53. Aayas Kamih Dishih: Lall Dedh

 آیس کمہ دشہ تہ کمہ وتے

گژھہ کمہ دشہ کو زانہ وتھ۔

انتہ داے لگمے تتے

چھنس پھوکس کانژھ تہ نو ستھ۔

Transliteration:

Aayes kamih dishih te kamih watay

Gachhe kamih dishih, kawa zanah wath

Antih daay lagimay tatay

Chhenis phokas kanh ti no sath

 Vocabulary:

دشہ:Direction(Sanskrit दिशा)

کو زانہ: Who knows!

انتہ: At last (Sanskrit अंत)

چھون: Hollow/Empty/Void

Grierson's translation:

From what quarter did I come, and by what road?

To what quarter shall I go? and how shall

I know the road?

In the end, if I gain the good counsel (it is well),

For there is no substance in an empty breath.

'Reason thus with life a breath thou art.' Lalla knows not whence she came or whither she will go. Life is but an empty breath. The one thing that is worth grasping is the teaching of the identity of the Self with the Supreme Self.

Jiya Lal Koul's translation:

Whence have come and by which way,

I do not know.

Whither I shall go and by which way,

I don’t know.

Were I to know the end of it all,

And gain the knowledge of the truth.

(It would be well for otherwise)

Life here is but an empty breath.

Nand Lal Koul's translation:

آئی ہوں کس دیس سے کس راہ سے

جاؤنگی کس دیس سے حیران ہوں میں۔

راستے کی کیا مجھے پہچان ہو۔

کس قدر خوش بخت ہوتی اگر

آگہی اس راز سے ہوتی مجھے۔

بے حقیقت ھے نفس، بے اعتبار

نوٹ: لل کہتی ہے اسے معلوم نہیں وہ کہاں سے آئی اور اسکو کہاں جانا ہے۔ سب سے اہم بات جسکو سمجھنا چاہیئے یہی ہے ورنہ یہ زندگی محض ایک سانس ہے۔ یعنی بے سود اور بے اعتبار۔

My translation:

Which direction and the way I came?

Which direction I will end up, how may I know the way?

At last, only the advice will benefit me,

(Otherwise) Empty blow of breath cannot be relied upon.

Explanation:

Phokh: In religious terms it is blowing of air on a person or thing after reciting some verses or names of God. This is done with the intention to ward off any evil or treat any disease or to seek favours from Almighty in favour of the person on whom the air is blown. A person considered to be pious called as Pir employs this method. Pir (Persian: پیر‎, lit. 'elder') is a title for a Sufi spiritual guide. In Sufism a Pir's role is to guide and instruct his disciples on the Sufi path. This is often done by general lessons and individual guidance.

Lall Dedh in this Vaakh says that she is unaware as to how and why she did come to this world and does not know where she will end up. Therefore, she has taken refuge with a Pir whose prime goal is to guide his disciples. At last(in hereafter) only the advises of her Pir (and subsequent deeds as per such advises) will be of use to her, and the mere blessings will be of no use even if they are from a pious being. In nutshell, Lall Dedh stresses upon Pir-Mureedi system for seeking guidance and not to use Pirs merely for short term blessings!

If it were *breathing* as translated by rest of the three, the word should have been *Shah* or *Shwas* and not *Phokh*. Few lines of Rahim Saeb Sopoir gives credence to my translation wherein he says:

سرکھ ہے کہنہ، نش گژھ پیرس

ھو تہ اللہ ونیو داے۔

پتہ کن تھاو بمس تہ زیرس

کرکھ نُورس لولمت لاے۔

Transliteration:

Sarakhai kenh, nish gachh Peeras,

Hu te Allah waniyo daay.

Patte kan thaav bamas te zeeras,

Karakh Nooras lol-mat laay.

Translation:

If you want to attain something، go to the Pir,

Hu and Allah will be your advice from him.

Then keep attention to the cadence (of this Hu and Allah remembrance),

You will fondle and caress the divine splendour.