Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Everyone belongs to the One who rules the universe. The one oriented toward the teaching practices good deeds, and truth is revealed in their heart.
True is the reputation of those who are true — within whom truth actually lives, not just on the surface.
Those who meet the True Lord are not separated again. The separation was always the confusion — the meeting reveals what was always there.
Guru Amar Das opens this shabad with a social claim: sab kaa saahib ek hai — everyone belongs to the One. Not just Sikhs. Not just the virtuous. Everyone. This universalism runs through all of Gurbani.
The distinction he draws is between naam (reputation/name) that is true because truth actually lives within the person — and reputation that is performed without the substance. The True Lord meets those who are genuinely aligned, and the meeting is permanent.
Do you know someone whose reputation exactly matches who they actually are — no gap between how they appear and who they are? What is it like to be around that person?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI