Bullah ki jaana (Punjabi: بُلھا کی جاڻا (Shahmukhi), ਬੁਲ੍ਹਾ ਕੀ ਜਾਣਾ (Gurmukhi)) is a Kafi written by the Punjabi Sufi saint Bulleh Shah. Bulleh Shah is famous for his spiritual and metaphysical poetry,[1] and "Bullah ki janaa" is one of his well-known poems. While reciting Kafis, Bulleh Shah would go on dancing continuously, till he attained the stage of haal (divine ecstasy).[2]
Bulleh Shah is known for using everyday language and symbols for expressing the relationship between Man and God.[3] In this composition, Bulleh Shah contemplates the origins of mankind using himself as a metaphor.[4] He expresses doubts about previously held views of the emergence of humans on Earth. He reasons, by referring to himself, that one can never understand the laws of nature and one's place in the Universe.
In the 1990s Junoon, a rock band from Pakistan, rendered "Bullah Ki Jaana". In 2005, Rabbi Shergill's rock/fusion version of Bullah Ki Jaana became a chart-topper in India and Pakistan.[5] [6] The Wadali Bandhu, a Punjabi Sufi group from India, have also released a version of "Bullah Ki Jaana" on their album Aa Mil Yaar... Call of the Beloved. Another version was performed by Lakhwinder Wadali and entitled Bullah.