Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Beloved One, without You I have no one at all — You are my only true belonging. So I serve You, and I sing Your praises with my whole heart. Please gather me into Yourself, True One; it is only through a great fullness of grace that anyone ever finds You.
Here the shabad turns into a direct, close prayer. Guru Amar Das stops describing the One and simply talks to Him.
Har tuDh baajhahu mai ko-ee naahee — without You, Lord, I have no one. This isn't loneliness or feeling sorry for yourself. It is the soul seeing where it truly belongs. Everything else — things, rank, even the people around us — is kachee, passing. The One is the belonging that can never be lost. Saying "I have no one but You" means finally resting in the one shelter nobody can take away. Like a home base in tag, where you are always safe.
See how naturally this follows everything before. The treasure is inside you. The Real is everywhere. The Beloved freely cuts away your faults and plants your devotion. What else is left to say but this? Har tuDhai sayvee tai tuDh saalaahee — I serve You, and I praise You. Serving and praising aren't chores here. They spill over from a heart that knows it owns nothing and is held by Love.
The last line keeps Guru Amar Das's thread of grace: aapay mayl laihu parabh saachay — You Yourself unite me, True God. I can't do it myself. Poorai karam — You are found through perfect grace. Here karam means grace or blessing, not deeds we earn. Even at the height of devotion, he won't let the ego take the credit. The prayer is a request: please gather me in. The joining is the Beloved's gift, not the lover's trophy. That is true humility: doing all you can to love, while knowing the union itself can only be received.
If everything else could one day be lost, what would it mean to have something — or Someone — that truly can never be taken away from you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI