97. Bande tai Maula sapdi faan: Abdul Ahad Zargar
عبد الاحد زرگر
بندٕ تے مولا سپدی فان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
رِندٕ کتھٕ زانن زِندٕ مستان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/bəndə tɛi̯ mɔːla sapdi fɑːn/
/zɪndə roːzɨ bɑːqiː mjoːn d͡ʒɪsm oː d͡ʒɑːn/
/rɪndə kətʰɨ zɑːnən zɪndə məstɑːn/
/zɪndə roːzɨ bɑːqiː mjoːn d͡ʒɪsm oː d͡ʒɑːn/
Romanisation
Bande tai Maula sapdi faan,
Zinde rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan.
Rinde katha zaanan zinde mastaan,
Zinde rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan.
Translation:
Servant and Lord will efface in the end,
Only my body and my soul will live and stay.
This ecstatic canon the love-drowned mystics comprehend,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
The stanza is describing the inner mechanics of fana and baqa, using paradox rather than doctrine. Servant and master will annihilate is not the death of God, but the collapse of duality. Only body and soul will remain alive is baqa without claim. After fana the body continues to act and the soul continues to breathe but without ownership. In brief, when the illusion of servant and Lord dissolves, only life remains, empty of ownership. Those who drown in love alone know this rule: life survives, but the self does not.
It is another way of pointing toward the same realization that produced “Ana al-Haqq, without uttering it directly. In Ana al-Haqq, the “I” has already vanished; what speaks is Haqq, not the ego. In this stanza, both servant and master annihilate; the duality that makes “I” and “You” collapses. What remains is bare life without ownership (body and soul continuing), which is baqa after fana. Hallaj’s phrase is a direct ecstatic utterance while this poem expresses the same truth indirectly, by negation and paradox, not by assertion. It says: nothing claims “I am the Truth”, yet nothing remains except Truth acting through a body. In brief, Ana al-Haqq is the cry of realization; this stanza is its silent explanation.
کتھہٕ رینہِ اتھہٕ چھینہِ وچھ مہ حیران
مانہِ رینہِ اسرارِ حق انزران
گتہٕ رینہِ دٔزی دٔزی گتھ سوران
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/kətʰ rɪnɪ atʰ t͡ʃʰɪnɪ vʊt͡ʃʰ mɛː hɛːraːn/
/maːnɪ rɪnɪ əsraːrɨ ħaqq ənzraːn/
/gətʰ rɪnɪ d̪ɵzi d̪ɵzi gətʰ suːraːn/
/zɨndɨ roːzɨ baːqiː miːun d͡ʒism oː d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Kathe reni athe chhonni vuchh me haeraan
Maani reni asraar-e Haqq anzraan
Gatte reni daezi daezi gath soraan
Zind rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan
Translation:
The queens of speech walk empty-handed, lost and unsure they stand;
The queens of meaning search the Truth; its secrets close at hand.
The queen of dying turns in love, till all is burned away;
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
In this stanza, رینہِ does not simply mean queen or wife. It means a person who is deeply associated with something, as if married to it. This association is not symbolic only; it defines who the person is.
So کتھٕ رینہِ means one who belongs to words and speech, a person whose whole being is tied to speaking, articulating, and expressing. She is a “queen of words” because words are her domain and her identity.
مانہِ رینہِ means one who belongs to meaning. She is always trying to find meanings in words, actions, signs, and situations. Her life is spent searching for sense and understanding, not just speaking.
گتہٕ رینہِ means one who belongs to dying or burning for a purpose. She is ready to destroy herself, to jump into fire if needed, for the sake of her aim. Here dying is not weakness, it is commitment and completion.
In Sufi terms, this stanza describes three spiritual states on the inner path, and then points beyond them.
1. Queens of speech (کتھٕ رینہِ) represent the stage of words, teaching, expression, discourse. In Sufism, speech is powerful but limited. One may speak beautifully and still remain empty-handed, because words alone do not grant union. Their confusion shows the limit of language before Truth.
