Charkha by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

"Charkha", is a popular song, a kind of Heer..where the beloved yearns for his lover and calls him, though the love is not just earthly, it is more divine..The song was penned by the great sufi mystic Bulleh Shah. Almost every sufi singer has performed the song over the years. It is a great sufi number and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan here sings it in his true spirit of a Performer..It is noteworthy that when he sings you feel a kind of vigour and zeal in your soul to meet the person you love most..

   The Song has been sung by a wide community and singers so it has different versions, some short and some quite long.. A few lines from the song has been given here with their meaning:-

Maira aye charKha naoN laKha kuRey

("My existence is priceless" (Here charKha - a yarn spinning wheel - is used as a symbol of life and one's experience through life)

NeuN katdi katdi pakka kuRey
(Matured and nurtured by my (selfless) love)

MeiN tey mang RanjheN di hoi aN
(I've given myself to my Ranjha)

Mera babul karda aye dhakka kurey
(But people force me to abandon my beloved)

LokaN bhaNey chaak mahiN da
(For others, Ranjha is only a meager servant)

Mairey paa da Makkah kurey
(For me he is my Mecca)

LokaN bhaNey ishq soKhala
(People think to love is easy)

Aye ishq nahiN chaDda phakka kuRey
(Love destroys everything and leaves nothing behind)

Bulleh Shah naiN sach kar jata
(Bulleh Shah realized the truth)

Maira Shah Anayet guru pakka kuRey
(Shah Anayet is indeed my true spiritual leader (murshid))

Tere Bahjon Dil Deya Mehrama Ve

(oh keeper of my heart?)

Mera Jeona Kehre Chajda Ve..

(What good is my life without you?)

Mere Loon Loon Vich Meri Nas Nas Vich

(In every pore and every vein of my being)

Teri Yaad Da Tumba Vajda Ve…

(The song of your memory strums)

Aja Har Charkhe De Gere

(Come with every turn of the wheel)

Mein Tenu Yaad Kardi..

(I yearn for you)

Kade Aa Tatri De Vehre

(Come to the courtyard)

Mein Tenu Yaad Kardi ….

(to the one who longs for you)

Aja

(Come)

Ishq Da Charkha, Dukhan Diya Puniyan

(The spindle of love, the unspun fibers of sorrow)

Jiyon Jiyon Katti Javan Hon Payiyan Gunniyan

(The more I spin, the more they seem to increase)

Yaar Fareed Qabool Karein

(My friend Fareed, please avow)

Meda Sanwal Mithra

(My sweet beloved)

Sham Salonda Atay Sanwal Yar o Yar

(Dark as the evening is my beloved, friend oh friend)

Meda Sanwal Mithra Sham Saloon Saloondaa

(Salty, dark as the evening is my sweet beloved)

Yaar Mile Lajpal Mile Tad Yari Lawan Chas Hai

(Finding the friend, the protector, makes friendship worth it)

Jiyon Tere Pyar Mein Karu Intezar Main Kisi Se Kaha Jaye Naaaaaa

(Live in your love I wait for you, cannot tell anyone)

Jalon Tere Pyar Main Karon Intizar Main

 (Burning in your love I wait for you)

Kisi Se Kaha Jaye Naaa

(Cannot tell anyone)

Mera Eh Charkha Nolakha Kure….

(This spindle of mine is priceless)

Mera Eh Charkha Nolakha Kure…..

(This spindle of mine is priceless)

Mera Eh Charkha Nolakha Kure….

(This spindle of mine is priceless.)

Aja

(Come)