Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When Babur swept down from Khurasan, he struck this land with terror.
The Creator takes no blame upon Himself, yet it was as if death itself had been sent in the form of the invader.
There was so much killing that the people cried out in agony. Did You feel no compassion, Lord?
Guru Nanak saw a terrible attack on innocent people, and he asked the One, honestly, why.
This shabad is part of the Babar-vani, "the words about Babar." Babar was a ruler who came with an army from Khuraasaan, a land to the northwest, and attacked the region. Many people link it to the town of Saidpur. It is one of the very few passages in Gurbani, the Guru's words, that can be tied to a real, datable event.
Here is what matters most. Guru Nanak never says the people who were hurt deserved it. He grieves for them. And he speaks straight to the One: "Didn't You feel compassion, Lord?" Think of a child who sees something deeply unfair and asks a parent, "Why did this happen?" That question comes from love, not from turning away. Faith can be strong enough to ask hard questions out loud. It does not have to explain pain away.
Why might it be a sign of real faith, not a lack of it, to question what you believe when you see something deeply wrong?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI