Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The One of the universe is my very life, my breath, my wealth and my beauty.
People are dizzy, drunk on attachment; in that darkness, the One is the only lamp.
Guru Arjan lists what the One is to him — "my existence, breath, wealth and beauty" — collapsing every category of value into the One. What others seek in money and looks and life itself, he finds all in one place. And then the image that gives the shabad its light: in a world "intoxicated with attachment," stumbling in the dark, "the Lord is the only lamp." When everyone around you is fumbling in the same darkness, a single lamp is worth everything. Guru Arjan does not pretend the darkness isn't real — attachment genuinely disorients people — but he points to the one steady light that lets you see your way through it.
When everyone around you seems lost or confused, what's the 'lamp' that helps you see clearly?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI