Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
It is generous and giving, the beautifier of all, the very shape of peace; how fruitful is the sight of it!
Nanak says: it gives even to the unworthy; I keep its lotus feet enshrined in my heart.
"The Giver to the unworthy" (apun gun) is one of the most freeing phrases in the raag. It undoes the whole economy of deserving. We assume gifts go to the worthy — you earn, then you receive. Guru Arjan says the One gives precisely to the unworthy, which means the gift was never about worth at all. If gifts only went to the deserving, none of us would qualify; because they go to the undeserving, everyone does. And the response is the tender enshrining again — the lotus feet kept warm in the heart. Received without earning, held with love.
If the best gifts go even to those who didn't earn them, does that make you feel more welcome or less?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI