Salok Sheikh Farid, Salok 43 — the blacksmith wants only charcoal
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
With an axe on his shoulder and a pot on his head, the blacksmith walks into the forest like its master, ready to cut down the tree.
Farid says: I long for my Lord; you long only for the charcoal.
The same tree can be wanted for very different things: the blacksmith wants charcoal, and the heart wants its Lord.
Kandh kuhaarhaa sir gharhaa: an axe on the shoulder, a pot on the head. The blacksmith comes to the woods to cut a tree and burn it down to charcoal for his forge.
Ha-o lorhee saho aapnaa: I long for my Lord. Too lorheh angi-aar: you are after only the charcoal. Farid lets the tree speak, the way a person might speak: others look at a life and see what they can take from it, while the heart inside longs only for the One.
If you look past your small everyday wants, what is the big thing your heart longs for?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI