The
saloks of Sheikh Farid
Ji guide the seeker towards life’s true purpose, the devotion to the one absolute Divine, IkOankar. In these saloks, he reminds us that our time in this world is finite; therefore, one must turn to IkOankar without delay. Yet, attachment to transient possessions and relationships causes many to forget this truth, becoming entangled in vices that lead to restlessness and inner turmoil. In contrast, those who cultivate virtues such as love, humility, patience, contentment, selfless service, and righteousness experience the bliss of connection with IkOankar even while living a householder’s life. Their life becomes serene and suffused with inner joy.
In the one hundred and eighth stanza, Guru Arjan expands on Sheikh Farid’s previous stanza and says,
O Farid! The Divine-Husband is colorful and greatly free from wants. By being imbued with Allah, this body becomes truthful. Guru Arjan uses Sheikh Farid’s language for
IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One), the Islamic term
Allah, and gently reminds the Sheikh that this Divine Spouse is
colorful. All that we
see in creation is of the Spouse. This colorful Spouse is permeating all the beauty around us, free from desires or wants. We all have our own natures—maybe we begin to put those qualities onto the One, thinking of the One as having particular desires or wants from us. But the One is not dependent on us, and not dependent on our decision to engage in praise or devotion at a particular time. The One does not change the One’s nature based on whether or not we have engaged in these things.
Guru Arjan is asking us to expand the thinking of the previous stanza. We are being encouraged to understand that the Divine is multifaceted and colorful, and that we, too, are multifaceted in this way. This means we can become Divine-like by
embracing our multitudes. We, too, can become
colorful rather than fixated on one thing or one way of doing things. Let our behavior be colorful and carefree in the same way that the Spouse is colorful and carefree. If getting up early in the morning to engage in devotion is what is best for us as individuals, that is what we ought to do. But we ought to do
all things out of love and color and not out of mechanics or the motions that we think we ought to be engaged in. We ought not to do things in transaction. We ought to do things because we are called to do them from deep within the wells of our hearts. In
this way, we can become imbued with the One, eternally drenched in the devotion of the One, and we will find that we become
beautified in that eternality. Will we become drenched in this love, no matter the time of day?
