Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The birds that came to peck at the shore of the pool — they played, and they are gone.
In a moment, in an instant, we too must go. Our play is only for today, or maybe tomorrow.
But those whom the Lord unites are united — they find their seat in the Arena of Truth.
Khayl ga-ay say pankh-noon jo chug-day sar tal — those birds that pecked at the shore of the pool, they have played and departed. The image is quiet and precise: birds feeding at a pond, ordinary and alive. And then they are gone. Not dramatically, not with announcement — they simply left.
We too are those birds. Gharhi ke muha-t ke chalna — in a moment or an instant we must depart. The word is gentle: chalna (to go, to walk away) rather than to die. The birds departed. We depart. The question is what we did while we were here — and whether that play was today, or whether we have until tomorrow.
Khayla-n aj ke kal — our play is today or tomorrow. Khayla-n (play, game) — life as play, as a brief engagement. Not dismissive: the play is real while it lasts. But it lasts only today or tomorrow. The birds' feeding was real. Our lives are real. And brief.
Jis toon mayleh so milai, jaa-ay sachaa pirrh mal — those whom You unite, Lord, are united; they go and find their seat in the sachaa pirrh (the true arena, the arena of Truth). The word pirrh refers to the wrestling ground — the place of genuine contest. The spiritual life is not passive; it is an arena of real engagement. And those united by the divine find their permanent place in it. The birds that pecked and left were here briefly and found nothing permanent. Those united by the divine find their place and it holds.
If today or tomorrow were your last, what would you most want to have done with your time — and how much of that are you actually doing?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI