Dareechah-e-Nigaarish

Shah Husain (1538-1599) was a Lahore born and bred classical Punjabi poet who lived in the reign of the Mughal Indian Emperor Akbar.

Although there are many levels at which Shah Husain's poetry can be interpreted (the most obvious being the level of mystical Sufi poetry), Dareechah interprets his Kafis as a narrative of social alienation and the crying out of the human soul for love, companionship and dialogue. 

Shah Husain's Punjabi diction is powerful, prophetic and moving !

Dareechah is proud to showcase Shah Husain's Kafis in its Punjabi poetry section. The main reason for doing this is so that young poets from Pakistan and the Pakistani diaspora can absorb this classical Punjabi diction into their modern Punjabi poems.

However, another reason for celebrating Shah Husain's poetry on Dareechah is because this 16th Century classical poet influenced many modern Punjabi poets of the 20th century !! Some examples should suffice to make our point here :

(page numbers cited below are from Dr. Nazir Ahmed's compilation of Shah Husain's Kafis published in 1979 by Syed Babar Ali of Packages Inc.) 

Shah Husain's Kafi "My nee maiN keehnooN aakhaaN" p. 39

may have influenced Shiv Kumar Batalvi's diction in his Punjabi song "My nee My mayray geetaaN day nainaa vich"

Shah Husain's Kafi "Jaitee daynaa Raam Jee" p. 34

may have influenced Shiv Kumar Batalivi's diction in his Punjabi song "Prabh Jee SaanhooN koi geet udhaara hore dyo"

Shah Husain's Kafi "BirhoN" page 18 and p. 98 in Appendix

may have influenced Shiv Kumar Batalvi's diction in his Punjabi song "Lokee poojanr Rabb"

Shah Husain's Kafi "Daykhh faqeeraaN daa haal" p. 83

may have influenced Shiv Kumar Batalvi's diction in his Punjabi song "Keeh puchhdayO haal faqeeraaN daa"

Shah Husain's Kafi "Bhunn day faqeeraaN day daanay" p. 19

may have influenced Shiv Kumar Batalvi's diction in his Punjabi song "PeerraaN daa paraagaa bhunn day"

Shah Husain's Kafi "Poathee khole dikhaa bhaaee baahmnaa pyara kadoN milay see saamnaa" p.22

might have influenced Manzoor Jhalla's diction in his Punjabi song "Tak Patree vaaleyaa laikhh may-ray"



Shah Husain was born to the family of a newly converted Muslim, a weaver of cotton cloth (Punjabi Clan: Julaahaa). Shah Husain learnt his father's profession and also got the best possible education for a man of such humble origins: rich Muslims who migrated from Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan into Indian Punjab in the 15th and 16th Centuries were considered of nobler status than poorer local Hindus who converted to Islam (like Shah Husain's father). Nevertheless, Shah Husain learnt Arabic, Persian, memorized the Qur-aan, learnt Islamic Jurisprudence (Shariah) and even wrote a religious manuscript. For many years, he would spend the whole night praying while standing in the waters of the River Ravi.

When Shah Husain reached the age of early thirties, he rebelled against the canonical practices of Islam, started using narcotic herbs, singing and dancing in the streets and became known as the leader of a new movement called the Malaamtia Sect (whose chief tenet appeared to be the adoption of social behavior which would  invite ridicule from conservative Islamic clergy).

It is during this later phase of his life that Shah Husain started writing poetry in Punjabi (the local language of the Punjabi people) as opposed to Persian, the language of the Mughal Emperor's Court and Government Offices.  He adopted a new format called the Kafi for his poetic expression. The Kafi is a short poem where the opening line or asthaaee is repeated after one or two lines as a refrain which adds impact. A Kafi has a single subject or theme and the whole poem (all five or seven lines of it) are thought to be sufficient (punjabi word Kafi means sufficient) exposition of the chosen theme. A Kafi is usually meant to be sung in some Raga from the Indian Classical Musical tradition.

Not only is Shah Husain credited with:

pioneering the use of the Kafi format in classical Punjabi poetry, but he is also the poet who

first used the female narrative voice for all his Kafis as a metaphor of oppression (women in 16th Century Punjab were the most oppressed sector of society),

incorporated the epic romance of Heer and Ranjha, the most popular local love epic of the Punjab region, into his Kafis and lastly,

incorporated images/metaphors of the Punjabi woman's world into the Kafi such as the spinning wheel or Charkhaa, the phrase "My Nee" (O Mother!) used by daughters to address their Mothers in the Punjab etc.

The text of Shah Husain Kafis will be showcased on another web page within Dareechah