Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Within my mind and body there is an intense pain of separation. How can my Beloved come to meet me here, in my own home?
When I see my God — when I actually see Him — my pain is taken away. Not before. Only when the seeing happens.
I go and ask my friends: How can I meet and merge with God? The longing itself makes me ask everyone.
Guru Ram Das (1534–1581) is the Fourth Guru of the Sikh lineage. Born Jetha, an orphan who sold boiled chickpeas on the streets of Lahore, he came to the court of Guru Amar Das as a devotee and eventually married his daughter Bhani. He became Guru in 1574 and served until 1581 — seven years, the shortest tenure of any of the first five Gurus.
He is the Guru of longing. His compositions have a quality of ache that is immediately recognizable: he is not the cosmic declarer (Guru Nanak) or the systematic physician (Guru Amar Das). He is the earnest seeker, still in the midst of the search, turning to everyone around him for guidance.
The opening of this shabad is not a report from the other side of union. It is a cry from the midst of separation. "How can my Beloved come to meet me here?" — in my home, in my ordinary life, with my ordinary mind. The question is also the beginning of the answer: the asking itself is the reaching.
Have you ever felt an ache for something you couldn't name — a longing that didn't attach to any particular thing? What do you think that ache is actually pointing toward?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI