fir ho-ay na fayraa ant sach nibayrhaa gurmukh milai vadi-aa-ee.
He does not have to enter the cycle of reincarnation again, and he is emancipated in the end; as Gurmukh, he obtains glorious greatness.
ਸਾਚੈ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਾਤੇ ਸਹਜੇ ਮਾਤੇ ਸਹਜੇ ਰਹੇ ਸਮਾਈ ॥
saachai rang raatay sehjay maatay sehjay rahay samaa-ee.
Imbued with love for the True Lord, he is intoxicated with celestial bliss, and he remains absorbed in the Celestial Lord.
ਸਚਾ ਮਨਿ ਭਾਇਆ ਸਚੁ ਵਸਾਇਆ ਸਬਦਿ ਰਤੇ ਅੰਤਿ ਨਿਬੇਰਾ ॥
sachaa man bhaa-i-aa sach vasaa-i-aa sabad ratay ant nibayraa.
The True Lord is pleasing to his mind; he enshrines the True Lord in his mind; attuned to the Word of the Shabad, he is emancipated in the end.
ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਮਿ ਰਤੇ ਸੇ ਸਚਿ ਸਮਾਣੇ ਬਹੁਰਿ ਨ ਭਵਜਲਿ ਫੇਰਾ ॥੧॥
naanak naam ratay say sach samaanay bahur na bhavjal fayraa. ||1||
O Nanak, those who are imbued with the Naam, merge in the True Lord; they are not cast into the terrifying world-ocean again. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
Life keeps coming and going, and only what's truly good stays with you in the end.
A heart soaked in the true One grows quietly, deeply glad.
Keep it truly in mind, and you rest, at last, in what lasts.
Things come and go — and what truly stays with you in the end is the goodness you kept in your heart.
The deeper layer
Guru Amar Das opens with the memento mori softened to gentle truth: "the world comes and goes... only the True Name shall emancipate you in the end." Amid all that passes, the one thing that stays with you is the goodness you carried. A heart "imbued with love for the True Lord is intoxicated with celestial bliss" (anand). For a child: things come and go, and what truly stays with you in the end is the goodness you kept in your heart.
A Question to Sit With
Of everything in a day, what's the part that really stays with you?
