(221). Mah. Y. 0 Kabir, Earn has not been thought of, he has wandered about in greediness. Committing sins he has died, in a moment the end of life has come.
(222). Kabir (says): the body is a raw water-jug,10 a mere raw stuff. If thou wilt keep (it) firm, worship Earn, otherwise (thy) affair is lost.
1 or3H\> literally: by works (done in a former birth).
2 Arjun, the compiler of the Granth, has interpolated here some verses, which partly contain a sharp censure of Kabir.
3 *T<J5t ^lfcT=11B3^ HH- or 3TfcT> when affixed to a noun, is used in Hindu! adverbially: " up to," " to the full of," " the whole of" (Sansk. ^ or *JTO 4 75TvT w- excessive greediness, insatiableness.
5 The sense is: as the rice has to suffer for being in the companionship of the husk, so those have to suffer at the hands of Yama, who sit in bad company.
° WlfZ part, past conj. from j^lfg (smGcVI) feST- 7 Though "Mah. V." is not put before this verse, it belongs to Arjun, as well as the following verse, which is likewise not specially ascribed to him.
8 *RTfe, here> for the sake of the rhyme> instead of mTTCft (1st pers. sing.).
9 *T3FTT here = *J3"75T (or ^Al)> to coat ornamentally; in the older Hindu! ^ and ^ r (or =f rh) is frequently not distinguished.
10 offd<jl Hindi ^S^TT* f™m tne Sansk. cfi^cfi; short a is occasionally lengthened before r. Instead of Kara-a (by elision of 3i) we find frequently in old Hindu! the form Karu-a (e.g. H5UfT = ^), a being changed to u for the sake of euphony and lengthened at the same time, as being accented.
(223). KabTr (says): 0 Kesava, Kesava! should be called out, it should not be slept, 0 foolish one! At some time he will hear the cry of him, who is calling out night and day.
(224). KabTr (says): the body has become an elephant-forest, the mind an intoxicated elephant. The goad is the jewel of (divine) knowledge, the driver some rare saint.
(225). KabTr (says): Earn is the jewel, the mouth the bag,1 open it before an examiner. If some purchaser will come on, he will take it for a high price.2 (226). KabTr (says): the name of Earn was not known, the crowd of the family was taken care of.
Even in business he died, no bamb! 3 came out (of his mouth).
(227). KabTr (says): in the twinkling4 of the eyes, in a moment, a moment (of life) has passed away. The mind does not give up (its) cares, Tama has come and beaten the kettle-drum (of departure).
(228). KabTr (says): Earn is like a tree, the BairagT like (its) fruit.
The pious man, by whom debate and dispute has been given up, like its shade.
(229). KabTr (says): sow such a seed, that is bearing fruit during the whole year! . (Whose) shade is cool, (whose) fruits are full, (on which) the birds are playing.
(230). KabTr (says): the tree is liberal, mercy is (its) fruit, assisting the creatures. The birds are gone to foreign countries, the tree is bearing good fruits.
(231). KabTr (says): the society of the pious is good luck, it is written on (one's) forehead. (If) the boon of emancipation be obtained, (there is) no hindrance nor impassable passage.
(232). KabTr (says): in one GharT (= twenty-four minutes), half a GharT, half of a half GharT: The conversations, which are made with devotees, those are a gain.
(233). KabTr (says): whichever men drink Bhang, (eat fish) and (drink) liquors: (Though they go) to holy watering places, keep fasts and abstinence, they go to hell.
(234). Kabir (says): I put (my) eyes down, having taken my sweetheart into (my) heart. Every relish I enjoy with my beloved, I show (him) to nobody.
(235). The eight watches, (every) hour (my) soul remains in thy contemplation. Why should I put down my eyes, all bodies I look upon as the beloved.
(236). Hear, 0 friend! dwells the soul in the beloved or dwells the beloved in the soul?
The soul is the beloved; I do not comprehend, whether in (my) body is the soul or the beloved?
(237). Kabir (says): the Brahman is the Guru of the world, he is not the Guru of the devotees. Being entangled and toiling in the four Yedas he has died.
(238). Hari is sugar0 scattered in sand, it cannot be picked up by the hands. Kabir says: the Guru taught me a good (word): having become an ant eat it!
(239). KabTr (says): if thou hast a longing for the beloved, cut off thy head and make a ball 6 of it!
Playing and playing (with it) bring on ecstacy! whatever happens, may it happen!
2 ^TOTT adj. dear; Hindi now *nf*TT (Sansk. TnfNl).
