Heer Waris Shah

Verse 30 Ranjha's sisters-in-law are distraught at his leaving

Now that Ranjha has called their bluff and is really leaving, his sisters-in-law are distraught. Showing great contrition they entreat him not to leave and tell him that they have been weeping tears of blood at the prospect of his leaving.

Verse 31 - Ranjha's parting words to his sisters-in-law

Impervious to the pleading of his sisters-in-law, Ranjha angrily accuses them of trickery and hypocrisy, declaring that the food and water of his childhood home is now haram or forbidden to him.

Verse 32 - Ranjha arrives at the mosque

After traveling all day, Ranjha seeks shelter at a mosque. In the middle of the night he starts playing his flute and all the villagers gather around the mosque

Verse 33 - In praise of the mosque

The poet extols the beauty of the mosque where Ranjha seeks shelter and waxes eloquent about its intellectual life and the scholarly pursuits of the students attached to it.

Verse 34 - Pedagogy

The poet continues to list the various classical texts that the students at the mosque study.

Verse 35 - Students at the mosque

The poet on the students who study at the mosque.

Verse 36 - Ranjha and the Mullah

On hearing Ranjha's flute in the middle of the night, the Mullah in charge of the mosque hastens here. Ranjha's long hair offends him deeply and he castigates him for not following the Sharia. In his eyes, Ranjha is a rebellious and arrogant dandy and he threatens him, saying that he will meet an end like Mansur al-Hallaj, the Persian Sufi, who was sent to the gallows for declaring An Halaq or I am Truth. Mansur is a towering figure in Sufi lore and the Mullah's casting Ranjha in his mold is a subtle foreshadowing of Ranjha's transformation by Waris Shah.

Verse 37 - Ranjha's stinging reply to the Mullah

Ranjha assails the Mullah, saying that while he might have the outward appearance of a holy man, his thoughts and deeds are satanic. He accuses him of oppressing wayfarers such as himself; the reference here is to both his physical journey after leaving home and his inner journey on the Sufi path. He accuses the Mullah of hypocrisy, suggesting that he hides behind the Quran, interpreting it as he sees fit to suit his own agenda. He rebukes the Mullah and rejects his characterizing what is pure and defiled, for he feels that he understands the Sharia well and does not need the Mullah's instructions. Finally Ranjha accuses the Mullah of adultery and sexual misconduct, which according to him goes on clandestinely in the inner room of the mosque. In this verse we see Waris Shah in his iconoclastic avatar, laying bare the hypocrisy and the sanctimony of the representatives of organized religion. 

Verse 38 - The Mullah attacks Ranjha

The Mullah continues to assail Ranjha, comparing him to a filthy dog and declaring that mosques, the realm of Allah, are no place for either dogs or mendicants. He launches into a diatribe taking issue with Ranjha's long hair, his mustache which according to him is too long and in violation of the Sharia. He threatenns to rip his tehmat or sarong, which hangs below his ankles and is hence to long and declares that he will burn his mustache. He calls Ranjha an apostate for abjuring daily prayer and declares that one like him, who does not understand Islamic jurispurdence should bepromptly sent to the glalows, thus again invoking Mansur al-Hallaj. Waris Shah in this verse rails aganst the arbiters of organized religion, who misuse their authority to judge and oppress those who they should be ministering to.

Verse 39 - Ranjha's rhetorical questions

Ranjha unleashes a barrage of rhetorical questions at the Mullah about the nature of Namaz or daily prayer. He waxes eloquent, asking about the attributes and antecedents of Namaz, making the point that prayer is free and attempts to tether prayer by ritualizing it are futile.