Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 1.djvu/274

178 God, Thou art great and merciful ; Thou art the fault less Cherish er.

The world is a perishable abode ; O my heart, know this as the truth.

Azrail l seizeth me by the hair of my head ; yet thou knowest it not, O my heart.

There shall be no wife, no son, no father, no brother, no one to take my hand.

There shall be no one to hinder my falling at last when my fate 2 cometh.

1 have passed my nights and days in vanity, and my thoughts have been evil.

I have never done a good act this is my condition ; I am unfortunate, I am also miserly and negligent ; I see not, and I fear not.

Nanak saith, I am Thy slave, and the dust of the feet of Thy servants. 3

The high priest then asked the Guru to tell him the composition of matter, the nature of the God he adored, how He was to be found, and in what con sisted the essence of his religion. The Guru replied again in the Persian language : Know that according to the Musalmans everything is produced from air, fire, water, and earth ; But the pure God created the world out of five elements. 4 However high man may leap, he shall fall on the earth again.

Even though a bird fly, it cannot compete in endurance with the torrent and the wind which move by God’s will.

How great shall I call God ? to whom shall I go to in quire regarding Him ?

1 Azrall is frequently mentioned in the Sikh sacred writings. In the Muhammadan dispensation he is the minister of Death who separates men s souls from their bodies by violently tearing them asunder. The Quran, Suras 32 and 79.

1 Takbir is understood to be for the Arabic taqdir, destiny.

3 Tilang. 4 Akash, or ether, being the fifth.