہ زور
Doli paa kay lay challay Kheray
Naan kujh uzar na zor
They have placed the bride in the palanquin to take her to the Kheras,
I have neither the excuse to stay nor the strength to resist.
جے مائے تینوں کھیڑے پیارے
ڈولی پا دیویں ہور
Jay maaye tainu Kheray pyaray
Doli paa deween hor
O mother, if the Kheras are so dear to you,
Then send someone else in that palanquin.
بلھا شوہ اساں مرناں ناہیں
وے مر گیا کوئی ہور
Bullha Shoh asaan marnaan naheen
Way mar gaya koi hor
O Bulleh Shah, I shall never die—
It is someone else (the ego) who has perished.
Vocabulary: Saday Wal Mukhra Mor
- Mukhra: Face / Countenance.
- Kundiyan: Hooks (symbolizing the attraction of Divine love).
- Dor: String / Thread (as in a puppet or kite).
- Kheray: The family Heer was forced to marry into (symbolizing worldly distractions or forced paths).
- Uzar: Excuse / Objection.
- Shoh: Beloved / Lord.