Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In the fourth watch of the night, morning is coming. That day is almost here.
As a Gurmukh — with your face turned toward the teaching — keep the Name alive in you now. It is the one Friend who will still be with you when everything else has fallen away. The people you loved, the things you accumulated, the reputation you built — none of it comes. The Name comes.
The whole night of life can pass in darkness. But serve the Guru with what time remains, and a light breaks through — the Divine Light that was always there, just waiting for you to turn toward it.
Says Nanak: in the fourth watch, that day is drawing near.
The urgency of the fourth watch in Guru Arjan
Where Guru Ram Das's fourth watch is gentle — the devotee's night is fruitful — Guru Arjan's fourth watch carries an edge of urgency that is characteristic of his compositions. Din neṛhai ā'i-ā so'e — "that day is drawing near." The repetition of this line as both the opening and closing of the pauri creates a frame of pressure: we are being reminded twice that the deadline is approaching.
The word so'e (that, the very one) is pointed. Not "a day," not "someday" — that day. The specific day of reckoning, which is personal, which has a date already written, which is approaching whether you look at it or not.
"The entire night of life passed in darkness"
Saglī rain gudrī andhiārī — "the entire night of your life has passed away in darkness." This is Guru Arjan's acknowledgment that the three previous watches may well have been wasted — and his refusal to let that fact become a reason for despair. Even if the whole night was dark, the turning is still possible. Even in the fourth watch, the light can come. Sev satgur chānaṇ ho'e — "by serving the True Guru, the Divine Light shall dawn within."
The Name as the Friend in the Court
Gurmukhit nām samāl tūn, terā dargah belī ho'e — "as Gurmukh, remember the Naam; it shall be your Friend in the Court of the Lord." The word belī is Punjabi for a true friend, a companion who stands by you in difficulty. In Guru Ram Das's compositions, we see sakhā'ī (helper) for the same concept. Guru Arjan here uses the more intimate belī — the kind of friend you can count on at the worst moment. The Naam will be that friend in the divine's Court when the soul must account for itself.
*Is there something you've been putting off — some turning you know you need to make — that you keep saying you'll do later?*
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI