Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
There is One Creator of all, known by the True Guru's grace.
The devotees adore the One with love; they thirst for the True One with endless affection.
They beg and implore with tears; in love, their whole being comes to rest.
Longing for the One is already a way of being close.
Guru Nanak begins this long song, an ashtapadee of eight verses, with thirst and tears. The devotees worship the One with paraym, love. They feel sach pi-aas, a thirst for the True One. Billaap bilal binantee-aa — they cry and plead. This raag, Goojaree, often sings of missing someone you love. Here that ache is at full flood.
But the last line holds a surprise. From all this longing, their minds come to rest. The ache and the peace live together. Think of waiting at the airport for a grandparent you love. You miss them, yet you are already smiling, because you are turned toward them. Longing for the One is already a kind of nearness.
Is there a longing in you that, even unfulfilled, feels closer to peace than not longing at all?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI