Introduction

Hadrat Sultan Bahu’s poetry leaves indelible imprints on the reader’s soul, who is left assured of the poet’s sincerity and trust in his belief. Superficial scholars may dub his style unrefined, but they would always admit its originality and truthfulness. His straightforward style is laced with veracity and sincerity of purpose. He said:

“Although the language of this Faqir’s books is unpolished and lacks savour but it is, in fact, all like butter and honey. And the poets whose poetry seem to be ripe with knowledge and learning are at a remote distance from the Divine Presence.”
He had celestial inspiration for singing Divine Love.
Ascetics and worshipers left this world behind, but the high ambition of the Gnostic takes him to the placeless.
Elsewhere he claims:

None can possibly reach the station where I reached;
I am the great falcon in the celestial realm:
No place for poor flies there;
The Throne, the Pen, the Chair and both the worlds have no way to the height.
Not even an angel can access it; that is not a place for mere desire. (Kulid al-Tawhid)

Poets are generally considered to be the pupils of the Beneficent (Talamiz-ur-Rehman). It is so because the source of mystical as well as poetical experience is the same. Both have the same characteristics because the spiritual intuition and the poetic inspiration seem to be alike though the Sufis claim to enjoy union and communication with the Divine on a higher plane. Many Sufis have recorded their dialogues with God. They profess their books are heavenly inspired like the Scriptures. But Hadrat Sultan Bahu (RA) claims a higher level of intuition and revelation among the Sufi authors.  

‘Most of the elects and authors write books through inspiration (ilham) and this Faqir writes books after having been honoured by the presence before Muhammad, the Apostle of Allah (SAW), and blessed by the nearness to Allah’.

It is the same with the poems of his small Persian collection (The Dewan). The spirit and form is both traditional as well as classical. The reading exalts the soul as the disciple feels transported to the higher planes of the spiritual realm. This is the poetry of a great Sufi teacher and poet, and may, therefore, better be studied within the context of meaning and purpose of his Sufi thought system. Dr. Samuel Johnson’s following saying about Maulana Rumiis equally true for Sultan Bahu: “He (Rumi) makes plain to the Pilgrimage the secrets of the way of Unity, and unveils the mysteries of the Path and Eternal Truth.”(Prof Ahmad Saeed Hamdani)