aaaa aaaaa aaaaann aaaaaa
aa piya in nainan me
aaaa piya
in nainan me jo palak dhaanp tohe lu
aaaa aaaa
repeat
na main dekhu gair ko na tohe dekhan du
kajal daalu kirkira
jo surma diya na jaye
jin nainan me pee base
toh dooja kaun samaye
chaap tilak
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Overall Meaning:
"Chaap Tilak Sab Cheeni" is a beautiful qawwali composed by Amir Khusro in the 14th century. Its lyrics are quite complex and deep, with several layers of meaning. At its core, the song expresses the surrender of the self to the divine, and the recognition of the divine in everything around us.
The opening lines of the song set the stage for this surrender: "aa piya in nainan me, piya in nainan me jo palak dhaanp tohe lu" ("Come, my beloved, and rest in my eyes, as I close my eyelids to keep you inside"). The singer is addressing their beloved, who is seen as a representation of the divine. By closing their eyes and keeping the beloved inside, the singer is expressing their desire to be completely consumed by and united with the divine.
The next line, "na main dekhu gair ko na tohe dekhan du" ("I do not look at anyone else, nor do I show myself to you"), moves the focus from the singer's intention to the nature of the divine. The divine is all-encompassing and beyond human comprehension, and thus cannot be compared to or contrasted with anything else.
The following lines use metaphor to describe the process of attaining spiritual knowledge. "Kajal daalu kirkira jo surma diya na jaye" ("I apply kajal to my eyes that never fades, like the surma that never fades from my eyes"). The singer is suggesting that spiritual knowledge is like kajal that enhances vision and helps us see things clearly, while at the same time using the metaphor of surma to imply that such knowledge is always present within us and never fades away.
The song culminates in the refrain, "chaap tilak sab cheeni re tose naina milaike" ("You have taken away my identity by just a glance of your eyes"). This line suggests that the divine has the power to strip away our ego and merge us with itself just by a single glance. This is the ultimate goal of spiritual practice – to overcome the limitations of the self and become one with the divine.
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