3 7TET> bamb, used here as interjection and therefore constructed as feminine. The word is assimilated from ^p", the full expression being: ^Hp" *T?T^> Mahadev is the Brahm (or Supreme Being), as mumbled by the votaries of Shiva. Another assimilation of is "EHf, which is also met with in the Granth, aud essentially the same as TTET.
4 ^TliW I m» the twinkling (of the eyes); cf, the Hindi ^RTJcfiTT* 6 trfe» coarse brown sugar, is in old Hindui (as still in Panjabi and Marathi) feminine, injnodern Hindi and Hindustani it is used as masculine.
6 J[fS, Pers. iJ$.
SLOKS OF THE BHAGAT KABIR 240-243; SLOKS OF SHEKH FAEID 1, (240). Kablr (says): if thou hast a longing after the beloved one, then sport with a ripe one (i.e. the Guru) I By pressing raw mustard-seed1 neither an oil-cake is made nor oil.
(241). Searching he wanders about like a blind one, and is not knowing the pious. Fama (= Namdev) says: * how shall the Lord be obtained without the devotees?
(242). Who, having given up Hari, that diamond, put their hope on another one: Those men will go to hell, says truly Eavidas.
(243). Kablr (says): if thou establishest a household, do good, otherwise renounce the world! (Who) puts an obstacle in the way of a BairagI,3 his lucklessness is great.
THE SLOKS OF SHEKH FAEID.* Om! By the favour of the true Guru!
(1). On which day the young woman0 is married, (for that) the auspicious days0 are written down (before).
The husband, who (was) heard of 7 (before only) with the ears, comes and shows (his) face.
In making the bones crack the poor soul 8 is extracted (from the body).
The appointed wedding does not recede, inform (thy) soul 9 (of this)!
0 dear young woman,10 death is the husband, he will take away (thy) life.
Having joined11 (thy) hands to whose neck wilt thou run and cling?
Thinner than a hair is the bridge Salat,13 has (this word) not been heard by thee? 13 0 Farid, a shrill sound is made to thee: 14 stand, do not let thyself be robbed!
1 4J<J4{G (from the Sansk. ^T^tJ, by transition of p into b = v — u), is used here as feminine, though it is masculine in Sansk. In Hindi and Hindu st. (^T^ft) it is likewise feminine.
2 The verse is KabTr's and Namdev is only quoted in the second half, as in the next following verse Ravidas, whose writings were known to Kablr, as is proved thereby.
3 The sense is apparently: who prevents one from becoming a Bairagl.
4 Shekh Farid was a famous Pir and a contemporary of Nanak. He was a Sufi and according to the Janam-sakhi Nanak had a good deal of intercourse with him, as he lived not far from Lahore at a place called VWVZTS (near the modern Montgomery station), where also he is buried. Disciples of his are still to be found in the Panjab, called Shekh Faridi faqlrs. The Sloks of Farad are also of great interest in a linguistic point of view, as they represent the idiom of the Musalmans of those days.
0 IRS or xyfe, in Panjabl, a young woman (Sansk. ^rf^T«RT); it is frequently used in the Grantb.
6 TTvTTj an auspicious day fixed for a wedding. This word is only used in Panjabl and SindhI (tu^)).
7 *T75^£T> passive participle present, peculiar to the Panjabi. 6 'pH^, or frfe, soul, used in Panjabl and Sindhi.
9 frfo 5^; ^, as we see from this and other passages of the Granth, was then the usual Dative-postfix, not 5, as now-a-days.
10 ^vJZtj from (^f), ZTj fern. zt, being a diminutive affix in Panjabl and Sindhi (see my Sindhi 12 t|'d'*l66IS> instead of 1|&4JdH> r and 1 Deing constantly interchanged. *i<)\3 = Arab, \s\ja, name of the bridge, suspended over the midst of hell.
13 TSftwrrflJ^ *rafafT> fein. i.e. word; fg is the suffix (= Sindhi \) of the second person sing. " by thee." See my Sindhi Gram. pp. 225 and 345 sqq.
14 V^^ffl'j literally: it falls to thee, i being here again the pronominal suffix of the 2nd pers. sing.
SLOKS OF SHEKH FARID 2— 16.
(2). 0 Farid, the life of a Darvesh of the gate (of God) is difficult; I walk after the manner of the world.
I have bound together and taken up a bag, where shall I go and throw it down?
(3). It is not perceived, it is not seen,1 the world is a hidden fire.z By my Lord I was healed, otherwise I would also burn.
(4). 0 Farid, if I know, that the sesam-seeds3 are few, I fill the eavityof my joined two palms with care. If I know, that the bridegroom is young, I show him little honour.
(5). If I know, that the hem of my garment is tearing, I put a firm patch (on it). Like thee I have no one, I have seen aud wandered the whole world through.
(6). 0 Farid, if thou art clever in understanding, do not write an account of the evil deeds (of others)!
Lowering thy head to thy own collar look there! 4 (7). 0 Farid, who beat thee with their fists, do not beat them again! Gro to thy own house having kissed their feet!
(8). 0 Farid, when there is for thee the time of earning (eternal goods), thou artoccupied with the world. Death is contained5 in the love (of the world), when (all) is full, it is departed.
(9). See, 0 Farid, what has happened, the beard has become brown and white. The future has come near, the past has remained far behind.
(10). See, 0 Farid, what has happened, sugar has become poison. Except my own Lord, to whom shall I tell my pain?
(11). 0 Farid, the eyes by seeing have become dim-sighted, by hearing and hearing the ears have become half-deaf.
The mango6 has been ripening and is gaining7 more colour.
(12). 0 Farid, some one enjoys (him) when being with white hair, by whom he was not enjoyed, when his hair was black.8 Having made love with the Lord a new pleasure springs up.
(13). Mah. III. 0 Farid, the Lord is always in black and white hair, if one remembers him. That love, which one oneself applies (to him), does not affect (him), though every one desire it. This love is the cup of the Lord, to whom he pleases, to him he gives it.
(14). 0 Farid, by which eye the world is fascinated, that eye I have seen.
The bird, which was not bearing a streak of collyriura, has sat down on the needle.
(15). 0 Farid, who is crying, screaming and giving instruction continually, Is moved about by Satan, where shall he turn his mind?
(16). 0 Farid, become Kusa-grass flowing along with the stream! 9 One breaks down, another is trodden under foot.
Then thou art introduced 10 to the gate of the Lord.
1 y *4cM t Sindhi ^IJTJ, to be perceived; Jp£<$T, to be seen, Sindhi ^IJTJ- 2 HTftT, sf. fire, Sindhi cfrff, Sansk. (m.).
3 f3T55, sesam-seed. Here the sesam-seeds are meant, which are distributed by the bride at a wedding.
4 The sense is: look into thy own heart!
5 *TUJT T^Tlft = i» and v constantly interchanging in Panjabi. death, is feminine.
6 (Marathi ^JT^), a well-filled mango bordering on ripeness.
7 ttn, Panjabi, instead of SrfcT (in Sindhi ^f¥^t) - S^^T.
B STTC^f M0*£Y> Loc. plur. of ol |66l and black and white hair = in youth and old age.
y <cl JY acU* = Sansk. TT^Tf^^, flowing or driving with the current. 10 ^TWfarfvTi tne Panjabi Present passive, as still used.
SLOKS OF SHEKH FAKID 17—33.
• (17). 0 Farid, the dust shcrald not be censured, no one is equal to the dust. It is under the feet of the living and upon the dead ones.
(18). 0 Farid, when there is greediness, what is then love? if there is greediness, love is false. For how long will time be passed in a hut broken by the rain?
(19). 0 Farid, why dost thou wander about in the jungle, the jungle, why dost thou smash the thorns in the forest?
The Lord is dwelling in the heart,1 what art thou seeking in the jungle?
(20). 0 Farid, with these slender legs I have wandered over low grounds and hills, Now, 0 Farid, a small march 2 has become to me 3 (as being) of a hundred kos.
(21). 0 Farid, the nights are long, the sides begin to hum. "Woe to the life of those, who put their hope on another I (22). 0 Farid, if I am turned back, when my friend has come: My body4 burns like Majith, upon (it) are coals.
(23). 0 Farid, he desires Bijauri grapes and the Jat plants a Kikkar-tree. He goes about spinning wool and wishes to put on silk-cloth.
(24). 0 Farid, in the lanes is mud, the house is far away, with the beloved (I entertain love). (If) I go, (my) blanket 5 gets wet, (if) I remain (at home), love breaks asunder.
(25). May get wet and soaked the blanket, 0 Allah, may rain fall: (Yet) I will go and meet with those friends, lest love break asunder.
(26). 0 Farid, I am in error about (my) turban, lest it become dirty. (My) foolish mind does not know, that my head also will eat earth.
(27). 0 Farid, sugar, coarse sugar, refined sugar,6 molasses, honey, buffalo-milk: All sweet things, 0 Lord, do not come up to thee.