2. Queens of meaning (مانہِ رینہِ) correspond the inward search for meaning. Here the seeker moves beyond words and begins to uncover asrar-e-haqq, the hidden secrets of Truth. This is a deeper state than speech, but it is still a search; meanings are discovered, not yet dissolved.
3. Queens of annihilation (گتہٕ رینہِ) signifies self-annihilation in love. Like a moth circling the candle, they revolve until exhausted and consumed. Nothing of the ego remains; the seeker is burnt in the fire of divine love. In Kashmiri, a women who used to burn with her husband as Sati was also called گتہٕ رینہِ.
After these three stages, the refrain reappears: “Only my body and my soul will live on.” This points to baqa; subsistence after annihilation. When speech is silenced, meanings are exhausted, and the self is burned away, what remains is pure being: body and soul sustained by God alone. The stanza thus moves from words to meanings to annihilation, and rests in living presence beyond all states.
بوٗد چُھے وجود وچھ واجب الوجود
سوٗد امِکُے وجود وحدت نمود
موجود موجودس سمکھان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/bʊd t͡ʃʰʊ wʊd͡ʒuːd wʊt͡ʃʰ waːd͡ʒɪb ul wʊd͡ʒuːd/
/suːd əmɪkuɨ wʊd͡ʒuːd wahdat nəmuːd/
/moːd͡ʒuːd moːd͡ʒuːdəs səmkʰaːn/
/zɪndə roːzɪ baːqɪ mjoːn d͡ʒɪsm o d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Buud chhu wajuud wuch Wajib-ul-Wujuud
Suud amikui wujuud wahdat namuud
Maujuud maujuudas samkhaan
Zinde rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan
Translation:
Your being shows, yet see the One whose being must be,
From it flows the truth: all is one, though many we see.
The existing meets the Existent's ray,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Words:
Buud: بود : Existence, Being
Suud: سوٗد : Profit, Gain
Wajib ul Wajood: واجب الوُجُود : Self-existent, an attribute of God, whose existence is necessary. God is the only true existence that must exist; everything else exists because God allows it to exist.
Wahdat Namood: وحدتِ نمو : Unity of appearance or oneness in manifestation. Reality is one, but it appears as many. Multiplicity exists only at the level of appearance, not in essence. The world, beings, forms, and events are different manifestations of a single Reality (God)—like many reflections of one sun in countless mirrors.
Commentary:
The stanza says that everything we see in the world is only a reflection of the True Existence, God, who exists necessarily and independently. The many things around us appear separate, but in reality, they are all expressions of the one Reality. Only those who are spiritually aware, the “existing”, can truly meet and recognize God, the Existent. After all illusions, ego, and attachments fall away, what remains is the seeker’s body and soul, living on through God’s presence. In short, it teaches that true life and reality are found not in appearances, but in union with the One.
ییلہِ صورٕ منزہ چلہٕ واوٕ طوفان
پھلہِ پھلہِ دونکھ کُل کُہستان
چھلہِ چھلہِ تراوکھ ستھ آسمان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/jiːlɪ sɔrɨ mɛnzi t͡ʃʰɘlɨ waːʊɨ t̪uːfaːn/
/pʰɘlɪ pʰɘlɪ d̪oːnʰakʰ kʊl kohɨst̪aːn/
/t͡ʃʰɘlɪ t͡ʃʰɘlɪ t̪ɾaːvakʰ sət̪ʰ aːsmaːn/
/zɪndɨ roːzɪ baːqɪ mjoːn d͡ʒɪsm oː d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Yeli suureh manzih cheli waav tufaan
Phalih phalih donakh kul kohistaan
Chalih chalih travakh sath aasman
Zinde rozi baqi myon jism o jaan
Words:
Suur: صور : Doomsday trumpet
Translation:
When the doomsday trumpet breathes a storming gale,
Whole mountains carded down, reduced and pale;
The seven heavens shattered, rent and flay,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
The stanza is simple in language but very grand in imagery. It conveys spiritual permanence amidst cosmic annihilation. Suur is trumpet of Angel Israfil (AS).
ہاے ہُوئ گرٚز نےُ روزِ در سکوت
پاے تھود لبہِ موتُو قبل الموت
جایہِ جایہِ گژھِ وُڈِتھ آےِ فُرقان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/haːj huːɨ grɘz nuɨ roːzɨ dər sukuːt/
/paːj tʰoːd labɪ moːtu qabl ul-moːt/
/d͡ʒaːjɪ d͡ʒaːjɪ gəʦʰɪ wʊɖɪtʰ aːjɪ furqaːn/
/zɨndɨ roːzɨ baːqiː mjːon d͡ʒism oː d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Haay hui greznui rozi dar sukoot
Paay thodd labi mutu qabl-ul-maut
Jaayi jaayi gatsʰi wudith aayi furqaan
Zind rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan
Words:
Haay huiy: ہاے ہُوئ : Clamourous cries, lamentations
Grezun: گرٚز ن : Roaring
Paayi thodd: پاے تھود : Exalted, high ranking
Mutu qabl ul mout: موتُو قبل الموت : It is a well-known Sufi expression meaning to die a spiritual death before the physical one.
It does not refer to literal death, but to:
the death of the ego, letting go of worldly power, pride, and attachment. It is the awakening of the soul through inner knowledge. In Sufi terms, this is annihilation (fana) before subsistence (baqa): the seeker “dies” to the self and then lives through God.
Translation:
The roar of plaintive cries will fade to hush,
The noble die before death’s final rush.
From east to west, the Qur’an’s words are drawn away,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
While the preceding stanza talked about the cosmic doomsday, this stanza portrays the seeker’s personal Doomsday (inner Qiyamah): the roaring of lament falls silent as the ego’s turmoil collapses, and the spiritually elect attain death before death through fana, the annihilation of selfhood. In this inner upheaval, the Qur’an is “lifted” not as a book but as mere outward recitation, because its borrowed forms give way to inward realization. What follows is not extinction but baqa, after the false self perishes, the body and soul remain, subsisting in God, alive without ego and oriented entirely toward the Real. The “lifting of the verses of the Qur’an” does not mean the loss of the sacred text, but the withdrawal of its outward, verbal form from the seeker’s reliance. During the inner Doomsday, when the ego dies, the seeker no longer relates to the Qur’an as sound, script, or citation; those forms are “lifted” because they have completed their function. What remains is the Qur’an as lived reality, its meanings engraved on the heart rather than written on the page. Thus the verses are lifted from the tongue and paper, but descend into the being, where guidance is no longer mediated by words but realized as presence, action, and truth.
ملکن تہٕ خلکن تور چھنہِ جاے
دِلہٕ کِنی یتھ شایہِ مِلہٕ ون آے
فلکن تہٕ ملکن نہٕ تتہِ نیب و نِشان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/malkan te xalqan toːr t͡ʃʰənɪ d͡ʒaːj/
/dɪlɨ kɪnɪ jətʰ ʃaːjɪ mɪlɨ wan aːj/
/falakan te malkan nə tətɪ niːb oː nɪʃaːn/
/zɨndɨ roːzɨ baːqiː mjːon d͡ʒism oː d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Malkan te khalqan tor chhəni jaay
Dilɨ kinɨ yath shaayi milɨ wan aay
Falakan tha malkan na tatɨ neb o nishaan
Zind rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan
Translation:
Angels and people find no place there,
It is the heart’s path where union came to bear.
The cosmos and angels fade and fall away,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
In Sufism, this stanza says that union with God is reached only through the path of the heart, which is love. Angels, despite being close to God, and people, despite their numbers and strength, have no share in union if love is absent. This is why there is not even a trace of angels or people there — closeness, rank, or power do not matter. Only love leads to union. Because of this love, the seeker’s body and soul remain, not in a physical sense, but in a state of permanence (baqāʾ). It is love of such intensity that it grants lasting existence where everything else disappears.
نے تتہِ خاک و باد آتش آب
نے پاک و ناپاک گُناہ ثواب
نے لا بستی نے لامکان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/nai tətɪ kʰaːk oː baːd aːtɪʃ aːb/
/nai paːk oː naːpaːk gunaːh s̪awaːb/
/nai laː bɘstɪ nai laːməkɑːn/
/zɨndɨ roːzɨ baːqiː mjːon d͡ʒism oː d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Nai təti khaak o baad aatish aab
Nai paak o naapak gunaah sawaab
Nai la basti nai laamakaan
Zinde rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan
Translation:
Neither clay, nor fire, nor water remain,
Nor pure or impure, nor virtue or stain.
No settlement, no place beyond the display,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
The stanza emphasizes that in the highest spiritual reality, all material and created things disappear. Elements like clay, fire, water, air, and moral categories like pure or impure, vice or virtue, have no presence there. Even physical locations, settlements or spatial dimensions are meaningless. What remains is only the seeker’s body and soul, sustained by God’s presence. In Sufi terms, it describes a state beyond matter, beyond dualities, beyond space, where true existence endures solely through Divine love.
Next stanza tells who can reach that state:
نے تور سألِک سلوک زأہِد
نے زُہد و تقویٰ نے عأبِد
نے غوث و ابدال قطب عرفان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/nai toːr saːlɪk sɘloːk zæːhɪd/
/nai zuhd o taqwaː nai ʕaːbɪd/
/nai ɣuːs oː abdaːl qʊtb ʕirfaːn/
/zɨndɨ roːzɨ baːqiː miːun d͡ʒism oː d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Nai toar saelik salook zaehid
Nai zuhd o taqwa nai aebid
Nai ghous o abdaal qutb irfaan
Zinde rozi baqi myon jism o jaan
Translation:
Neither seeker nor the yearnings he bore, nor saintly guise,
Neither renunciation, God-fear, nor worship in disguise.
Neither Ghous, nor Abdaal, not Qutb, nor Irfan’s way,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
This stanza speaks from the station of fana (annihilation) moving toward baqa (abiding in God), where all means, roles, and spiritual identities are negated.
In early stages of love, seeker, his yearning and learning process, and piety are essential beginnings, but at higher realization they are still attributes of the self. As long as there is “I worship,” “I long,” or “I am pious,” duality remains: servant and Lord. The verse negates this subtle ego. Thereafter, other supreme virtues like asceticism, God-consciousness and worshipping too are negated as attributes of self. This is not rejection, but transcendence: when awareness becomes total, even vigilance disappears. One no longer practices taqwa but simply is in Divine presence. Going forward, the poet negates the entire hierarchy of sainthood; Ghous, Abdaal, Qutb, and the Aarif on the basis that notwithstanding these being exalted stations, but are still stations. To claim or cling to any rank is to remain within form, name, and distinction. The realized one passes beyond even sanctity.
Finally, only that who has achieved baqa remain i.e., the body and soul remain not as ‘mine’, but as vehicles of Divine subsistence. The ego is gone; what remains functions in the world by God, with God, for God.
However, it must be kept in mind that the poet negates the path after having traversed it. He denies virtues only after they have fulfilled their purpose. It destroys names and ranks, not reality itself.
نے وجد و حال سجدٕ کعبہ قبلے
نے مذہب ومِلت نہ نأیل نے
نے ذات و صفات نہ خاص بند گان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/nai wajd oː ɦaːl sʊd͡ʒdɪ kʕabɪ qiblai/
/nai mazaːhab oː mɪlɘt nə naːʔiːl nai/
/nai zaːt oː sɪfaːt nə xaːs bəndaɡaːn/
/zɨndɨ roːzɨ baːqiː mjːon d͡ʒism oː d͡ʒaːn/
Words:
Wajd: وجد : ecstasy, mystical rapture, spiritual finding. Refers to an overwhelming inner experience of divine presence.
Haal: حال : state, spiritual state, inner condition, passing state.
I have used Dance for wajd and trance for haal to denote the state as it happens.
Translation:
Neither dance nor trance nor bowing to the Kaaba’s side,
Nor faith, nor sect, nor saints with achievements wide.
Nor God’s own essence, attributes, or one with special sway,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
This stanza emphasizes that external forms of worship or spiritual practice alone do not guarantee union with God.
Neither dance and singing of trance nor bowing to direction of Kaaba shows that even outward rituals like ecstatic dance, devotional music, or formal prayer orientation cannot by themselves bring true union. Religio-social identity, group affiliation, or even recognized saints cannot secure closeness to God without inner love and realization. Even knowledge of God’s essence, attributes, or association with advanced spiritual guides is insufficient without true inner experience. Only the seeker’s being, sustained by Divine love, endures in the ultimate reality. In short, this stanza teaches that true existence before God depends solely on inner realization and love, not on outward forms, status, or knowledge.
بنُنٕے چھُ کروٹھ وأصِل کارن
سنہٕ نُے بہ محنت اسرارن
پنُنٕے لودمُت پانہٕ لوران
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/bənɘnuɨ t͡ʃʰʊ kruːt̪ʰ waːsɪl kaːrən/
/sənənuɨ bə mɪɦnət əsraːrən/
/pənɘnuɨ loːd̪əmʊt paːnə loːraːn/
/zɨndɨ roːzɨ baːqiː mjːon d͡ʒism oː d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Ban-nui chhu kruuth waesil kaaran
San-nui ba mehnat asraaran
Pan-nui lodmut paaneh luuraan
Zinde rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan
Words:
Waesil: وأصِل : A seeker who has become independent of all that is other than God and is wholly absorbed in the Divine Essence; a perfected person who has reached God.
Translation:
The seeker’s pain in union cuts so deep,
Through toil in secrets, thoughts never sleep.
One tears the work that one in toil did lay,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
Seeking closeness to God is painful and demanding, requiring endurance and inner struggle. Further, the seeker must immerse in meditation and contemplation to grasp hidden divine truths. Not just this, one must dismantle ego, desires, and attachments built over the lifetime to attain spiritual clarity. And after all worldly self made constructs vanish, only the seeker’s essential being remains in God’s presence.
زِندٕ مر تراو شاہی تہٕ اقلیم
رِندٕ ون کتہِ آو الف تہٕ میٖم
کور احؔد زرگرن مختصر بیان
زِندٕ روزِ باقی میون جسم و جان
IPA:
/zɨndɨ mɛr trɑːw ʃaːhi te iqlɪm/
/rɪndɨ wən kətɪ ɑːv ʔlif te meːm/
/koːr ʔħd zərɡərən mʊxtəs̪ər bɘjaːn/
/zɨndɨ roːzɨ baːqiː mjːon d͡ʒism oː d͡ʒaːn/
Romanisation:
Zinde mar traaw shaahi te iqleem
Rinde wan katti aav alif te meem
Kor Ahad Zargaran mukhtasar bayan
Zinde rozi baaqi myon jism o jaan
Words:
Shaehi: شاہی : Being regal
Iqleem: اقلیم : Realm, Dominion
Translation:
Die while still alive, let go of regal, worldly regime,
Oh ecstatic! Tell from where came Alif and Meem.
Ahad Zargar spoke it in a brief subtle way,
My body and my soul alone will live, and stay.
Commentary:
The stanza urges the seeker to die to worldly attachments, wealth, power, and status, while still alive, a key Sufi practice called fana fillah. The question of Alif and Meem points to the origin of all existence. Alif symbolizes Divine Unity, and Meem represents the first distinct manifestation of divine knowledge through the Exalted Pen, which structures and gives form to God’s hidden light, later reflected in the Prophet Muhammad (saw) as Noor-e-Muhammadi. Ahad Zargar’s brief explanation acknowledges the subtlety of this cosmic process, emphasizing that while worldly things fade, only the true essence, one’s body and soul, remains, eternally connected to the divine.
‼️‼️حرف آخر نیست‼️‼️
وللہ اعلم
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