Chapter VII

The Guru and Mardana after their travels in Eastern India returned to the Panjab, and proceeded on a visit to the shrine of Shaikh Farid, a Moslem saint, at a place then called Ajodhan, but now Pak Pattan, in the southern part of that province. A saint called Shaikh Brahm (Ibrahim) was then the incumbent of the shrine. He was the first to speak. On seeing the Guru, whom he knew to be a religious man, dressed in ordinary secular costume, he said:—

Either seek for high position [229] or for God. Put not thy feet on two boats lest thy property founder. [230]

The Guru replied:—

​Put thy feet on two boats and thy property also on them: [231] One boat may sink, but the other shall cross over. [232] For me there is no water, no boat, no wreck, and no loss. Nanak, the True One is my property and wealth, and He is naturally everywhere contained.

Shaikh Brahm replied:— O Farid, the world is enamoured of the witch [233] who is found to be false when her secret is known. Nanak, while thou lookest on, the field [234] is ruined.

Upon this the Guru urged:— O Farid, love for the witch hath prevailed from the very beginning. Nanak, the field shall not be ruined if the watchman be on the alert.

Then Shaikh Brahm:— Farid, my body faileth, my heart is broken, and no strength whatever remaineth me. Arise, beloved, become my physician and give me medicine.

Then the Guru exhorted him:— My friend, examine the truth, lip-worship is hollow. Nanak, the Beloved is not far from thee; behold Him in thy heart.

Then Shaikh Brahm uttered the following:— When thou oughtest to have made thy raft, thou didst not do so; When the full river [235] overfloweth, it is difficult to cross over. ​Put not thy hand into the fire or it will burn, [236] my dear. Some have obtained honour for themselves by uttering God's name. As milk will not return to the udder, so the soul will not again enter the same body. Saith Farid, O my companions, when the Spouse calleth you, The soul shall depart in perplexity, and the body become a heap of dust. [237]

The Guru replied by a hymn in the same measure:—

Make a raft of devotion and penance, so mayest thou cross the stream. [238] There is no lake, no overflowing; such a road is easy. O Lord, Thy name alone is the madder with which my robe is dyed. Such colour is everlasting, O my dear. If thou, my beloved, go not thus arrayed to meet the Bridegroom, how canst thou meet Him? If thou possess virtues, He will meet thee. If He become united with thee, He will not part from thee; that is, if union be really effected. It is the True One who putteth an end to transmigration. She who hath abandoned egotism hath sewed for herself a garment to please the Bridegroom. Under the Guru's instruction she obtaineth her reward in the ambrosial converse of her Lord. Nanak saith, O female companions, the Lord is thoroughly dear. We are His slaves, true is our Spouse.

Then Shaikh Brahm uttered the following:— They who have heart-felt love for God are the true; But they who have one thing in their hearts and utter another are accounted false. ​They who are imbued with the love of God and a longing to behold Him are also true. They who forget God s name are a burden to the earth. God hath attached to His skirt those who were darweshes at His gate. Blest the mothers who bore them; profitable was their advent into the world. O Cherisher, Thou art illimitable, unapproachable, and endless. I kiss the feet of those who recognize the True One. I seek Thy shelter, O God; it is Thou who pardonest. Grant Thy worship as charity to Shaikh Farid. [239]

On this the Guru uttered the hymn called Suchajji, the fortunate, in the Suhi measure:—

When I have Thee I have everything; Thou, O Lord, art my treasure. In Thee I dwell in peace, in Thee to dwell is my pride; If it please Thee, Thou bestowest a throne and greatness; if it please Thee, Thou makest man a forlorn mendicant; If it please Thee, rivers flow over dry land, and the lotus bloometh in the heavens; If it please Thee, man crosseth the terrible ocean; if it please Thee, he is drowned therein; If it please Thee, Thou art my merry Spouse— I am absorbed in Thy praises, O Lord [240] of excellences. If it please Thee, O Lord, Thou terrifiest me, and then I am undone with transmigration. Lord, Thou art inaccessible and unequalled; I am exhausted uttering Thy praises. What can I ask of Thee? What can I say to Thee? I hunger and thirst for a sight of Thee. Under the instruction of the Guru I have obtained the Lord; Nanak's prayer hath been granted. ​The Guru and Shaikh Brahm remained together that night in the forest. A kind-hearted and charitable villager who had seen them, took them a basin of milk before daylight. The Shaikh separated his own share from that of the Guru, and uttered these verses:—

Devotion in the beginning of the night is the blossom, in the end of the night [241] the fruit. They who watch obtain gifts from the Lord. [242]

The Guru responded:—

Gifts are the Lord's; what can prevail against Him? [243] Some who are awake receive them not; others who are asleep He awaketh, and conferreth presents upon them. [244]

The Guru then asked Shaikh Brahm to put his hand into the milk and feel what was in it. Farid found that it contained four gold coins. Upon this the villager, deeming that he was in the hands of magicians, went away without his basin. The Guru uttered the following hymn:—

O thou with the beautiful eyes, in the first watch of a dark night Watch thy property, O mortal; thy turn shall come next. When thy turn cometh, who will awake thee? Death shall taste thy sweets as thou sleepest. The night is dark; what shall become of thee when the thief breaketh into and robbeth thy house? O inaccessible, incomparable Protector, hear my supplication.