Ang-1301 — Chapter 80
Shaykh Fareed has grown old, and his body has begun to tremble.
Even if he could live for hundreds of years, his body will eventually turn to dust. ||41||
Fareed begs, O Lord, do not make me sit at another's door.
If this is the way you are going to keep me, then go ahead and take the life out of my body. ||42||
With the axe on his shoulder, and a bucket on his head, the blacksmith is ready to cut down the tree.
Fareed, I long for my Lord; you long only for the charcoal. ||43||
Fareed, some have lots of flour, while others do not even have salt.
When they go beyond this world, it shall be seen, who will be punished. ||44||
Drums were beaten in their honor, there were canopies above their heads, and bugles announced their coming.
They have gone to sleep in the cemetary, buried like poor orphans. ||45||
Fareed, those who built houses, mansions and lofty buildings, are also gone.
They made false deals, and were dropped into their graves. ||46||
Fareed, there are many seams on the patched coat, but there are no seams on the soul.
The shaykhs and their disciples have all departed, each in his own turn. ||47||
Fareed, the two lamps are lit, but death has come anyway.
It has captured the fortress of the body, and plundered the home of the heart; it extinguishes the lamps and departs. ||48||
Fareed, look at what has happened to the cotton and the sesame seed,
the sugar cane and paper, the clay pots and the charcoal.
This is the punishment for those who do evil deeds. ||49||
Fareed, you wear your prayer shawl on your shoulders and the robes of a Sufi; your words are sweet, but there is a dagger in your heart.
Outwardly, you look bright, but your heart is dark as night. ||50||
Fareed, not even a drop of blood would issue forth, if someone cut my body.
Those bodies which are imbued with the Lord - those bodies contain no blood. ||51||
Third Mehl:
This body is all blood; without blood, this body could not exist.
Those who are imbued with their Lord, do not have the blood of greed in their bodies.
When the Fear of God fills the body, it becomes thin; the blood of greed departs from within.
Just as metal is purified by fire, the Fear of God removes the filthy residues of evil-mindedness.
O Nanak, those humble beings are beautiful, who are imbued with the Lord's Love. ||52||
Fareed, seek that sacred pool, in which the genuine article is found.
Why do you bother to search in the pond? Your hand will only sink into the mud. ||53||
Fareed, when she is young, she does not enjoy her Husband. When she grows up, she dies.
Lying in the grave, the soul-bride cries, "I did not meet You, my Lord." ||54||
Fareed, your hair has turned grey, your beard has turned grey, and your moustache has turned grey.
O my thoughtless and insane mind, why are you indulging in pleasures? ||55||
Fareed, how long can you run on the rooftop? You are asleep to your Husband Lord - give it up!
The days which were allotted to you are numbered, and they are passing, passing away. ||56||
Fareed, houses, mansions and balconies - do not attach your consciousness to these.
When these collapse into heaps of dust, none of them will be your friend. ||57||
Fareed, do not focus on mansions and wealth; center your consciousness on death, your powerful enemy.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Leviticus 19:18
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277
“All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”
Tao Te Ching 76
“A man is born gentle and weak. At his death he is hard and stiff. The soft and yielding is the disciple of life.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita 2:22
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”
Humility & Surrender
Bhagavad Gita 18:66
“Abandon all varieties of dharma and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.”
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Tao Te Ching 22
“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.”
Quran 2:45
“Seek help through patience and prayer. It is indeed exacting, but not for those who are humble.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Genesis 1:3
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”