Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Baba Bullay Shah and the Charlatan's Lota

During the lifetime of the wali Allah, Baba Bullay Shah, there was a charlatan who claimed knowledge of the unseen. People visited the man in regards to their affairs, and would honour him with money and gifts for his "wisdom". When Baba heard of him, he had his suspicions and so went to meet him. While with him, Baba hid his lota*. At the end of their meeting, they exchanged pleasantries, and the charlatan exclaimed, "wait! where did my lota disappear to?!". At this Baba Bullay Shah said, "you claim to know the ins and outs of the unseen world, but you cannot find your lota?!".

*Lota (Urdu/Punjabi): watering jug used for cleansing in the washroom.

Yup, that's a real Punjabi saint...wisdom with a sense of humour! : )

2 comments:

  1. Alhamdaulillah!

    Punjabee Folk Wisdom is a a huge treasure... unfortunately not much has been translated...

    Another one from Bulley Shah:

    Bulleh naaloN chullaah changaa
    jis te ann pakaaee daa

    A stove is better than Bulleh
    because at least you can cook food on it

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  2. Wa'alaykum AsSalam wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu,

    Alhamdulillah...Punjab zindabad? haha.

    Barak Allahu fi kum, Sidi.

    Wassalam,
    Salikah

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