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.
pharīdā paṅkh parāhuṇī dunī suhāvā bāgu.
naübati vajī subah siu calaṇ kā kari sāju.79.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1382
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the seventy-ninth stanza, Sheikh Farid says, O Farid! The flock of birds is a guest, the world is a pleasant garden. With the break of dawn, the kettledrum will sound; prepare the baggage for departure. This world is a beautiful garden that we are inhabiting as bird-like guests. There are all sorts of different flowers, plants, and trees, as well as a variety of animals inhabiting this beautiful garden, an abundance of different shapes, colors, and ways of being. We share in this environment. We come, take what we need, are nurtured by creation, and then leave. Our stays here are temporary. When the night of life passes and the dawn breaks, a call will come for us to depart from this garden-like world. This drumbeat will sound, and it will be time to go. Sheikh Farid urges us to prepare ourselves for this departure—to pack our baggage full of good deeds for the journey ahead while we still have time.
Sheikh Farid asks us to reflect on our disposition as beings in creation. Are we entangled in the world, busy seeking more and more beyond a point of satisfaction, fixating on what we believe is ‘ours’ and no one else’s? Are we accumulating and hoarding and orienting ourselves around the temporary? What if we understood our time here as limited, our engagement with the world as one of reciprocity and gratitude rather than greed? What if we did not worry about what belongs to us and instead thought of ourselves as mere stewards, here for a moment and gone the next, being stewarded in turn by this garden we dwell within? Sheikh Farid urges us to prepare for our inevitable departure by accumulating good deeds—to know what to partake in, and to resist the tendency to treat this world as if we will be here forever. What are our “beaks” pecking, feeding, preening, holding, and grasping? What baggage will we pack for the day the drum resounds?
