Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
There is only One. And the One is found by the True Guru's grace — a gift that is always here, waiting for an open heart.
The One breathed its Light into the dust and made the whole world and universe.
Sky, earth, trees, water — all of it is the One's own making.
Guru Arjan begins with a big, bright picture of how the world was made.
The One put its Light into the dust and made the whole world. Even plain dust holds the One's light. Think of a lamp glowing inside a clay pot. The pot is ordinary, but the light makes it shine.
Asmaan jimee darkhat aab — sky, earth, trees and water — paidaa-is khudaa-ay, all made by God. Khudaa-ay is a Persian name for God. Guru Arjan uses words his Muslim neighbors used every day.
The world is the One's glowing work. The next lines will warn us: a life spent just grabbing and using things misses the light inside them.
Where might you be overlooking the 'light in the dust' — the sacred hidden in ordinary things?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI