Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The First Being, the One, is now called Allah. The turn of the Shaykhs has come.
Even the temples of the gods must pay taxes. This is what things have come to.
The One goes by many names and is still One.
Aad purakh ka-o alhu kahee-ai — the First Being is called Allah. Guru Nanak says it plainly. The One that people have called by many names is the very One that Muslims call Allah. There is no second one.
The rest of the verse describes the time he lived in. Muslim rulers had come to power, and even the old temples had to pay taxes. He reports the change calmly, without any scorn. Think of a friend who is called one name at home and another at school. The names change, but it is the same person. Beneath the changing names and the changing times stands the same One.
Can you think of two people who use different words for the very same thing they both love?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI