Baba Bulleh Shah (1680-1758) was the great
humanist, philosopher, rebel, internationalist,
teacher and Sufi poet of all times. Baba ji was
the disciple of Enayat Shah Lahori, who himself
was a great Sufi of his time. Baba ji was born in
a noble and aristocratic Saye’ad family but, as a
result of Enayat’s teachings, he left the life of
nobility and luxury and led quite simple and
humble life. Baba ji was a great poet and use to
sing his poetry in the streets of his city Kasur.
He was a keen supporter of poor and at all fronts
he opposed oppression and exploitation of public
by capitalistic class. Due to his anti-extremist
and revolutionary behavior, he was given the
‘Fatwa’ of Kafir (Infidel) by religious authorities.
Several times, he was bitten by the extremists
but ‘he never bowed his neck’. When he died he
was thrown on the garbage outside the boundary
of Kasur because he wasn’t allowed to bury in
the Kasur. But as the time passed, with the
increase in population Kasur also expanded and
thus, at last, Baba ji’s grave got its place in his
Kasur.
After the death of Baba Bulleh Shah, the
Government and Muslim Ulmas used their force
strongly to destroy the Kalam (poetry) and
reputation of Baba ji. Qawals (Asian classical
singers) were strictly prohibited to sing the Kalam
of Baba ji publicly. In British India, for about 100
years his Kalam was not allowed to be published.
It was after the ‘partition of 1947’ that Baba ji’s
Kalam was published for the first time, when
some Sikhs and Hindus disclosed some remnants
of Baba ji’s Kalam. No doubt, a lot of his verses
have been disappeared from the world but still
we’ve his many beautiful verses which are
famous all over the world and people of all castes
and religions love and admire this remarkable
poet of history.
