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Bhagat Farid Ji

Bhagat Farid Ji

There are 134 hymns of Sheik Farid incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. Many Sikh scholars ascribe them to:

1) Farid Shakarganj (1173 – 1265AD or 569-664 AH) of Pak Pattan, a disciple of the Sufi Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki.

2) The tenth in succession to his post was Sheikh Brahm (Ibrahim), also known as "Farid Sani" or "Farid the 2nd", and it is this Farid who Guru Nanak Sahib met on two occasions.

Max Arthur Macauliffe states that hymns ascribed to Farid are compositions by the latter Farid, whereas others have ascribed them to Farid Shakarganj.

There are still other scholars who believe that the hymns were composed by different Sufis of the Pak Pattan centre, all using the poetic name Farid as was the custom in those days as the leader of an order chose his most suitable devotee to take his place shortly before his death.

As a result, no account would be complete without details of both of the Farid's lives.

1) Shakar Ganj / Sheikh Farid (1173-1265 A.D)

Baba Farid was born on the first day of the month of Ramzan in 1173 CE in the Punjab town of Kothiwal. His parents named him Farid-ud-Din Masaud, while "Shakar Ganj" got tagged to his name at a later stage, but he is mostly revered as Baba Farid of Pak Pattan. Baba Sheikh Farid was born at a time when Punjab was going through very tough times. Tamarlane (Taimur, the Lame), Halaku (son of Chengez Khan), Mohammed Ghouri, Mahmud Ghazanvi,etc. had or were ravaging Punjab when Farid was born.

At birth his parents named him Farid-ud-Din Masaud, but he is mostly revered as Baba Farid of Pak Pattan. When Farid was a few years old his mother taught him his prayers. The boy asked what was gained by his prayers. His mother replied 'sugar'. She used to hide some sugar crystals under his prayer-carpet, and, when he had finished his prayers, she would draw it forth and give it to Farid as a reward for his devotion.

On one occasion, when his mother was absent, he prayed a great deal, and, it is said, he found a correspondingly greater supply of sugar under his carpet. Pleased with the size of his 'reward' he ate some himself and shared the the rest with his playfellows. He related the circumstance to his mother on her return and as she had forgot to place his usual reward under his prayer mat she realized it wa a miraculous gift from God, so she gave him the surname Shakar Ganj, meaning a "treasury of sugar".

Great deal written about Farid the 1st

There is a great deal known or written regarding the original Shaikh Farid. Two genealogies of Shaikh Farid, subsequently called Farid Shakar Ganj, are given in the Jawahir-i-Faridi - one spiritual, the other temporal.

He received his spiritual position from his priest Khwaja Qutub-ul-din Bakhtiyar Ushi of Dihli, whose spiritual predecessors derive in an unbroken line from the Prophet of Makka. Farid's temporal (family genealogy) has been traced back through princes and kings to Hazrat Amir-ul-Mumanin Umr-bin-ul Khitab Qureshi Makki Faruqi, the second Khalifa of the Muslims.

Violent rulers in India

The official language of India was Turkish and Persian. The Slave Dynasty of Qutb-Ud-Din Aibak was at that time being headed by Sultan Balban. 200-300 years earlier to the West of the Indian subcontinent, sword of Islam had swept through the countries like Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.

In India too, Qutb-ud-din Aibak succeeded in establishing a line of rulers, which ruled for some decades from Delhi, over quite a lot of territory. Then came the sufi saints from Arabia and other places to spread their message of love for Allah. Sufi saints like Khwaja Qutub-Ud-Din Bakhtiar Kaki, who was a Syed of Jaffri Hussaini tribe, were very famous.

Baba Farid's meeting

Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaki was Born around 1150 CE and studied under Abu Hafiz, a celebrated doctor of Ush, he went to Ajmer and became a disciple of Khwaja Moin-ud-Din Chishti. In due time he proceeded to Delhi where Baba Farid met him and became his disciple. Emperor Sultan Shams-ud-Din Iltutmish was also his disciple. He died in CE 1235 and was buried in Delhi, where his tomb is held in devout reverence by pious Hindus and Muslims. His descendants are called Chishtis from the tribe of his priest. - Makhazan-ul-Tawarikh.