(28). 0 Farid, my bread is of wood, my condiment is hunger. By whom buttered bread is eaten, they will suffer much pain.
(29). Eat bare dry bread and drink cold water!
0 Farid, seeing the buttered bread of others do not tantalize (thy) soul!
(30). Till now she has not slept with (her) husband, (her) body is turned back. Go and ask the ill-fated woman, how the night is passed by her?
(31). At her father's-in-law she gets no entrance, in her father's house she finds no place. Her husband does not ask her a single word, (and yet)* she is called a happy married woman.7 (32). In her father's-in-law and in her father's house she is her beloved's, (her) beloved is inapproachable and bottomless.
Nanak (says): she is a happy married woman, who is pleasing to him, who is without concerns.8 (33). (Who) is bathed, washed and adorned, who sleeps and has no care: 0 Farid, she is surrounded9 with Assafoetida, the fragrance of musk is gone.
1 flWTSftW fern, dimin. of fif*H> heart (instead of f^mR^ or fuWfjt)- s bflGfo, has become to me (SindhI f^nfrfa), rni being pronominal suffix of the 1st pers. sing. 4 vT^T> »». properly = flesh; here = body; cf. verse 40.
6 ST*I*5t (now a coarse woollen blanket, which the Panjabis wear in rainy weather and during the cold season.
6 fo^^, Pers. refined sugar.
7 The following verse gives the solution of this paradoxon.
8 This verse is not Farid's, but of a certain Nanak; in none of the manuscripts, however, I have compared, I find the mahalla put down; very likely the verse is Guru Arjun's, the compiler of the Granth.
9 The words must thus be divided: T[; TJWAT = tt*>\> to surround.
SLOKS OF SHEKH FAKID 34—49.
(34). Youth is passing, I am not afraid, if love to the beloved does not pass. 0 Farid, of what (use) is youth without love? it is faded and gone!
(35). Care is (my) bedstead, pain the coarse twine (of the bedstead), the pangs of separation (my) bedding (and) coverlet.
Behold this my life, 0 true Lord!
(36). 0 pangs of separation, 0 pangs of separation, (thus) it should be said, 0 pangs of separation, you are (my) king!
0 Farid, in which body no pangs of separation spring up, that body consider as a burning-ground!
(37). 0 Farid, these Gandal-stalks 1 of poison are put down overlaid with sugar. Some, in cooking them, are gone off, some have thrown away the cooked one.
(38). 0 Farid, four (watches) are passed in walking about, four are passed in sleeping. The Lord will ask account: of what use wert thou?
(39). 0 Farid, having gone to the gate hast thou seen the gong?
This one is innocently beaten, what (will be) the state of us, the guilty ones?
(40). At every Ghan it is beaten, at every watch it receives punishment. That (my) body passes, like the gong, in pain the night.
(41). Shekh Farid has become old, (his) body begins to shake.
If there should be a life of a hundred years, yet the body will become ashes.
(42). 0 Farid, let me not sit at the gate of another, 0 Lord! If thou wilt put me so, take my soul out of my body 1 (43). On the shoulder an axe, on the head a large earthen vessel, the blacksmith is King2 in* the forest.
0 Farid, I desire my own beloved, thou desirest coals.
(44). 0 Farid, some have much flour, some have no salt (even).
Having gone on (to the other world) they will be known, who will he beaten in the face.
(45). With (them) are kettle-drums, umbrellas on the head, pipers3 and minstrels.4 Having gone they are fallen asleep in the cemetery, like the poor0 they are buried.
(46). 0 Farid, though they were erecting houses, halls, upper-storied houses, yet they are gone. Having made a false traffic they are gone and sunk in the grave.
(47). 0 Farid, in a patched quilt there are many pins, in the life there is no one.6 At their several turns the Shekhs have departed.
(48). 0 Farid, whilst the two lamps ' were burning, the angel (of death) came and sat down. The fort (of the body) was taken, the heart robbed, he went away having extinguished the lamps.
(49). 0 Farid, look, what is done to cotton, what has happened to the sesam-seeds! (What) to the sugar-cane and paper in a pit of burning coals!
This is the punishment for those, who do bad works.
1 A"i& (?•/•)> name of a certain plant, apparently poisonous.
2 5*M j King) Emperor, (Caesar).
4 ^gidd? composed of call, cry, and (=^) <T^?ST> to scream, to cry), literally: uttering a cry or scream, as their singing amounts usually to a screaming.
5 >*F5faf> corrupted from ^cjt, an orphan, a helpless, poor person. nf3Y*fT ( = *H5faTT) is the Gen. Plur., the postposition f^f© being omitted.
6 The sense is: life cannot be kept together by means of pins as a patched quilt.
7 i.e. the two eyes.
SLOKS OF SHEKH FAKID 50-64.
(50). 0 Farid, on the shoulder is the prayer-carpet, on the neck a woollen shirt,1 in the heart a dagger, molasses in the mouth.
Outward light is seen, in the heart there is dark night.
(51). 0 Earid, not a bit oftlood issues, if one eut the body. Those who are in love with the Lord, in their body is no blood.
(52). Mah. III. This body is all blood, without blood there is no body.
Who are enamoured with (their) beloved, in that (their) body there is no blood of greediness. When fear has fallen (on it),3 the body becomes emaciated, the blood of greediness recedes from within. As by fire the metal becomes purified, so the fear of Hari removes the filth of folly. Nanak (says): those bodies are beautiful, which are steeped in the eolour of Hari.
(53). 0 Farid, seek (that) pond, from which the thing is obtained! What is the good of seeking a pool? the hand sinks into the mire.
(54). 0 Farid, when young I did not enjoy my beloved, having beeome old I died.3 The woman is screaming in the grave: I have not met with thee, 0 beloved!
(55). 0 Farid, the head has become grey,4 the beard is grey, the mustachoes are grey. 0 careless, foolish mind, dost thou (still) enjoy pleasures?
(56). 0 Farid, how much fluttering is there in the house! 0 friend, put away sleep! The days, that are obtained, are counted,5 they are fast, fast gone.
(57). 0 Farid, houses, halls, upper-storied houses — do not apply thy mind to this I (When) the dust, that is not to be weighed, has fallen (upon thee), no one will be thy friend.
(58). 0 Farid, do not apply (thy) mind to mansion and property, apply it with all efforts6 to death! Eemember that place, whither thou hast to go!
(59). 0 Farid, in which works there is no benefit, those works forget! Lest thou become ashamed in the court of the Lord.
(60). 0 Farid, render service to the Lord, put a stop to the wandering7 of thy heart! To Darveshes the patienee8 of trees is neeessary.
(61). 0 Farid, black are my elothes, black is my dress. Full of sins I wander about, the world calls me a Darvesh.
(62). By hot water (a field) does not sprout, though one immerse (it) in water. 0 Farid, the woman, who is disliked by (her) Lord, goes on grieving.
(63). When she is a girl, there is desire (for marriage), (when) she is married, there are troubles.
0 Farid, she regrets it, that she does not again become a girl.
(64). Geese9 have come and descended on a pond in saltpetre soil.
They dip their bills (into the water), but; do not drink, they burn10 to fly away.
1 TO ( = here in the sense of a kind of shirt, without sleeves, worn by Faqlrs.
2 § VfS**h Locative, fear having fallen.
3 *TgfafT*T> as well as f^RSton*, ^ *he first person sing. fern, of the preterite (cf. the Sindhi JJ^SITftr); see my Sindhi Gram. p. 289.
4 VfOTHT, Sansk. irf^rf.
3 3n2^T(from3nOT5T>to count), the participle pass, pres., Sindhi ^nfirtts see my Sindhi Gram. p. 220. " TOTTft is the Ablat. of *3T* (or TT3"fc5 = Wf. with all efforts, as still used in Marathi).
7 3cJtf£> wandering, straying about, Sansk. ^Tf^ff - 8 'TTfatfe s.f. patience, endurance; the word has become quite obsolete.
9 if* = U^T s bein£ occasionally changed to jh. See my Sindhi Gram. Introd. p. xxx.
10 s.f. burning, verbal noun of to burn (Sansk. passive of ^f), Sindhi (without Anusvara) ^g^JTJT.
SLOES OF SHEKH FARID 65—81.
(65). Geese flying along have fallen on Kodhra grain,1 the people go and drive them away. The foolish people do not know, that geese do not eat Kodhra grain.
(66). Off are gone the birds, by which the low grounds were peopled.
0 Farid, the filled pond also will go, the lonely lotuses are knocked up.
(67). 0 Farid, a brick for a pillow, sleeping on the ground, the worm fighting in the flesh: How many ages have passed, since he has fallen on one side?2 (68). 0 Farid, the beautiful jar is gone to pieces, broken is the rope of the plough.3 In which house is the Angel Ajrall 4 a guest to-day?
(69). 0 Farid, the beautiful jar is gone to pieces, broken is the rope of the plough. The friends, who were prostrated on the ground, how shall they come to-day?
(70). 0 Farid, 0 prayerless dog, this is not a good custom. Thou hast never gone the five times to the mosque.
(71). Rise, 0 Farid, make oblation, say prayers in the morning! The head, that does not bow to the Lord, that head cut off!
(72). The head, that does not bow to the Lord, what should be done to it? It should be burnt under a large jar instead of fuel! 5 (73). 0 Farid, where is thy father and thy mother, by whom thou wast begotten? They have departed from thee and thou dost not yet believe (it)?
(74). 0 Farid, considering the mind as a plaiu remove the holes and hillocks (therein). Then thou wilt by no means enter the hell-fire in the other world.
(75). Mah. V. 0 Farid, the creator is in the creature, the creature dwells in the Lord. Who shall be called bad, when there is no one without him?
(76). 0 Farid, on which day (my) navel-string was cut, if (the midwife) had cut a little (my) throat: So many troubles would not fall (on me), I would not suffer so much pain.
(77). The grinders (i.e. the teeth), the feet, the gems (=eyes) and the earsH are gone. The body emitted a sigh, that these dear friends are gone.
(78). 0 Farid, do good to a wicked man, do not let anger roam in (thy) mind I Sickness will not stick to thy body, everything will fall into (thy) lap.
(79). 0 Farid, 0 guest of half a (lunar) month,7 the world is a beautiful garden. (Thy) turn has struck, prepare to go off with the dawn!
(80). 0 Farid, musk is distributed in the night, to the sleeping ones no portion 8 is allotted. Whose eyes are drowsy, whence * (should) their meeting (with it come)?
(81). 0 Farid, I know, that I am in pain and that the whole world is in pain. Having risen high up I saw, that in every house there is this fire.
1 3"*n »n inferior kind of grain (Paspalum frumentacenm), Sansk. ^ftj*^. The d is aspirated by the influence of r.
2 i.e. in the grave. The subject is not mentioned.
1 Arabic: J^j, the angel of death.
5 y l<Sf>c^ "^Tfe- *teT is used in the old Panjabi instead of the modern 1£T (or ^Tf), as still in Sindhi; see my Sindhi Gram. p. 129.
6 7Tc5t*Hc? ear> literally: the hearer. The word is now quite obsolete. In its original signification (a hearer) it occurs in the Rag Vadhans, Chant, Mah. V., Slok I.
7 VTbf, Sansk. If^.
SLOKS OF SHEKH FARID 82-98.
(82). Mah. V. 0 Farid, the world is delightful, (but) in it is a painful garden. Those who are cherished by (their) Plr, them the flame does not toueh.
(83). Mah. Y. 0 Farid, life is pleasant in company with a beautiful body.1 Some rare ones are found,#who are in love with the beloved one.
(84). Do not pull down the bank of a river, thou also must give account! Whither the will of the Lord (points), thither the river makes (its) wandering.
(85). 0 Earld, with pain the day is gone, with gripes the night. Standing the ferryman cries out: the boat is along the bank! 2 (86). Long, long the river flows underneath the bank.
What can the high bank do to the boat, if the ferryman remains cautious?
(87). 0 Farid, in words twenty are good friends, seeking the One I (fern. J do not obtain him. I burn like cinders of cow-dung on account of that my beloved.
(88). 0 Earid, this body is always barking, it is continually in some pain. I put stopples into (my) ears, the wind may (then) blow anywhere.
(89). 0 Farid, the dates of the Lord are ripe, rivers of honey flow. The days of youth,3 they are to be accounted as (real) life.4 (90). 0 Earid, the body is dried up, it has become a cage, the crows are pecking away (its) plastering.5 Till now the Lord has not been met with, behold the lot of (his) servant!
(91). 0 crow, (my) cadaver is thoroughly searched through, all (my) flesh is eaten (by thee). Do not touch these two eyes, I hope to see my beloved (with them)!
(92). 0 crow, do not gnaw (my) cage (= body), it is inhabited, fly therefore away! In which cage my bridegroom dwells, from that 6 do not eat the flesh!
(93). 0 Earid, the humble grave cries out: 0 houseless one, come to (my) house! At last thou must come to my place,7 do not be afraid of dying!
(94) *. Whilst these mine eyes were looking on how many people have departed! 0 Farid, to the people their own (turn), to me mine is allotted.
(95). (If) thou adornestthyownself,thouwiltmeetwithme,in meeting with me there will be happiness.8 0 FarTd, if thou remainest mine, the whole world is thine.9 (96). On a river-bank how long will a tree remain firm?
0 Farid, how long will water be kept in a raw vessel?
(97). 0 Farid, they are gone to an empty hall, their dwelling is made beneath (the ground). Wrestling (their) poor spirits dispute with the graves.
Service (to Grod) is ordered, 0 Shekh! to-day or to-morrow we must start.
(98). 0 Farid, he who is bound by death appears like one, who is thrown into the river (or ocean). In the other world the hell is heated, a howl is heard and a scream rises.
1 The sense is apparently; in company with a beautiful wife.
2 STMUj the (h'gn) bank of a river (Sindhi ^Tf^^^fe is postposition: on the side of, along (cf. Sindhi ^fe, Marathi 8 We divide the words thus: y\<£U M<££\> rather a curious form for yftfR youth (^ffa^T).
afluai, day (dim- of Sindhi?ifW> Prak. f^Tft, Sansk. f^zpqQ.
4 "©"^rU 7m "Lf^f^j literally: they fall into the hand of life, i.e. are possessed as life. 6 335^ in the sense of plastering, is peculiar to the Panjabi.
6 fg^ = f$ ^ being an Ablative affix (Sansk. rf^, Prak. ^f, Panjabi 7 5| ^; lj[ is the Locative of place.
8 This is the address of God and the following line the answer of Farid.
9 The sense is: J do not care then for the whole world.
SLOKS OF SHEKH FARID 99—111.
Some- have become very prudent,1 some wander about careless.
The works, that are done in the world, are witness at the court (of God).
(99). 0 Farld, on the bank of a river sits a crane and sports. Whilst playing hawks have unawares fallen on the goose.2 The hawks of the Lord have fallen (on) it, the sports are forgotten.
Those who in their mind (and) thought will not remember (him), theyd are destroyed by the Lord.
(100). To three maunds and a half the body rises by means of water and grain. The servant has come into the world entertaining again hope.4 "When the angel of death will come, breaking all gates: He is bound before all those beloved brothers.
Behold, the servant is gone on the shoulder of four men.
0 Farid, the works, that are done in the world, they are of use at the threshold (of God).
(101). 0 Farld, I am a sacrifice to those birds, whose dwelling is in the jungle.
Gravel they pick up (with their beak), they dwell in the desert, they do- not give up the side of the Lord.
(102). 0 Farid, the season has returned, the tree is shaken, the leaves are dropping off. In the four corners I have searched, there is nowhere a firm stay.
(103). O Farid, having torn in pieces (my) silk petticoat I made a flag of it, a small blanket I put on.5 In which dresses the Lord is met with, those dresses I make.
(104). Mali. III. "Why art thou tearing thy silk petticoat and puttest on a small blanket?
Nanak (says): by sitting in (one's) house the beloved one is met with, if thou direct thy intention right.
(105). Mah. IV. O Farid, those who are proud of their greatness, being aware of (their) wealth and youth: They are gone devoid of the Lord, like hills (devoid) of rain.
(106). O Farid, their faces are dreadful, by whom the name is forgotten.
Here they have much pain, in the other world they have neither place nor spot.6 (107). O Farid, thou hast not waked the latter part of the night (nor) hast thou died whilst living. Though thou hast forgotten the Lord, the Lord has not forgotten thee.
(108). Mah. Y. O Farid, the beloved is delightful, great and not in need of anything, To be in love with the Lord, this is true decoration.
(109). Mah. V. O Farid, considering pain and pleasure as the same drop the change (between them) from thy heart!
Who is pleasing to Allah, he is well off, by him (his) court is obtained.
(110). Mah. V. O Farid, the world sounds as it is sounded, thou also art sounding with it, That creature does not sound, of which Allah takes care.
(111). Mah V. O Farid, the heart is attached to this world, the world is of no use. The post7 of the Faqirs is difficult, it is obtained by a full destiny, 1 flWAI 7> *KTff1"j literally: to some all prudence has come.
2 VJ<J|&>|, crane, and goose, have here been taken as synonyms.
3 The subject is feminine.
6 The Faqirs in India generally erect a flag in front of their dwellings and wear coarse woollen clothes. To this custom the verse alludes.
6 In some good MSS. this verse is ascribed to Arjun (Mali. V.), whereas the Lahore lithographed copy has no such sign.
SLOKS OP SHEKH FAKID 112-127.
(112). In the first watch (ef the Bight) there are blossoms, fruits also in the latter part of the night. These who wake obtain (them), they are a gift from the Lord.
(113). The gifts are the Lord's, what can he be prevailed upon?
Some who wake do net obtain them, some who are sleeping he arouses and gives them to them.
(114). 0 thou, who art seeking the love ef thy husband, in thy body is seme vice.
These who have the name of happy married women, they are not given to idle prating (and) wrangling.
(115). (If) patience in the heart (be) the bow, (and if) this be bent by patience: 1 The arrow of patience does net miss the creator.
(116). Patience is within the patient ones, thus they burn (their) body. They become near God, (but their) secret they do not give to any one.
(117). This is the object3 of patience; if thou, 0 servant (of God), render it firm. Increasing thou becomest a sea, decreasing thou dost net become a canal.3 (118). 0 FarTd, the Darvesh-ship is difficult; (with most) it is the love to buttered bread. By seme few (only) the (true) rite of the Darveshes is set agoing.
(119). (My) body is heated like an even, (my) bones burn like fuel.
(If) I am tired in my feet, I move en en my head in the hope, that my beloved may be met with.
(120). Mali. Y.4 Do not heat (thy) body like an oven, do not burn (thy) bones like fuel! "What is the good ef injuring (thy) head and feet? beheld (thy) beloved inside!
(121). I am seeking my sweetheart and my sweetheart is with me.
Nanak (says): the invisible one is not seen, (to) the disciple he {i.e. the Guru) shews (him).
(122). Seeing the geese swimming the cranes (also) became desirous (ef swimming). The helpless cranes sank and died, with the head downwards and the feet upwards.
(123). When I know, that it is a great geese,5 1 keep company with it.
If I know, that it is a helpless crane, I never associate 6 with it in (my) life.
(124). What is the goose, what is the crane? on which he looks favourably: If it pleases him, 0 Nanak, he makes from (that) crew a goose.7 (125). The bird is alene en the pond, the nooses (and) entanglements are fifty. This body is immersed in the waves; 0 True ene, (my) hope is in thee!
(126). What is that werd, what that virtue, what that gem (and) mantra?
What that garb, that I may make, by which the beloved ene may come into my power?
(127). Bowing is that werd, patience the virtue, the tongue the gem and mantra. Make these three thy garb, 0 sister, then the beleved one will come into thy power!
1 The Lahore lithographed copy reads: which gives no sense. The manuscript reading is AlO^ = f>>0?i! (« and r frequently interchanging, as in Sindtri), part, past of footf^l, to be bent, literally: this the bent one of patience = this being bent by patience.
* *TOfT@' w- object, purpose. In this sense the word frequently occurs in the Grantb. But the other meaning: sweetness, savour, (from ^TT^) a'so su^ twe context nere* 3 ^XUWT> a canal or a side-branch of the river (Sindhi ^19^)- 4 Some MSS. do net ascribe this verse to the Mab. V., but as it is a reply to the preceding verse, it is very likely, that those manuscripts, which attribute this verse to Guru Arjun, are in the right. In the same way the following verse too must be ascribed to Arjun, though none of the MSS. bears the mark of Mah. V.
5 <jdJ*f» literally: a great goose, Le, a great devotee.
6 %37X> t<> associate, to keep company (*H?T = the Sanskrit ^> not literally: to close nn embrace.
7 This verse belongs likewise to Arjun, who is fond of criticizing what he reads, and of making objections to it, though in none of the manuscripts nor in the Lahore lithographed copy it is attributed to the Mah. V.
SLOKS OF SHEKH FARID 128—130. SAYAIE REFERRING TO MAH. I., I.— III.
(128). Who, when there is wisdom (in him), heeomes foolish; Who, when there is power (in him), becomes weak; "Who his unreal self gives away: Sueh a one is called a devotee.
(129). Do not say, that one (thing) is distasteful, in all is the true Lord. Do not grieve the heart of any one, all are invaluable rubies!
(130). All hearts are rubies, to grieve them is by no means good.
If thou art longing after thy beloved, do not grieve the heart of any one!
SAVAIE1 EEFEEEnSTG- TO THE FIRST MAHALA. (PAJSTEGYEIC OF NANAK) Om! By the favour of the true Guru! (BY THE BHATT KALASU.) I.
With one mind meditate on the divine male, the giver of blessings!
He is always renowned as the support of the saints.
Taking his feet I make them dwell in my heart.
Then I sing the qualities of Nanak, the most excellent Guru.
II.
I sing the qualities of the most excellent Guru, the ocean of comfort, the remover of sin, the pond of the Sabd.2 The Jogis and Jangams sing the deep oeean of firmness (and) wisdom, reflecting on it. Indra and the others sing (them), the Bhagat Prahlad and the others, by whom the sweetness of their own spirit was known.