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.
birhā birhā ākhīai birhā tū sultānu.
pharīdā jitu tani birahu na ūpjai so tanu jāṇu masānu.36.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1379
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the thirty-sixth stanza, Sheikh Farid says, Separation, separation is called bad, O separation! You are the sultan. Sheikh Farid mentions birha, or separation, three times, emphasizing its power over him as the sultan, the ruler, the one in charge of him. We all know what it is to be ruled by something, to feel utterly powerless in the face of it, whether it be our entanglements in greed, lust, or anger, or our attachment to relationships or material things. What would it mean to become so aware of our separation and the pain it causes that this is what ends up ruling us? This is about that feeling of deep suffering in the experience of separation, firak in Islam. But this is not a reflection that leads to hopelessness!
Sheikh Farid continues, the body in which separation does not arise, consider that body a cremation ground. When we do not feel this feeling, it is as if we are walking around dead and unfeeling. If we feel this feeling, it means we are alive. Separation is alive or awakened where there is love! When we are so in love, so devoted, so aware of our Beloved, that we cannot bear to be apart, that is the separation Sheikh Farid is speaking about here. Without that awareness, without those pangs, so many of us come and go without a sense of how separated we truly are. This feeling is painful. It can rule us. But it is also a sign of our awareness, of our very existence. And in that way, it can be a comfort and a joy, because of the excitement of meeting, or the anticipation of it ending. In this separation, we are drenched in love. We are steeped in devotion. We are desperate for connection. Will we understand separation and its pains as a positive thing? Will we become seekers who are this in love with the beloved One?