Genealogy of Baba ji

Genealogy of Baba Sheikh Farid ji is given in the Jawahir-e-Faridi (The gems of Farid), preserved at the shrine of Pak Pattan, by Ali Asghar of Bahadal, a town near Sirhind. Baba Sheikh Farid ji descended from Farrukh Shah, who was king of Kabul and kings of Ghazni and other states were subject to him.

Baba Farid ji's Great Grandfather was son of Farrukh Shah, the emperor of Kabul. During that time, Baba Farid's Great Grandfather was killed when Halaku, the grandson of Chengez Khan invaded Kabul. He killed several princes and learned men, including several of Baba Farid's ancestors. Baba Farid's Grandfather Shaikh Shaib abandoned their country and took refuge in the Punjab in CE 1125.

Moved to Punjab

The Qazi of Kasur who was acquainted with the high position Shaikh Shaib had held there, treated him and his relatives with great respect and hospitality. After some time Shaikh Shaib proceeded to Multan where he deemed he should be less exposed to worldly influences or the temptings of ambition.

He took his abode in Kothiwal, now known as Chawali Mushaikh, close to Dipalpur. He established in Kothiwal, a private college for religious instruction and attracted much attention. His eldest son Jamal-ud-din married Bibi Miriam, daughter of Syed Muhammad Abdula Shah - a descendant of Ali. Bibi Miriam had three sons, Khwaja Aziz-ud-din, Farid-ud- Din Masaud (Baba Farid) and Khwaja Najib-ud-din, and one daughter Khatun Jamila.

Becomes Hajji and obtains scholarship

When Baba Farid was 16 years old, he went to Hajj and stayed in the house of Abdul Rahim Ansari. Since Baba Farid ji use to talk in Punjabi, an unkempt faqir on hearing Farid's language foretold the Boy's subsequent greatness.

After Farid came back to Punjab, he was sent to Khwaja Qutub-ud-Din Bakhtiar Kaki at Delhi to learn theology. Qutub-ud-din, on finding Baba Farid deficient in scholarship sent him to the shrine of Abdul Shakur of Sarsa, near Delhi to finish his education. On that occasion Baba Farid repeated the following:

O Farid, thou hast not walked in God's way; therefore He hath no appeared unto thee Who is there who hath knocked at God's door for whom it hath not been opened Lost thy life on the way of the Friend if thou desire to be even as those holy men.

The high reputation Farid acquired in Delhi soon became irksome to him. He therefore made his way to Hansi, where he remained for some time. Meanwhile Khwaja Qutub-ud- Bakhtiar Kaki died at Delhi and Baba Farid paid a second visit to that city, and assumed the mantle of his late spiritual guide.

Moved to Pak Pattan

He ultimately left it in the keeping of Jamal-ud-Din of Hansi and thence proceeded to Ajodhan, the present Pak Pattan. The manner in which the name of Ajodhan changed to Pak Pattan was that a canal, which derived its water from the Sutlej passed near the town. It was usual for all who visited Baba Farid to wash their hands and feet there. The place henceforth became known as Baba Sahib ji da Pak Pattan, or Farid's cleansing ferry.

Sheikh Farid ji made Pak Pattan a great center of Sufi thoughts. People from all over India and Middle East would come to see him. He always used his language, that is, Punjabi spoken by common people, even though he was highly learned and educated in Arabic, Persian, etc.

All his couplets are written in Punjabi or Persian script. He generally rejected offerings of money, but would accept gifts of food, etc. for public kitchen. Baba Farid went to Delhi again and was received with a hospitable reception.

Emperor Nasir-ud-Din Balban introduced him to his family. Hazabra, the Emperor's daughter, was married to Baba Sheikh Farid, but only after Emperor Balban promised not to give any costly gifts. Baba ji distributed all her jewels, etc. to the poor.

Inquiry?

Once seven hundred holy men were sitting together. An inquirer put them four questions to which Baba Farid ji replied:

Q.1 Who is the wisest of men?
A.1 He who refraineth from Sin.
Q.2 Who is the most intelligent?
A.1 He who is not disconcerted at anything.
Q.3 Who is most independent?
A.3 He who practises contentment.
Q.4 Who is the most needy?
A.4 He who practice the it not.

Is singing lawful?

A student asked Baba Farid if singing was lawful and proper. He replied that, according to Islam, it was certainly unlawful, but its propriety was still a matter of discussion. Nizam-ud-Dauliya told Nasir-ud-din, a disciple of his, that one day when he went to visit Baba Farid he stood at his door, and saw him dancing as he sang the following :

I wish ever to live in Thy love, O God.
If I become the dust under Thy feet, I shall live
I, thy slave, desire none but Thee in both worlds;
For Thee I will live and for Thee I will die.

The following couplet was a favorite of Baba Farid's:

Not every heart is capable of finding the secret of God's love. There are not pearls in every sea; there is not gold in every mine.

Mokhalpur renamed Faridkot

Baba Farid visited a city called Mokhalpur, it is now called Faridkot in honor of Baba Farid; today it is in the Indian part of Punjab. He then turned his efforts towards the Punjabi mountains where he converted a whole tribe. Baba Farid remained there for six months and then he locked up the house in which he had dwelt, saying that his successor would open it, and then returned to Pak Pattan.

As his successor, Diwan Taj-ud-Din, was returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca and Madina, he happened to visit that part of the country. He asked people the name of their tribe, they said they were descendents of Qutub-ul-Alam Baba Farid Shakarganj. And thus Taj-ud-din opened the door of Baba Farid's hut hundreds of years later.

Baba ji earthly demise

Baba Farid died of pneumonia on the fifth day of the month of Muharram, CE 1266. The date of Baba Farid's death is commemorated by chronograms (a) Farid Asari (b) Auliye Khudai. Baba Farid was buried outside the town of Pak Pattan at a place called Martyr's Grave. Guru Nanak's contemporary was Baba Sheikh Farid Sani, or the second Sheikh Farid, 6th in succession of Baba Farid Shaikh Shakarganj.

The father of Punjabi literature

Thus, Baba Sheikh Farid Shakarganj can be truly called the founder of the Punjabi literary tradition, making Punjabi literature older than that using Hindi, Urdu, etc. It was much later, after Baba Farid's use of Punjabi, that the writers Tulsidas, Mira Bai, and others started using Hindi as the language for writing religious literature.

The Robber Becomes Blind

Nizam-ul-Din Auliya, a disciple of Farid, relates a legend of a robber who went to Farid's mother's house to steal. On beginning his operations he lost his sight. He then cried out that there must be some saint or miracle-worker present. He vowed that, if his sight was restored, he would renounce thieving and become a good Muhammadan.

On hearing his vow Miriam prayed for him, and his sight was restored. He went home, and returned to her the following morning with an offering of milk. Accompanied by his wife and children, he expressed a desire that they should all become Muhammadans.

Miriam caused his wishes in this respect to be gratified, with the result that they all became holy. In reply to her, he said his name was Chawa. His shrine among others in that locality has subsequently become a place of devout pilgrimage.

Farid Ji's Brth

When Farid was conceived, his mother used to spend her days and nights in prayer. He was born at Kothiwal on the first day of the month of Ramzan, the Muslim religion's most sacred month, A.H. 569 (1173). The sky that night was dark and cloudy, and the moon, whose appearance as the "pehli ka chained" (the new moon) when the moon is seen in the western sky as a faint and delicate white curve, which marks the beginning of Ramzan, the Muslim period of daylight fasting. Because the moon could not be seen the devotees did not know when to begin their fast. (Ramzan begins only after the new moon has been sighted.)

Then a holy man arrived reporting that a wonderful son had been born to Jamal-ul-Sulaiman and if the infant suckled, the time for fasting had not yet begun, but if, on the contrary he refused the breast, then all good Muhammadans must fast. Farid did not suckle, and so it was apparent the fast had begun. During the whole month of Ramzan, it is said, the infant only took milk by night in the Muhammadan fashion and fasted by day.

Hot water for his master

Another legend that has been passed along for centuries by disciples of Sheikh Farid, narrates an important episode during the time he was serving his spiritual mentor Khawaja Qutubudin Bakhtiyar Kaki. Sheikh Farid used to arrange hot water for his master's ablutions.

On a very wet and cold, stormy night, he realized he had no way to light a fire, as every thing around was either cold and humid or wet. So he left the sanctuary in search of fire. He kept walking through the dark rainy night, and had become quite wet and started to shiver, but he did not give up his search. Finally, he perceived a light at a distance and he started walking towards it. He finally arrived at the door of building. He knocked on it and a voice asked who it was.

After he revealed his name, a woman answered the door and asked why he had arrived at a brothel. Sheikh Farid answered, that he was led there by light of the lamp, and he was looking for a way to light a fire, to heat water for his master's ablutions. The woman unabashedly told him that she would not give him the fire for free, and asked him if he had any way to pay her. He replied that he did not have any money. The woman then said,"If you need fire, you must give me what I ask for."

Sheikh Farid asked for her price and she replied that she would like one of his 'eyeballs' as payment. Sheikh Farid then asked for a knife, and unhesitatingly pulled out his eyeball and gave it to the woman. She, then gave him some burning wood to take away.

He arrived back at the sanctuary and performed his duties, as before. In the morning, when his master was entertaining an audience with discourse, Sheikh Farid came in with a bandage covering his eye that had been bleeding. His master asked him why he had tied a bandage to his eye.

Sheikh Farid replied in Punjabi "Akh Aa Gayee Ay" that meant his eye was infected and was oozing. His master smiled at him and said, "You are right, open your bandage now, Akh Aa Gayee Ay, which also in Punjabi, means that 'the eye has come'.

When Sheikh Farid opened his bandage, he rubbed his eye and opened it and found that his eyeball was back. His master then said,"This new eyeball is a little smaller than the one the Lord gave you. I could not compete with Him, so I got you a smaller one."

It is said that whoever ascends to the spiritual throne of Sheikh Farid, from then on, has one eye that is smaller than the other.

2) Shaikh Brahm ( -1552 A.D)

Shaikh Brahm holds a distinguished place in the list of great saints, and bears several titles or appellations. He is called Farid Sani or Farid the Second, Salis Farid or the arbitrator Farid, Shaikh Brahm Kalan (Shaikh Brahm the elder), Bal Raja (the child king), Sahikh Brahm Sahib, and Shah Brahm.

He is said to have performed many miracles. Again the story of the thief is given as an one of Shaikh Brahm's miracles:

A thief once entered his house with criminal intent, but by God's will was struck blind and could not find his way out. When Shaikh Brahm arose at night to pray, he told his servant to fetch water for his ablutions. The servant saw the blind thief standing helpless on the floor, and informed his master. The thief prayed for forgiveness, and promised that, if he recovered his sight, he would renounce his evil ways. Upon this Shaikh Brahm prayed for him; he recovered his sight, and became a devout Musalmaan. Another of Shaikh Brahm's miracles is this: In a season of drought he took off his turban and began to whirl it about, upon which rain fell abundantly.

Family of Farid the 2nd

Two sons of Shaikh Brahm are mentioned – one Shaikh Taj-ul-Din Mahmud, a great saint, and another Shaikh Munawwar Shah Shahid. Shaikh Brahm had several disciples, such as Shaikh Salim Chishti Fatahpuri (the Holy man that foretold the birth of Akbar's son), Shaikh Ahmadi of Chunian, Baba Ahmad Lanak of Dipalpur, Maulvi Jalal-ul-Din of Shaikhbad, Shah Abdul Fatah of Ghazipur, Haji Niamat Ulla of Shaikhupur, among others

Shaikh Brahm died on the 21st of Rajab, A.H. 960 (A.D 1552), after a spiritual reign of 42 years. The Kaulasat-ul-Tawarikh states that he was buried at Sarhind.

History

Among the many social and religious movements in India of the last two thousand years, the Bhakti movement of the middle ages from the 13th to the 17th centuries was the most pronounced, as it cut across all distinctions of high and low birth, the learned and the unlettered, men and women and opened the doors of spiritual realization and salvation to one and all. Besides, it provided a base for common socio-religious culture in India.

