کن فیکن Kun Faya Kun — Be, And It Is

Irshad Kamil

1971– living

Geet

A man walks into the shrine at Nizamuddin and starts talking to the one who lives there, and the song that follows is the conversation. It is built on two words from the Quran, kun faya kun, be, and it is: the claim that creation happens by a single word. The song spends its length agreeing with that claim, in every register it can find.

Irshad Kamil wrote it for Rockstar in 2011, A.R. Rahman set it and sang it with Javed Ali and Mohit Chauhan, and the scene it scored became the most loved sequence in the film. Seven passages ahead, and they run from the first word of creation to a man asking to be set free from himself.

01 — kun faya kun kun faya kun kun faya kun ya kareem

کن فیکن کن فیکن کن فیکن یا کریم
کرم کریں کرم کریں کرم کریں کرم کریں
داتا کرم کریں

कुन फ़ाया कुन कुन फ़ाया कुन कुन फ़ाया कुन या करीम
करम करें करम करें करम करें करम करें
दाता करम करें

kun faya kun kun faya kun kun faya kun ya kareem
karam karein karam karein karam karein karam karein
data karam karein

Be, and it is, be and it is, O the Generous. May grace be shown, grace, grace, grace. May the Giver show grace.

The song opens on the phrase of creation and turns it into a chant. Kun faya kun, from the Quran, is the word by which things come to be, and ya kareem is the Generous, one of the names of God, so the song is already praying in its first line. The second line is pure qawwali machinery: karam karein repeated until the request is worn smooth, and data, the giver, the title that the whole shrine culture uses for its saints, gives the prayer its addressee.

کن فیکن kun faya kun: be, and it is; the word of creation
کریم kareem: the Generous; a name of God
کرم karam: grace, favour
داتا data: the Giver

02 — jab kahin pe kuchh nahin bhi nahin tha

جب کہیں پہ کچھ نہیں بھی نہیں تھا
وہی تھا وہی تھا وہی تھا

जब कहीं पे कुछ नहीं भी नहीं था
वही था वही था वही था

jab kahin pe kuchh nahin bhi nahin tha
wahi tha wahi tha wahi tha

When there was nothing anywhere, nothing at all, He was there. He was there, He was there, He was there.

The verse that stopped the film. The first line performs its own meaning: it has to say nothing twice to get the nothing right, kuchh nahin bhi nahin, and out of that doubled emptiness comes the triple answer, wahi tha, wahi tha, wahi tha. The repetition is the theology: the claim is so large it can only be made by saying it again.

وہی wahi: the same one; the One

03 — wo jo mujhmein samaaya wo jo tujhmein samaaya

وہ جو مجھ میں سمایا وہ جو تجھ میں سمایا
مولا وہی وہی مایا
کن فیکن کن فیکن
صدق اللہ علی العظیم

वो जो मुझ में समाया वो जो तुझ में समाया
मौला वही वही माया
कुन फ़ाया कुन कुन फ़ाया कुन
सदक़ अल्लाहु अली उल अज़ीम

wo jo mujhmein samaaya wo jo tujhmein samaaya
maula wahi wahi maaya
kun faya kun kun faya kun
sadq allahu ali ul azeem

The one who filled me, the one who filled you: the Master, the same, the same, the illusion. Be, and it is. God has spoken truly, the Exalted.

The verse of unity. Whatever is inside me and whatever is inside you, the song says, is the same one thing, and the word for it is maaya, the veil, the illusion of the world in the Sufi reckoning. The Arabic line that follows, sadq allahu ali ul azeem, God has spoken truly, the Exalted, is the formal seal of the Quranic quotation, so the song is citing scripture and confessing mysticism in the same breath.

سمانا samana: to be absorbed into, to fill from inside
مولا maula: Master; Lord
مایا maaya: the illusion of the world

04 — rangreza rang mera tann mera mann

رنگریزا رنگ میرا تن میرا من
لے لے رنگائی چاہے تن چاہے من
سجرا سویرا میرے تن برسے
کاجرا اندھیرا تیری جلتی لو

रंगरेज़ा रंग मेरा तन मेरा मन
ले ले रंगाई चाहे तन चाहे मन
सजरा सवेरा मेरे तन बरसे
काजरा अंधेरा तेरी जलती लौ

rangreza rang mera tann mera mann
le le rangaai chahe tann chahe mann
sajra savera mere tann barse
kajra andhera teri jalti lau

Dyer of the world, dye my body, dye my mind. Take the dye, whether body or mind. The dry, scorched morning rains on my body. The kohl-dark night, lit by your burning flame.

