Salok Vaaraan Te Vadheek (Mehl 1), Salok 27 — A City in Ruins
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The city of Lahore suffered terrible destruction — poison and fury — for about four hours.
A sad day deserves to be named plainly: the great city of Lahore suffered terrible destruction.
laahour sahar jahar kahar savaa pahar — Lahore met poison and fury for savaa pahar, about four hours. Many readers link this to the Mughal armies that invaded in Guru Nanak's time. The line is short and raw. It is like one sentence written in a diary on a very hard day.
The Guru does not look away from pain in the world. The very next salok, or short verse, by Guru Amar Das, speaks of the same city as a home of praise.
Why might it matter to speak the truth about hard things, even before we get to the hopeful part?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI