The Guru reposes his hopes in God and confirms his devotion to Him : —
My soul is in fear ; to whom shall I complain ?
I have served Him who causeth us to forget our sorrows ; He is ever and ever the Giver.
My Lord is ever young ; He is ever and ever the Giver.
Night and day serve the Lord, and in the end He will deliver thee.
Hark, hark, my friend,1 thus shalt thou cross over.
O Merciful One, by Thy name shall I cross over ; I am ever a sacrifice unto Thee.
In the whole world there is only one True Being ; there is no second.
He on whom God looketh with favour will serve Him.
How shall I, O Beloved, abide without Thee ?
Grant me the favour to remain attached to Thy name.
HYMNS OF GURU NANAK 337
There is none other, O my Beloved, to whom I may go to address myself.
I serve my Lord, I beg from no other :
Nanak is His slave and ever a sacrifice unto Him.
O Lord, I am ever a sacrifice to Thy name, for which I could bear to be cut to pieces.
Life is but brief, and man ought to make the best use of it : —
We men live but for a moment ; we know not if we shall live the space of two gharis.
Nanak representeth, serve Him to whom belong our .souls and lives.
O fool, consider how many days thy life shall last.
The poet Nanak thus speaketh ; O True Cherisher,
If Thou give nothing to any one, what pledge can he give Thee ? *
Nanak representeth, he who is destined from the beginning to obtain something shall obtain it.
The deceitful person who, instead of thinking of God's name, practiseth deceit,
Shall be led captive to the gate of Death, and shall then as he is led along regret lost opportunities.
As long as we are in this world, Nanak, hear somewhat and speak somewhat of God.
1 have searched and found no resting-place ; wherefore in the midst of life be in death.
The Guru moralized as follows on seeing a thief arrested :—
If a thief praise the magistrate, the mind of the latter is not pleased thereby ;
If he revile the magistrate, it cannot displease him in the least.
Nobody will be surety for a thief.
How can what a thief doeth be good ?
Hear, O fool, dog, and liar,
The True One knoweth thee, O thief, without thy speaking.
A thief may be well dressed, a thief may be ingenious,
Yet he is only worth a double paisa, the price of a bad
rupee.
If thou put a bad coin with others,
It will be found counterfeit on being assayed.
As man acteth, so shall be his reward :
He himself soweth and he himself eateth the fruit.
Even though man praise himself,
Yet will he act according to his understanding.
If he tell hundreds of lies to conceal the truth,
He shall still be false even though the whole world call him
good.
If it please Thee, even a fool is acceptable. Nanak, God is clever to know man's secret.
A Brahman, a Qazi, and a Jogi entered into dis cussion with the Guru, and he gave them the following instruction : —
The body is the paper, the mind the order written thereon. Silly man readeth not the lines of destiny on his forehead. In God's court three destinies l are engraved. Lo ! what is counterfeit is there of no avail. Nanak, if there be sterling silver within us, Everybody will say that it is real. The Qazi telleth lies and eateth filth. The Brahman taketh life and then batheth. The ignorant Jogi knoweth not the way of union with God,— The whole three ruin the world.2 He is a Jogi who knoweth the way to God, And who by the Guru's favour only recognizeth the One.
He is a Qazi who turneth away men from the world, And who by the Guru's favour while alive is dead.
HYMNS OF GURU NANAK 339
He is a Brahman who reflecteth upon God : He shall be saved himself, and shall save all his relations. Wise is he who cleanseth his heart : A Musalman is he who cleanseth his impurity. He who readeth and acteth on what he readeth, is accept able.
He shall bear on his forehead the stamp of God's court.