The Sufi title of the dyer, rangreza, is the axis of the passage. The world is cloth in this tradition, and God is the dyer, and the prayer is to be dyed, body or mind, whichever takes the colour. The second couplet pairs the two darknesses of the soul: the sajra morning, scorched and dry, and the kajra night, black as kohl, and both of them are put out by her burning flame, teri jalti lau. The beloved and the divine have merged into one pronoun, which is the tradition's oldest move.

رنگریزا rangreza: the dyer of cloth; the dyer of souls
رنگائی rangaai: the act of dyeing
سجرا sajra: dry, scorched, without moisture
کاجرا kajra: kohl; black as kohl

05 — qatra mila jo tere dar barse

قطرہ ملا جو تیرے در برسے
او مولا مولا مولا
مجھ پہ کرم سرکار تیرا
عرض تجھے کردے مجھے مجھ سے ہی رہا

क़तरा मिला जो तेरे दर बरसे
ओ मौला मौला मौला
मुझ पे करम सरकार तेरा
अरज़ तुझे करदे मुझे मुझ से ही रिहा

qatra mila jo tere dar barse
o maula maula maula
mujhpe karam sarkar tera
arz tujhe karde mujhe mujhse hi riha

When the drop came and rained at your door, O Master, Master, Master. Your grace on me, my lord. I ask you: set me free from myself.

The song reaches its destination. The drop is the pilgrim, and the door is the shrine, and the rhyme has been building the whole song toward these two words, dar and barse. Then the prayer arrives, and it is the sharpest in the language of the decade: karde mujhe mujhse hi riha. Not from my enemies, not from my circumstances. From me. The line names the true jailer, and the refrain underneath it calls the Master, the Master, the Master.

قطرہ qatra: a drop
سرکار sarkar: the master, the lord; the court of a saint
رہا riha: free, released

06 — ab mujhko bhi ho deedar mera

اب مجھ کو بھی ہو دیدار میرا
کردے مجھے مجھ سے ہی رہا
من کے میرے یہ بھرم
کچے میرے یہ کرم
لے کے چلے ہیں کہاں میں تو جانو ہی نہ

अब मुझ को भी हो दीदार मिरा
करदे मुझे मुझ से ही रिहा
मन के मिरे ये भरम
कच्चे मिरे ये करम
ले के चले हैं कहाँ मैं तो जानूँ ही ना

ab mujhko bhi ho deedar mera
karde mujhe mujhse hi riha
mann ke mere ye bharam
kachche mere ye karam
le ke chale hain kahan main to jaano hi na

Let me too have the sight of you, my vision. Set me free from myself. These delusions of my mind, these raw, unformed deeds of mine: where are they taking me, I truly do not know.

The verse of self-knowledge. Deedar is the vision of the beloved, the sight that the whole tradition waits a lifetime for, and the line wants it badly enough to be granted. Then the confession that earns it: the mind's bharam, its delusions, and the karam, the deeds, and the word for them is kachche, raw, unbaked, unformed. The song admits its deeds are clay that never reached the kiln, and the line that follows is the shrug of a man who has lost the map of his own life.

دیدار deedar: the sight of the beloved; the vision
بھرم bharam: a delusion, a false belief
کچا kachcha: raw, unformed, unbaked

07 — tu hai mujhmein samaaya kahan leke mujhe aaya

تو ہے مجھ میں سمایا کہاں لے کے مجھے آیا
میں ہوں تجھ میں سمایا تیرے پیچھے چلا آیا
تیرا ہی میں اک سایہ تو نے مجھ کو بنایا
میں تو جگ کو نہ بھایا تو نے گلے سے لگایا
حق تو ہی ہے خدایا سچ تو ہی ہے خدایا

तू है मुझ में समाया कहाँ ले के मुझे आया
मैं हूँ तुझ में समाया तेरे पीछे चला आया
तेरा ही मैं इक साया तूने मुझको बनाया
मैं तो जग को ना भाया तूने गले से लगाया
हक़ तू ही है ख़ुदाया सच तू ही है ख़ुदाया

tu hai mujhmein samaaya kahan leke mujhe aaya
main hoon tujhmein samaaya tere peechhe chala aaya
tera hi main ik saaya tune mujhko banaya
main to jag ko na bhaaya tune gale se lagaya
haq tu hi hai khudaya sach tu hi hai khudaya

You are inside me, where have you brought me. I am inside you, I followed behind you. I am only your shadow, you made me. The world did not like me, and you pulled me to your chest. You alone are the truth, O God. You alone are the true one, O God.

The climax of the song, and the whole of it in five lines. The mutual indwelling of the first two lines, samaaya twice, is the Sufi union stated as geography: we are inside each other. Then the descent into the personal: I am your shadow, you made me. And then the line that the decade quoted: main toh jag ko na bhaaya, tune gale se lagaya. The world did not like me, and you embraced me. It is the theology of the outcast, and the song closes on the confession of faith: haq tu hi hai khudaya, you alone are the truth, O God.

سایہ saaya: a shadow
گلے لگانا gale lagana: to embrace, to pull to one's chest
حق haq: truth; the true one

Reading it whole

The song is a prayer that behaves like a love song, which is exactly the tradition it comes from. Kun faya kun is the phrase of creation from Surah Ya-Sin, be and it is, and the song uses it as a refrain the way a qawwali uses a name: repeated until it stops being a quotation and becomes a state. The second line that carries the same weight is karam karein, data karam karein: may the giver keep giving. The whole song is those two requests, ornamented.

The verse that made the song famous is the song's entire theology in one line. Jab kahin pe kuchh nahin, bhi nahin tha, wahi tha. When there was nothing anywhere, nothing at all, He was there. It is the oldest claim in monotheism, and the song delivers it with the wonder of someone discovering it fresh: wahi tha, wahi tha, He was there, He was there. The second verse extends it: whatever is inside me, whatever is inside you, maula wahi, the Master is the same. The unity of everything is stated as a discovery.

Then the song turns to the image of the dyer. Rangreza is the one who dyes cloth, and in the Sufi poetry of the region it is one of the great titles for God: the world is cloth, and we are being dyed. Rang mera, tann mera, mann: dye my colour, my body, my mind. The next verse pairs the two weathers of the soul: sajra savera, a dry, scorched morning, and kajra andhera, the kohl-dark night, lit by your burning flame. And then the turn of the whole song: qatra mila jo tere dar barse, when a drop fell and rained at your door. The drop is the pilgrim, and the door is the shrine, and the song has reached its geography at last.

The last two verses are the song's real prayer. Mujhpe karam sarkar tera: your grace on me, master. Karde mujhe mujhse hi riha: set me free from myself. It is the sharpest prayer of the decade, because it locates the prison correctly: the thing I need rescuing from is me. The verse that follows explains why he needs it. Main toh jag ko na bhaaya, tune gale se lagaya. The world did not like me, and you pulled me to your chest. It is the theology of the outcast, and it is why the song belongs to everyone who has ever been unwanted.

A.R. Rahman sang it with Javed Ali and Mohit Chauhan at the shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya in the film, and the song's own address, ya Nizamuddin sarkar, comes from the same geography. The recording people mean is the one from the film, and the version on T-Series is the one that has travelled.

Recordings

A.R. Rahman, Javed Ali and Mohit Chauhan

From Rockstar (2011), composed by A.R. Rahman.

Text and rights

Devanagari text supplied and checked by a reader who knows the language. The Urdu script and the transliteration follow that reading.

From the 2011 film Rockstar, composed by A.R. Rahman. The refrain and the Arabic lines return between passages in the recording, more often than they are printed here, and the film version includes the invocation ya Nizamuddin Auliya before the final passage.

Irshad Kamil is alive and writing, so this song is still in copyright. It is quoted here as the subject of Harf's own criticism: the translation, the reading of each passage and the essay around them are original work written for this page. If you hold the rights and would like something changed, tell us on Instagram.