In this poignant Saraiki Kafi, the celebrated Sufi saint Khwaja Ghulam Farid explores the themes of divine longing and the restlessness of the soul. The poet expresses a deep spiritual thirst that cannot be quenched by anything other than a glimpse of the Beloved. Through metaphors of sleepless nights and the legendary journey of Sassi toward Kech, he reveals that the path of love is one of total surrender, where worldly status and life itself are offered in the pursuit of the Divine.
سوہنے یار باجھوں میڈی نہیں سردی
تانگھ آوے ودھدی سک آوے چڑھدی
Sohne yaar bajhon medi nahi sardi
Tangh awe vadhdi sikk awe chadhdi
Without my Beautiful Beloved, I cannot survive,
My longing keeps growing and my yearning keeps rising.
کیتا ہجر تیڈے میکوں زارو رارے
دل پارے پارے سر دھارو دھارے
مونجھ وادھو وادھے ڈکھ تارو تارے
رب میلے ماہی بیٹھی دھانہہ کر دی
Keeta hijr tede mekon zaaro raare
Dil paare paare sir dhaaro dhaare
Moonjh wadhu wadhe dukh taaro taare
Rab mele mahi bethi dhanh kar di
Your separation has made me weep bitterly,
My heart is in pieces and my head is heavy with grief.
My sadness increases and my sorrows overflow,
I sit and pray that God may unite me with my Beloved.
سوہنا یار ماہی کڈیں پاوے پھیرا
شالا پا کے پھیرا پچھے حال میرا
دل درداں ماری ڈکھاں لایا دیرا
راتیں آہیں بھردی ڈینہاں سولاں سڑدی
Sohna yaar mahi kadeen pawe phera
Shala pa ke phera puche haal mera
Dil dardan maari dukhan laya deera
Raateen aaheen bhardi deenhan solaan sardi
May my beautiful Beloved visit me sometime,
And having visited, may He ask about my state.
This heart is stricken with pain, and sorrows have taken root,
I sigh through the nights and burn in agony during the days.
پنوں خان میرے کیتی کیچ تیاری
میں منتاں کر دی تروڑی ویندا یاری
کئی نہیں چلدی کیا کیجئے کاری
سٹ باندی بردی تھیساں باندی بر دی
Punnu Khan mere kiti Kech tayari
Main mantran kardi troray venda yaari
Kai nahi chaldi kya kijiye kaari
Satt baandi birdi thesaan baandi bir di
My Punnu Khan has prepared to depart for Kech,
Despite my pleadings, he is breaking the bond of friendship.
Nothing works, what remedy can I seek?
Leaving all status behind, I shall become his humble slave.
رو رو فریدا فریاد کر ساں
غم باجھ اس دے بیا ساہ نہ بھرساں
جا تھیسم میلا یا رُلدی مرساں
کہیں لا ڈکھائی دل چوٹ اندر دی
Ro ro Farida faryad karsan
Gham bajh us de bia sah na bharsan
Ja thesam mela ya ruldi marsan
Kahin la dukhayi dil chot andar di
Weeping, O Farid, I shall continue my lament,
Except for His grief, I shall draw no other breath.
Either a meeting will occur, or I will die wandering,
For someone has struck my heart with an internal wound.
Vocabulary: Sohne Yaar Bajhon
- Sardi: Survival; managing to live; contentment.
- Tangh: To wait longingly; anticipation.
- Sikk: Yearning; a deep spiritual pull.
- Hijr: Separation from the Beloved.
- Moonjh: Sadness; a feeling of being forsaken.
- Dhanh: A loud cry; a desperate plea.
- Solaan: Thorns; symbolic of the stings of grief.
- Baandi Birdi: Servants and household belongings.