Tere Ishq Nachaya
ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਨਚਾਇਆ
Tere Ishq Nachaya, "your love has made me dance", is a kafi by the Punjabi Sufi poet Bulleh Shah. It opens with a plea to the healer, Bahurin ve tabiba, to return before the lover's life slips away.
- Written by
- Bulleh Shah (died 1757)
- Music
- Traditional
- In the video
- Abida Parveen
- Context
- Kafi of Bulleh Shah, beginning Bahurin ve tabiba
- Year
- 18th century
- Language
- Punjabi
Tere Ishq Nachaya lyrics with English translation
Text from the Gurmukhi collection Kafian Bulleh Shah as transcribed on Punjabi Wikisource (scan pages 113-114). One obvious transcription error is corrected: the source's second line reads ਬਚਾਇਆ where every later refrain reads ਨਚਾਇਆ. Other spellings are kept as in the source; some lines (for example ਲਾਹੂ ਜਾਂਦੜੇ ਬੋੜੇ) differ from other printed and sung versions, and their translation follows the usual reading. Shortened refrains are given as in the source.
ਬਹੁੜੀਂ ਵੇ ਤਬੀਬਾ ਮੈਂਡੀ ਜਿੰਦ ਗਈਆ। ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਨਚਾਇਆ ਕਰ ਥਈਆ ਥਈਆ।
Bahurin ve tabiba maindi jind gaiya Tere ishq nachaya kar thaiya thaiya
Come back, O healer, my life is slipping away. Your love has made me dance, thaiya, thaiya.
ਇਸ਼ਕ ਨੇ ਡੇਰਾ ਮੇਰੇ ਅੰਦਰ ਕੀਤਾ। ਭਰਕੇ ਜ਼ਹਿਰ ਪਿਆਲਾ ਮੈਂ ਪੀਤਾ। ਝਬਦੇ ਆਵੀਂ ਵੇ ਤਬੀਬਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਤੇ ਮੈਂ ਮਰ ਗਈਆਂ। ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਨਚਾਇਆ....
Ishq ne dera mere andar kita Bharke zehar piyala main pita Jhabde aavin ve tabiba nahin te main mar gaiyan Tere ishq nachaya...
Love has pitched its camp inside me; I filled the cup of poison and drank it. Come quickly, O healer, or I will die. Your love has made me dance...
ਛੁਪ ਗਿਆ ਸੂਰਜ ਬਾਹਰ ਰਹਿ ਗਈਆ ਲਾਲੀ। ਹੋਵਾਂ ਮੈਂ ਸਦਕੇ ਮੁੜ ਜੇ ਦੇ ਵਿਖਾਲੀ। ਮੈਂ ਭੁੱਲ ਗਈਆਂ ਤੇਰੇ ਨਾਲ ਗਈਆਂ। ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ....
Chhup gaya sooraj bahar reh gaiya lali Hovan main sadke mud je de vikhali Main bhull gaiyan tere naal gaiyan Tere ishq...
The sun has hidden, only its red glow remains outside. I would give my life for you if you would show yourself again. I lost myself when I went along with you. Your love...
ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਦੀ ਸਾਰ ਵੇ ਮੈਂ ਨਾ ਜਾਣਾ। ਇਹ ਸਿਰ ਆਇਆ ਏ ਮੇਰਾ ਹੇਠ ਵਦਾਨਾਂ। ਸੱਟ ਪਈ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਦੀ ਤਾਂ ਕੂਕਾਂ ਦੱਈਆ। ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਨਚਾਇਆ.....
Tere ishq di saar ve main na jaana Ih sir aaya e mera heth vadaanaan Satt pai ishq di taan kookaan daiya Tere ishq nachaya...
I never knew the worth of your love; now my head lies beneath the hammer. When love's blow fell, I cried out in pain. Your love has made me dance...
ਏਸ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਦੇ ਕੋਲੋਂ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਹਟਕ ਨਾ ਮਾਏ। ਲਾਹੂ ਜਾਂਦੜੇ ਬੋੜੇ ਮੋੜ ਕੌਣ ਹਟਾਏ। ਮੇਰੀ ਅਕਲ ਭੁੱਲੀ ਨਾਲ ਮੁਹਾਣੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਗਈਆਂ। ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਨਚਾਇਆ.....
Es ishq de kolon sanu hatak na maaye Laahu jaandre bore mor kaun hataaye Meri akal bhulli naal muhaaniyaan de gaiyan Tere ishq nachaya...
Do not hold me back from this love, Mother; who can turn back boats swept away downstream? My reason has gone off with the boatmen. Your love has made me dance...
ਏਸ ਇਸ਼ਕੇ ਦੀ ਝੰਗੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਮੋਰ ਬੁਲੇਂਦਾ। ਸਾਨੂੰ ਕਾਅਬਾ ਤੇ ਕਿਬਲਾ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਯਾਰ ਦਿਸੇਂਦਾ। ਸਾਨੂੰ ਘਾਇਲ ਕਰਕੇ ਫਿਰ ਖਬਰ ਨਾ ਲਈਆ। ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਨਚਾਇਆ...।
Es ishqe di jhangi vich mor bulenda Sanu Kaaba te Qibla pyaara yaar disenda Sanu ghaayal karke phir khabar na laiya Tere ishq nachaya...
In the thicket of this love the peacock calls; my beloved friend appears to me as the Kaaba and the Qibla. You wounded me and then never asked after me. Your love has made me dance...
ਬੁਲ੍ਹਾ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਅਨਾਇਤ ਦੇ ਬਹਿ ਬੂਹੇ। ਜਿਸ ਪਹਿਨਾਏ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਸਾਵੇਂ ਸਹੇ। ਜਾਂ ਮੈਂ ਮਾਰੀ ਉਡਾਰੀ ਮਿਲ ਪਿਆ ਵਹੀਆ ਤੇਰੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਨਚਾਇਆ ਕਰ ਥਈਆ ਥਈਆ।
Bulla Shah Anaayat de bahi boohe Jis pehnaaye sanu saave sahe Jaan main maari udaari mil piya vahiya Tere ishq nachaya kar thaiya thaiya
Bulleh Shah, sit at the door of Inayat, who dressed us in green and red. When I took flight, I found my way. Your love has made me dance, thaiya, thaiya.
Translation: Lyriccs (original translation). Transliteration: Lyriccs.
The story behind Tere Ishq Nachaya
Bulleh Shah (c. 1680 to 1757) of Kasur was a disciple of the Sufi master Shah Inayat Qadiri, and many of his kafis address Inayat as the beloved and the healer. A well-known story says that when his master turned away from him, Bulleh Shah learned music and dance and danced in the streets until Inayat forgave him; this kafi, with its refrain of dancing to the rhythm thaiya thaiya, is linked to that tale.
The text here comes from a Gurmukhi collection of Bulleh Shah's kafis transcribed on Punjabi Wikisource. The kafi has been sung by many qawwals and Sufi singers, most famously by the Pakistani singer Abida Parveen, whose rendition is linked here. Like other kafis, it is built around a short refrain that the singer returns to after each stanza, which suits the call-and-response style of qawwali.
What Tere Ishq Nachaya means
The kafi is a cry of longing. Love has camped inside the lover, who has drunk a cup of poison and calls the healer to come quickly or find them dead. The sun has set and only its red glow remains, as the lover waits for one more glimpse. The blow of love falls like a hammer, and the lover cries out.
The mother is asked not to hold the lover back: who can turn back boats already swept downstream? In the thicket of love the peacock calls, and the beloved friend appears as the Kaaba and the direction of prayer. In the last stanza Bulleh Shah sits at Inayat's door, the one who dressed him in green and red, and in flight finds his way. The image of being made to dance expresses the Sufi idea of surrender: the lover moves only as love moves him.
Quick facts
- The kafi opens with the plea Bahurin ve tabiba, come back, O healer.
- Thaiya thaiya imitates the beat of dance steps.
- Bulleh Shah names his master Shah Inayat in the final stanza.
- Abida Parveen is among its best-known singers.