Saieen, Saien, Sayeen, Sayein or Sai means Lord/God/owner in Persian/Hindi/Urdu, and applies to Shirdi Sai Baba name
Last updated on 4th Jan. 2023
Given below are contents of two of my recent Facebook posts:
Wadali Brothers singing what seems to be a Sufi song in Punjabi. The video shows a series of pics which are quite fascinating, capturing life of common people (mostly Muslim going by their dress) in what seems to be mostly Indian subcontinent (India and/or Pakistan and perhaps some other countries of this area) though initial pics of whirling Sufi dervishes may be from other countries/areas like Turkey. The audio stops at around 7 min. 15 secs.
Echoes of Sufi Chants - Kafi Bulleh Shah (Ni Main Hunay Sunya) Wadali Brothers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM-jmPOpsHM , 8 min. 49 secs.
The lyrics with English translation are provided here: http://qawwal.blogspot.com/2015/02/ni-main-hunay-suneya-kafis-bulleh-shah.html . But in this song rendition, only some lines of the song provided there, are sung, and not in the same order as given there.
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Saieen, Saien, Sayeen or Sayein whose short form seems to be Sai, means Lord/God/owner in Persian/Hindi/Urdu, and applies to Shirdi Sai Baba name
The Wadali brothers Sufi song Ni Main Huney Sunya (of Bulleh Shah) post I put up earlier today, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid0LbiY651YyqJn7MqFQ3ZTJGHJSPUp7f6KJVXLikweaFrYUuCZwoGXtKsSwzLx4mQxl [Ravi: contents given above in this blog post] , uses the word Sai(en) in one of its lines. You can hear the line from around 4 min. 35 secs into the video https://youtu.be/KM-jmPOpsHM?t=274 ).
The words of the line (initial part with word Sai sung many times in different styles) are (in what seems to be Punjabi or Urdu):
Ghar ghar Sai(en) hai woh Sai(en)
Har har nale pehchhata
This post, https://qawwal.blogspot.com/2015/02/ni-main-hunay-suneya-kafis-bulleh-shah.html having lyrics of the song, translates the above words in English as (slightly edited to correct spelling):
In every house abides the Lord,
I find Him pervading one and all
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As the song is said to be composed by Bulleh Shah, the 17th to 18th century (1680–1757) Punjabi Sufi poet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulleh_Shah , hearing the words Sai(en) in the song triggered my search for Punjabi & Sufi meaning of the word Sai(en). A few interesting results are given below:
*) https://www.rekhtadictionary.com/meaning-of-saaiin gives the first meaning of saa.ii.n in Urdu and Hindi language, spelt in Hindi as "ą¤øाą¤ं" which is how the Sai in Shirdi Sai Baba is spelt, (Sai meaning in Hindi/Urdu) as "Allah, The Supreme Being, God, Lord, Guru, religious mendicant" and the second meaning as, "manner of addressing someone affectionately, husband".
*) https://archive.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/01/30/wring-use-of-the-word-sain/ has a correspondent to a Pakistani media outlet writing, "In Southern Punjab it [Ravi: the word 'Sain'] is used exactly like in Sindhi, with the same meaning. This revered title is given to those who are very respectable. This word is used to denote love and immense respect for elders and seniors. ‘Sain’ is synonymous to a teacher in Sindhi. For a Sindhi, his elder brother is ‘Ada Sain’, father is ‘Baba Sain’, uncle is ‘Chacha Sain’, sufi singer Zahoor Ahmed is ‘Sain Zahoor’ and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai is ‘Bhittai Sain’. It is worth mentioning that it is also used with words like ‘Allah Sain’ and ‘Nabi Sain’ (PBUH)."
*) https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shirdi-Sai-Baba states, "The name Sai Baba comes from sai, a Persian word used by Muslims to denote a holy person, and baba, Hindi for father."
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Ravi: The above meanings of Sai(en) (or Saieen, Sayee(n) or Sayein) fits in with the name of Shirdi Sai Baba and how he was first referred to as Sai by Mahalsapathi. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Baba_of_Shirdi , "Sai Baba's real name remains unknown. The name Sai was given to him by the temple priest Mahalsapati when he returned to Shirdi in 1858. The word Sai refers to a religious mendicant but can also mean God. In several Indian and Middle Eastern languages the term Baba is an honorific signifying grandfather, father, old man or sir. Thus Sai Baba denotes "holy father", "saintly father" or (venerable) poor old man."
Ravi: I am quite happy to have got details of this meaning of the word Sai when used in the context of Sufism and Shirdi Sai Baba. Even earlier I had presumed that the word Sai had a Sufi or even Persian meaning of saint/holy person but I did not have clear references for it and so was somewhat unsure. Now the meaning is clear and I have some references to back it up.
Of course, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has given a slightly different meaning of the word, Sai, in the context of his name. From http://saibaba.ws/articles/isaissai.htm (slightly edited to correct spelling) which states that the following quote is from the book: "The Scriptures Are Fulfilled!" by K.-G. Kumar: "Sathya Sai Baba has explained the meaning of His Name thus: "Sathya" means "Truth" or "True", "Sa" means "Divine" and "All". "Ai" or "Ayi" means "Mother". Hence "Sai " means "the Divine or Supreme Mother of all. " "Sa" also means "Self-realization and visulization of the Lord - the highest stage of 'samadhi' and sadhana or spirtual practice." "Aayi" means "Master" and "Baba" means "Father." Thus "Sathya Sai Baba" means: "the True Divine Mother/Father of all, the Goal of all yogic or spiritual endeavor, the ever-merciful Mother, the all-wise Father and the Goal of sadhna.""
Ravi: I have also been told by a Sai university alumnus-and-faculty that Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba said that Sai in his name stands for divine mother (and Baba stands for father). So in Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba name context, Sai is divine mother.
[I thank rekhtadictionary.com, pakistantoday.com.pk, britannica.com, wikipedia.org and saibaba.ws, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above small extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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Given below are my comments (slightly edited) on above mentioned Facebook post:
Glad you liked it. Makes the writing/sharing part (after I had got the info. earlier) worthwhile when one knows it is appreciated by somebody š.
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Thanks a ton for your encouragement.
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