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 gor nimāṇī saḍu kare nighariā ghari āu.
sarpar maithai āvaṇā marṇahu nā ḍariāhu.93.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1382
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the ninety-third stanza, Sheikh Farid says, this humble grave gives a summon, o homeless one! Come home. We are presented with the striking visual of the body as the home, and as the transition from life into death as a kind of homelessness—a returning to the home of the beloved IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One), here presented as the humble grave. If in our lives on Earth, we have found that we were not able to have the experience of IkOankar’s presence, of connecting with IkOankar, then the next place to go in the Islamic paradigm (which Sheikh Farid is within) is the grave. In the Islamic context, if we are not able to do this in our lives, the time between going to the grave and the final Day of Judgment offers a period in which one can still pursue that connection. It is as if Sheikh Farid is saying, if you could not realize the Divine in this house, maybe you can figure it out in the home of the grave as you wait for that final Day of Judgment. Why the imagery of homelessness? Because when we are living, we struggle to make this world our home, struggle to make these bodies our homes. We are so distracted by the entanglements of being in the world that we end up sleepwalking through life. We do not go within ourselves and make a home in our own bodies. We roam around in a frenzy—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—in pursuit of that we do not know. In the grave, there is no distraction. Sheikh Farid is presenting the idea that there still is time for us, if we can begin to move our consciousness inwards and reflect.
Sheikh Farid continues, One day, you surely will have to come to me. Do not be afraid of dying. We are all so afraid of dying! We spend our lives worrying about when we will go and how, whether we will have ‘enough time,’ whether we have done all that we set out to do, and whether we have done all we need to do. We wonder about our consequences. We wonder about our legacies. We wonder about all that we must leave behind. Sheikh Farid shakes us out of this anxiety and says this is a sure thing. We will all have to go to the ‘grave’ in the end! So let us not be afraid of dying. Let death become a reminder of what we ought to do instead of a thing to fear. We have this time. We have this reminder. What will we do with these gifts?
