Sachal Sarmast
English: A view of Sachal Sarmast Shrine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sachal sarmast (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
According to Sachal: Thy first duty is to give up faith,unfaith,Islam and all religions.
He was born in Sindh,Pakistan in 1739,his real name was Abdul Wahab,he adopted the name Sachal Sarmast for his poetry
which means truthful mystic.He wrote mystic poetry in Arabic,Sindhi,Seraiki,Punjabi,Urdu,Persian, and Baluchi. Sachal urged people, rather than blindly following tradition,to seek truth directly.And like Ibn Arabi and others ,he taught a vision of unity called Wahdat-al -Wujud.He died on the 14th day of Ramadan in 1829 at the age of 90.
Sachal’s poetry.
Friend,this is the only way
to learn the secret way:
Ignore the paths of others,
even the saint’s steep trails.
Don’t follow.
Don’t journey at all.
Rip the veil from your face.
‘Tis not in religion I believe
‘Tis love I live in.
When love comes to you.
Say Amen!
Neither did I roll rosary nor did I ponder and pray,
I went to no mosque or temple,nor bow in adoration to any,
Sachal is lucky everyday,love is all around him.
You by yourself,know what is in your form!
Why chant ‘Allah! Allah’? Find Allah within you.
You listen,you see, Allah’s word is witness,
There is no doubt O Sachal! that the Lord is one!
We are,what are we?
We know not ,what we are!
For a moment we are blessed
For a moment we are accursed
Some moment we pray and fast
Some moment we are free spirits
Now we declare,’Only we exist’
Now we declare,’we don’t exist’
For a bit, our heart is calm
In a bit, we weep rivers
Now we say,’We are self-realized’
Now we ask , ‘Who are we?’
‘Sachal’ we are only That eternally
What other contracts can we make here?
I was sitting by the roadside ,
When the path became clear to me;
In the palace the Beloved I saw;
a glimpse the Beauty gave;
Through the window was the vision,
a glimpse the Beauty saw;
Take care of the ignorant;
Our bond was made for a reason.
I truly recognized the Lord,
My companion He sure became;
‘He is the creator of all
and intrinsic to all,
All doubts in this perished;
With happiness shall I carry
Sisters, if your trust I have.
All the journeys,all the manifestations
The Dear one’s own;
Friend Sachal Know this correctly,
Slumber has created illusions.
Sachal regarded love as the path to spirituality:
‘Tis not in religion I believe
‘Tis love I live in.
When love comes to you,
say Amen!
‘Tis not with the infidel
that love resides,
Nor with the faithful.
Translation by Gul Agha and Jethmal Parsram Gulrajani
Posted by Ranu
Sabethville 
Dear Ranu,
Thank you for sharing this most interesting poetry.
The poetic urgings of Sachal point to a place beneath the hidebound trappings of religion. Humans of all cultures do seem to get addicted to the outer trappings, this way too easily binding us to an idolatrous nationalism.
For me, personally, I look in this world for the manifestation of religious appurtenances. That, then, gives me some idea of where *not* to direct attention, that is, if I seek spiritual content.
This all takes sensitive discretion and guidance. Shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi is perhaps a fine example of a figure who points to “Love,” and yet he did not reject Islamic figh.
Lovely words…
“Slumber has created illusions.
Sachal regarded love as the path to spirituality:
‘Tis not in religion I believe
‘Tis love I live in.
When love comes to you,
say Amen!”
All good wishes,
robert
Thank you Robert.I was in a very peculiar mood yesterday.I thought of Sachal ,I found,copied and posted
it this morning.His work has a kind of magic that really soothes the soul.I am glad you like it too.
All the best to you.
Regards,
Ranu
Dear Ranu,
Yes, I do like it. Thank you very much for sharing it.
All good wishes,
robert
Thank you Robert,best wishes to you.
Ranu
I was once travelling in Sindh, with a group, and the group suddenly stopped at a shrine. I was told that it was the shrine of Sachal Sarmast, and we were going to pay a visit since it happened to be on the way of our excursions.
I was suddenly gripped by a strange feeling, of the presence of a great soul. I refused to visit the grave, saying that I cannot visit this saint “just because” he happened to be on the way, as if it was something as casual as a sight-seeing attraction.
So, while my friends went inside, I sat just inside the main gate, in the compound, and tried to absorb the ambiance, offering my fateha from that point and looking at the main tomb a few scores of yards away.
Since then, I have felt a very strong affinity with Sachal on so many occasions, in some very uncanny ways.
Thank you,for writing about your experience.I don’t know what it is,but I love reading his work.
All the best.
Regards,
Ranu
Dear Sir,
Thank you for sharing this experience of Sachal. I have seen a photograph of his shrine. It looks lovely.
All good wishes,
robert
I am glad you liked it .Thank you.
ranu