Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 1.djvu/154

58 That the Kind One saveth those on whom He looketh with favour.

Oil-presses, spinning-wheels, hand-mills, potters wheels,

Plates, whirlwinds, many and endless,

Tops, churning-staves, threshing-frames,

Birds tumble and take no breath.

Men put animals on stakes and swing them round.

O Nanak, the tumblers are innumerable and endless.

In the same way men bound in entanglements are swung round;

Every one danceth according to his own acts—

They who dance and laugh shall weep on their departure,

They cannot fly or obtain supernatural power.

Leaping and dancing are mental recreations;

Nanak, they who have the fear of God in their hearts have also love.

The Guru set out towards the east, having arrayed himself in a strange motley of Hindu and Muhammadan religious habiliments. He put on a mango-coloured jacket, over which he threw a white safa or sheet. On his head he carried the hat of a Musalman Qalandar, while he wore a necklace of bones, and imprinted a saffron mark on his forehead in the style of Hindus. This was an earnest of his desire to found a religion which should be acceptable both to Hindus and Muhammadans without conforming to either faith. As the Guru and his attendant proceeded, they met a Muhammadan notable called Shaikh Wajid. The Shaikh alighted under a tree, and his bearers began to shampoo and fan him. This afforded matter for contemplation to Mardana, and he asked the Guru whether there was not one God for the rich and another for the poor. The Guru replied that there