Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Nanak says: my Beloved keeps me like henna paste, and looks on me with grace.
The One grinds me, the One rubs me smooth, and the One places me at the Beloved's feet.
This is my Master's cup of love. The One gives it to whoever the One chooses.
Kabir's henna image comes back, now seen from the side of grace. The One does the grinding, the rubbing, the applying. Nothing here is achieved by the seeker's effort. The cup of love, given as the One chooses, is grace received rather than earned, like sunlight that was always there once you step out of the shadow.
Guru Amar Das places this shalok right after Kabir's, so the longing and its answer sit side by side.
Can you trust that you are being drawn close even when you cannot feel it yet?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI