Depressed and dejected with the ever rising religious extremism, intolerance and hatred in the world at large, helplessness over powers oneself. The only ray of hope left are the few shining stars in this dark sky that shone on our lands several centuries ago. Their golden words still need to be heard and heeded by one and all.
Kabir from India and Bulleh Shah from what is now Pakistan are two voices that spoke of peace and love beyond beliefs and borders. They were shunned in their own times, but if they were reborn now, they would not find much has changed from those days.
Reminscing their poetry, I dare to use them on painting a silk scarf.
The scarf background is black, which represents the dark ages of extremism, intolerance and bigotry that we currently are going through.
The golden messages of the verses are scribbled in golden ink, The verses chosen relate to the abundance of knowlege, in this era of information revolution, but the information that still fails to convey the message of peace and tolerance that it should accompany.
The languages have been reversed,
Kabir written in Urdu and Bulleh Shah in Hindi so that both sides are able to read them.
Bulleh Shah here says:
Parh parh aalim faazil hoya, kadi nafs apne nu parheya ai nayi,
Ja ja werda mandi maseetey, kadi man apne nu wareya ai nayi.
( You read bookes, became learned, but never read (compassion in )your own conscience,
You visited temples and mosques, but never visited (the love)in your own heart.)
Kabir says:
Pothi parh parh jag muwa pandit bhaya na koi,
Dhaayi akher prem ka parhe to pandit hoye.
{The whole world read books after books, but no one became learned,
Read two and a half words of love ( peace and compassion), to be a learned}
The peace symbols in the middle of the silk scarf are crisscrossed by chaos and confusion prevalent in our times.
The edges below the verses represent the hearts interlinked through love and peace, if only we heeded the verses in spirit.
It was heartening to see Kabir’s message of love and peace ( coincidentally the same verses that I was scribbling), being presented in another art form, called Dastangoi. I dedicate this piece and the blog to this wonderful Kabir presentation. 🙂
Blind to Bounds 
Comments on: "Kabir & Bulleh Shah- the need of our dark ages." (3)
Appreciate very much this effort. One lamp also removes lot of darkness. Keep spreading such messages.
Once again, you reveal the treasures you carry within yourself, Ilmana. Honoured that this post is dedicated to my work. Thank you and keep blogging. Loved the scarfs 🙂
[…] Kabir & Bulleh Shah- the need of our dark ages. (thinkloud65.wordpress.com) […]