Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You are the truest of the true, above all, the One whose court is highest of all.
Those who hold You in mind serve the truth, and their pride is only in You.
Truth is inside them, their faces are bright, they speak truth — You are their strength.
Those who praise You in the way the Guru shows are Your own; the true word is the flag they carry.
I would give myself, again and again, to those who serve the True One.
The One is the truest of the true, and the people who live by truth have bright faces.
This short verse is built almost entirely out of one word, sach. It is repeated like a heartbeat. Sach means truth, what is real and lasts. It is more than "not telling lies." It means the most real, most lasting thing there is. To "serve truth" is to line up your everyday life with what is real.
Look at mukh ujlay, "faces bright." Inner truth shows on the outside. Living truthfully does not just give you a clear conscience. It lights up your face, the way a lamp glows through a paper lantern.
The verse ends with the poet giving himself sad kurbaan, "forever as an offering," to such people. This honor goes not to rulers or the powerful, but to people who simply live from what is real.
What do you notice about how someone looks or carries themselves when they are being completely honest and real?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI