Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The whole Universe serves You, day and night.
Please hear my prayer, O Dear Lord.
I have thoroughly tested and seen all — You alone, by Your Pleasure, can save us.
Sab-u jag-u sev-ai din raatee — the whole universe (sab-u jag-u) serves (sev-ai) You day and night (din raatee). The cosmic service: all of creation, continuously, serves the divine. Not as obligation — as the natural expression of existing in the divine's presence. The sun serving by shining, the rain serving by falling, every being serving by being what it is.
Sun-i teri-aa ard-aas-aa — please hear (sun-i — listen to) my prayer (ard-aas-aa — humble petition, formal prayer). The shift from the cosmic to the personal: all the universe serves, and within that universe, one soul makes a humble petition. Ard-aas is the Sikh prayer of petition — a formal, humble request. The posture of the petitioner within the vast cosmic service is humility.
Sab kuch dekh-i parikh-i tatt-u likh-ii-aa, khahsiaa tun Aap-ai ho-ee — I have thoroughly examined (parikh-i — tested, examined carefully) and seen (dekh-i) all things; I have recorded (likh-ii-aa — written, found in writing) the essence (tatt-u — the truth, the core). The conclusion of the thorough testing: You alone (tun Aap-ai), by Your own Pleasure (ho-ee), can save (khahsiaa — take care of, rescue). The evidence-based conclusion of the soul who has tried everything Shabad 126 catalogued: the only one who saves is the Lord, and He saves by His own will.
What have you tested and tried in your own life that didn't work — and what did that period of testing teach you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI