Salok Sheikh Farid, Salok 78 — do good in return for bad
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Farid says: do good in return for bad, and do not let anger fill your mind.
Then your body will not fall sick, and everything good will come into your hands.
Answer bad with good, and keep anger from settling in the mind.
Buray daa bhalaa kar: do good in return for bad. Gusaa man na hadhaa-ay: do not let anger take hold of the mind. Then, Farid says, the body stays free of sickness, and palai sabh kichh paa-ay, everything comes into your lap.
Holding on to anger is like carrying a backpack full of rocks all day. The other person does not feel the weight; you do. This is close to a teaching found all over the world: return good for harm.
Letting go of anger does not mean putting up with cruelty. If someone is being unkind to you or hurting you, that is never something you have to accept. Telling a grown-up you trust is always the right thing to do.
When has choosing kindness over anger left you feeling lighter?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI