Before there was earth or sky, day or night, temple or mosque, there was only the One, resting in deep stillness.
The Arc
Try to picture the time before everything. No phone, no school, no city. Go further back. No earth and no sky. No day, no night, no sun, no moon. No temples and no mosques. No holy books. No kings, no titles, no high family or low family. Just deep, endless quiet, and the One resting in it. Then the One chose, and the whole world sprang up. Nothing props it up except the One. Everyone you meet came from that same beginning. Nobody started out higher than you, and nobody started out lower. When you see that, the only thing left is wonder. At the centre, the opening line: for endless ages there was only the One, resting in deep stillness.
Key Vocabulary
Arbad narbad: countless, uncountable ages.
Sunn samaadhi: the primal void-trance, the deep stillness before creation.
Hukam: the flow of existence, which alone holds the universe up.
Bismaad: wonder, awe, the breath-taken amazement at the heart of the word Waheguru.
Themes and Cross-Connections
A Solhe a little later in Raag Maaroo tells the same story of beginnings through the image of 'sunn' (the Void) from which everything wells up. The long litany of 'there was no...' is one of the most famous passages in the Guru Granth Sahib, and its even-handed pairing of Hindu and Muslim forms is a cornerstone of the Sikh respect for every faith.
For Raag Maaroo
In a raag that faces death and endings, this hymn offers the widest possible frame: everything we cling to came from stillness and rests on the One. Set against that vastness, dread gives way to wonder.
Translation Notes
The whole hymn is a picture of the time before creation, told with wonder.
Pauri 2: heaven and hell (surag, narak, dojak, bhisat), birth and death all appear as things not yet made.
Pauri 3: at the origin there is no male or female and no high or low caste, the ground of Guru Nanak's teaching of equality.
Pauris 9 and 10 set Hindu forms (priest, temple, sacred verses, pilgrimage) and Muslim forms (Mullah, Qazi, Shaykh, the Mecca pilgrimage) side by side, and Pauri 12 does the same for all scriptures; every one is named with respect.
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, Krishna and the Gopis, and Gorakh and Machhindra are named with respect. Pauri 11: 'bind nahee raktee' (no seed, no blood) means no bodies had been formed yet.
Hukumnama
Subject: Before anything, there was only the One Preview: endless quiet, no earth or sky, no sun or moon, no temples or books, then a world with no pillars.
Today: Try to picture the time before everything. No phone, no school, no city. Go further back. No earth and no sky. No day, no night, no sun, no moon. No temples and no mosques. No holy books. No kings, no titles, no high family or low family. Just deep, endless quiet, and the One resting in it. Then the One chose, and the whole world sprang up. Nothing props it up except the One. Everyone you meet came from that same beginning. Nobody started out higher than you, and nobody started out lower. When you see that, the only thing left is wonder.
Before everything was the One, and the One holds it all.
For today: Look up at the sky for one quiet minute today and let yourself feel wonder.
Before there was earth or sky, day or night, temple or mosque, there was only the One, resting in deep stillness.
The Arc
Try to picture the time before everything. No phone, no school, no city. Go further back. No earth and no sky. No day, no night, no sun, no moon. No temples and no mosques. No holy books. No kings, no titles, no high family or low family. Just deep, endless quiet, and the One resting in it. Then the One chose, and the whole world sprang up. Nothing props it up except the One. Everyone you meet came from that same beginning. Nobody started out higher than you, and nobody started out lower. When you see that, the only thing left is wonder. At the centre, the opening line: for endless ages there was only the One, resting in deep stillness.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
A Solhe a little later in Raag Maaroo tells the same story of beginnings through the image of 'sunn' (the Void) from which everything wells up. The long litany of 'there was no...' is one of the most famous passages in the Guru Granth Sahib, and its even-handed pairing of Hindu and Muslim forms is a cornerstone of the Sikh respect for every faith.
For Raag Maaroo
In a raag that faces death and endings, this hymn offers the widest possible frame: everything we cling to came from stillness and rests on the One. Set against that vastness, dread gives way to wonder.
Translation Notes
Hukumnama
Subject: Before anything, there was only the One Preview: endless quiet, no earth or sky, no sun or moon, no temples or books, then a world with no pillars.
Today: Try to picture the time before everything. No phone, no school, no city. Go further back. No earth and no sky. No day, no night, no sun, no moon. No temples and no mosques. No holy books. No kings, no titles, no high family or low family. Just deep, endless quiet, and the One resting in it. Then the One chose, and the whole world sprang up. Nothing props it up except the One. Everyone you meet came from that same beginning. Nobody started out higher than you, and nobody started out lower. When you see that, the only thing left is wonder.
Before everything was the One, and the One holds it all.
For today: Look up at the sky for one quiet minute today and let yourself feel wonder.