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 maütai dā bannā evai disai jiu darīāvai ḍhāhā.
agai dojaku tapiā suṇīai hūl pavai kāhāhā.
iknā no sabh sojhī āī iki phirde veparvāhā.
amal ji kītiā dunī vici se dargah ogāhā.98.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1383
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the ninety-eighth stanza, Sheikh Farid says, to me, the boundary of death appears like the bank of a river. Hereafter, hell is heard to be burning. Nearby, uproar breaks out. Sheikh Farid continues to reflect on the end of life and what we will face in the hereafter. He describes death as a bank of a river—when we are out on the water, all we are worried about is staying afloat and rowing our way along. We don’t have a good sense of how far the bank is from us. It seems so far away, until it doesn’t. There is a moment when we approach the bank that we are hit with the realization of how close it truly is. Similarly, we float along the waters of life, worrying about staying the course, worrying about continuing to move with those waters. We think of death as far away, until it isn’t.
Sheikh Farid writes from the Islamic paradigm, in which the seeker is to wait for the Day of Judgment to be sent to Heaven or Hell. In this cosmology those who go to Hell endure great suffering and punishment. It is said that they are cast out, where the fire burns relentlessly. Those beings who spent their lives consumed by vices wail in agony. Those who go to Heaven live in a kind of paradise, in the abode of the Divine. Sheikh Farid continues and says to some, all awareness has come; some roam around, careless. Some of us will come to understand how to make our time here fruitful. We will devote ourselves to IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). Some of us will continue to be careless with these lives, indifferent to the One, and we will suffer because of it. We think we have all this time—we tell ourselves that we will change our ways later. Sheikh Farid reminds us that the deeds we do in this world will be our witnesses at the Court of IkOankar. The use of the word ‘witness’ is very important. In Islam, the belief is that even if a being has transgressed, on the Day of Judgment, the Prophet Muhammad can intercede on behalf of that being, acting as their witness. Sheikh Farid himself is subverting this idea and reminding us instead that our actions themselves will be our witness. Our actions will speak for us. What will they say?