One great characteristic of the Indian civilization is that more than its kings and warriors and generals, it is the Saints and the Sufis who realized the goals of the Renaissance and the Reformation. The cyclic tales recited by the lute players of ancient India, the songs of the wandering minstrels, the ba!lads and the 'kathaks' (storytellers) of medieval times provided a framework for the evolution and growth of the composite culture of India. They integrated the diverse elements of Indian society and knit them in a unified cultural necklace. It is these saints and sufis who bestowed a sense of Indianness on Indians down the ages. Baba Farid occupies a very high place in this cultural anthology.

There was something in Baba Farid's poetry akin to prayer. He spoke of his people in the people's dialect and asked them to use Punjabi for religious purposes. He started a 'silsilah at Pak Pattan and established a mystic organization, a 'Khanqah' (Monastery) on the lines of a European seminary upholding the rule of mind over matter in the ultimate analysis of human affairs.

Baba Sheikh Farid had been in the 12th & 13th centuries, a great intellectual, unique renunciat, perfect ascetic and committed devotee of the Timeless Lord who communicated to the common folk the revealed divine message through the medium of sweet, soothing Punjabi language. Farid lived a householder's life marked with contentment and perseverance. One of the greatest virtues of his life was his love and sympathy for entire mankind. His heart felt pain of oppression perpetuated by the Muslim invaders in the name of religion. He tried to put balm on the hurt psyche of the people through the medium of sweet, soothing words so that the adverse impact caused by excesses of the orthodox Muslims to the image of Islam could be neutralised. Such an act on the part of someone was required for the revival of the feeling of fraternity amongst mankind. The unique humanitarian values of compassion, love, sympathy, mutual understanding and appreciation are clothed in the hymns of Farid as fragrance is in flowers. For his sweet words, sweet ideals and sweet behaviour, Farid became known as an epitome of Sweetness (Shakarganj); his full name was Sheikh Farid ud-din Maund Ganj-I-Shakar.

Farid occupies a place of pre-eminence among the Punjabi poets. During his lifetime, wherever he went, whomever he conversed with, could not but be influenced by the high, pious and divine ideas of Farid. So much do that Raja Gokul Dev changed the name of his capital town to Faridkot in honour of this great Sufi saint. Faridkot is today one of the important towns of the Punjab state. Sheikh Farid was a disciple of Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaki, the disciple and spiritual successor of Hazrat Ali who had received spiritual training from Hasan Basri; a known saint of Chishti traditon. Baba ji was born in 1173AD at Khetwal, now known as Chawli Mashaikh, a village in the Multan district (Pakistan). His mother's name was Mariam, also called Kursum by some. It is said that after birth, he didn't suck milk for breatfeeding until night because he observed Roza (fast) at the time of his birth. This simplicity and austerity in the manner of his diet was to remain a life-long habit. The writer of 'Life and Times of Sheikh Farid' says that half a tumbler of Sherbat (sweetened water), few raisins and half a loaf of bread, prepared of the millet flour generally comprised his daily meal.

Farid's mother was very wise and noble, and wished for her son to acquire the best education so that he could comprehend the Truth. His father, Sheikh Jala ud-din Suleman, was descendant of the second Calipha of Islam. According to a historian, Farid was related to the Royal family of emporer Farakhshal of Kabul, but the family was uprooted due to the invasions by Changez. Farid deeply impressed his spiritual mentor, Kaki, with his varied virtues. Thus, Kaki had a high respect for this disciple whom he used to call the most important bead in the rosary of Dharma.

In an absolutely impressive manner, Sheikh Farid realised this manifest world, the reality of God. He advises us to overcome worldly temptations and remain devoted to God, the creator of the whole universe. He cautions us against the false attractions of the world through his Bani which is deeply sensitive to the feeling of Empathy, Inevitable death and the waste of human life due to man's indifference to God and goodness. He continued preaching his message throughout his life, and at last breathed his last in AD 1266 at Pak Patan, earliar known by the name Ajodhan. He was succeeded on his spiritual throne by his son, Diwan Badrud-din Suleman.

The essence of the hymns of Farid can be stated as follows:

• Never forget Death under any circumstances.
• Avoid all quarrelling and polemics.
• Non-violence is the most beautiful ornament of Peaceful life.

Baba Farid ji exhorts mankind to cultivate these and all such virtues. He states that Contentment resides in the heart purified of all traces of Ego and Greed. Talking of a Faqir (hermit) he states that any new cloth is like a coffin for him. According to him, the dtached person is also the wisest. He is the greatest who can face both pleasure and pain with Equanimity. The richest person is the one with the most content heart. He who has given up contentment is the worst dependent. Farid ji preached Ideology reflecting the reality of life. That is perhaps why he has been known as the best poet of old age and death.

According to Farid, self-realisation or liberation from self is the other name for God-realisation One who is subject to desires of senses, is the meanest of all because such a man fails to control his mind, and the endless desires emanating from mind make him a tool in the hands of the devil who makes him dance to his tune. Farid not only preached detachment and austerity but also made these the guiding principles of his life. It is said that at the time of Farid's death even a small piece of cloth to serve as coffin for his body could not be found in his house. For the tomb over his grave, the bricks were taken by pulling down a portion of one of the walls of his house.

The hymns of Sheikh Farid are available at 3 different places in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji:

• 2 hymns under Asa musical measures.
• 2 hymns under Suhi measure
• 112 slokas toward end of Scripture

Farid's 'Bani' (religious text) is small in volume but has moved mankind over the last eight centuries. The lyrical content and haunting melody of these 'slokas' has been so great that every visitor to Punjab has stopped to pay homage to the soul, which conceived them. In the true Sufi tradition, Farid employed sensual imagery to convey mystical meaning. Regarding God as eternal beauty, the Sufi poets, both in Persia and India, had set new trends in poetry. Its special quality lay in the fact that unless one knows the intentions of the poet, one cannot distinguish whether it is an ode to human love or a hymn addressed to a deity. Take for example this love song of the Baba.

"The alleyway is muddy, O Farid, The Beloved's House is distance, if I go I would drench my cloak, And break my bond if I stay. It's the Creator's ordinance, this deluge;

Go I will to my Beloved to strengthen
The links of love, and let my woollen sheet
Be drenched with downpour."
Even the illiterate could understand and enjoy Farid's metaphors and imagery - rooted as they were in the soil.

The high reputation Farid obtained in Delhi soon became irksome to him. He therefore made his way to Hansi, where he remained for some time. Meanwhile Khwaja Qutub-ud- Bakhtiar Kaki died at Delhi and Baba Farid paid a second visit to that city, and assumed the mantle of his late spiritual guide. He ultimately left it in the keeping of Jamal-ud-Din of Hansi and thence proceeded to Ajodhan, the present Pak Pattan. The manner in which the name of Ajodhan changed to Pak Pattan was that a canal which derived its water from the Sutlej passed near the town. It was usual for all who visited Baba Farid to wash their hands and feet there. The place then became known as Baba Sahib ji da Pak Pattan, or Farid's cleansing ferry.

Sheikh Farid ji made Pak Pattan a great center of Sufi thoughts. People from all over India and Middle-east would come to see him. He always used his language, that is, Punjabi spoken by common people, even though he was highly learned and educated in Arabic, Persian, etc. His all couplets are written in Punjabi, in Persian script. He generally rejected offerings of money, but would accept gifts of food, etc for public kitchen. Baba Farid went to Delhi again and was received with a most hospitable reception. Emperor Nasir-ud-Din Balban introduced him to his family. Hazabra, the Emperor's daughter, was married to Baba Sheikh Farid, but only after Emperor Balban promised not to give any costly gifts. Baba ji distributed all her jewels, etc. to the poor.

Another article on Sheikh Farid

Rise Oh! Farid! do your ablutions And say the morning prayers.

It is early morning, some eight hundred years ago. In a small village named Khotwal; near Ajodhan, in West Punjab, an old man and his wife are worried. The lady of the house has just discovered that there are no sweets in the house and their child would not say his prayers without the promised prize. The understanding is that the mother keeps sweets beneath the prayer mat; this serves as a bait, as it were, for the child. He would get up and after he has said his prayers, he starts eating sweets. The child is fond of sweets. The shops are closed and the neighbors are asleep. The old father has a rustic sense of humor. "We collect some pebbles from the street and deposit them beneath the prayer mat," he suggests. "And if he discovers it, he would never say his prayers", the mother voices her fears. "No", says the lather, "he looks for the prize only when he has earned it, after finishing his prayers. By that time, the shops in the bazaar will open and we shall buy him sweets".

The trick works. Farid wakes up at the appointed time and making sure that his prize has been duly kept beneath the prayer-mat, he starts saying his prayers. The old man, his father, is happy in the heart of his hearts. The moment he finishes his prayers, the child lifts the corner of the prayer-mat and pulls out the prize bag. As be takes the first helping, the mother stops him, "No, son they are not sweets; your father has gone to the bazaar to bring them." "But they are sweets," the child insists; he starts munching the piece in his hand. "1t's sweeter than ever. What is wrong with it?" To her astonishment the mother finds that it is no handful of pebbles. They are sweets. As sweet as candy. A miracle had taken place. From that day, Sheikh Farid came to be known as Ganj-I-Shakkr, the store-house of candy. The real name of Sheikh Farid was Farid-ud-Din Masood.

He was given this name after the great Sufi poet Farid-ud-Din Attar. Sheillh Farid was born in A.D. 1173. His father's name was Shejlth Jamal-ud-Din Suleman. His mother was a God-fearing lady. Her name was Kulsum Bibi. Sheikh Jamal-ud-Din had three sons and a daughter. Sheilth Farid was the second son. Sheikh Farid was born at a time when the Muslims were trying to establish their rule in India. A large number of Islamic scholars and religious leaders came and settled here. Some believe that they had been driven to India by Chengiz Khan, who was at that time active in West Asia. It seems more probable that they were invited by the conquerors to propagate the Muslim way of life in the country of their domicile. They were granted liberal endowments and settled in various parts of the country. Some of the more important centers of Islamic learning in Northern India were Delhi, Panipat, Hansi, Uch and Multan. Sheikh Farid's father had settled in Khotwal. When Farid grew up, he shifted to Multan for higher studies. Multan attracted eminent scholars from Iran and Baghdad.

It was at Multan that Farid came across his spritual mentor, Hazrat Qutb-ud-Din Bakhtiar Kaki. He took Farid along with him to Delhi where they met Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, the greatest name among the Muslim men of God belonging to the time. It is said that Farid underwent severe penance and asceticism under Khwaja Qutb-ud-Din's stewardship. He hung himself upside down in a well for forty days. He neither ate nor drank but remained attuned to the Almighty. There are a number of references to this experience:

Says Farid,
My bread is made of wood,
And hunger is my sauce;
Those who eat rich food,
Will suffer severe agonies.

Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi was Sheikh Farid's most prominent follower and a renowned Sufi himself. At the age of 90, Baba Farid sent for Harrat Nizamuddin and taking leave of him, breathed his last. It was a lucky coincidence that Guru Nanak met Sheikh Ibrahim, a follower of Baha Farid in the sixteenth century and recorded Baba Farid's poetry which was later on preserved in the Holy Granth Farid wrote a large of couplets (sloka) which are very popular with Punjabi-speaking people. They are noted or their musicality and sweet cadence of diction:

Says Farid,
I have seen the eyes that lured the world.
A trace of kohl they would not bear.
And birds, today, have made their nests in them.

Says Farid,
Why do you roam the jungles with thorns pricking your feet?
Your Lord dwells in your heart.
And you wander about in search of Him.

Says Farid,
I thought I was alone who suffered.
I went on top of the house,
And found every house on fire.

Owing partly to the distance of time between Sheikh Farid and Guru Nanak and partly to the influence of eastern Punjabi expressions in sheikh Farid's verses as found in the Guru Granth, it is sometimes doubted if they are actually Sheikh Farid's compositions. Some scholars have explicitly attributed them to a contemporary of Guru Nanak, Sheikh Ibrahim, who was the religious head at Pakpatan at that time. These attributions are difficult to accept Firstly, the Sikh Gurus, both Nanak and Arjan, were too discriminating scholars of the lore of their time to have been deceived into believing the compositions of a contemporary to be those of his illustrious predecessor of three hundred years earlier. Secondly, there are references in these verses to some events of the times and austerities undergone by the first Sheikh Farid. A much later descendant of his would not arrogate those austerities to himself. Thirdly, Guru Arjan who compiled the Guru Ganth is not known to have accorded the honor of inclusion in the scripture of his religion the compositions of any contemporary of local importance only. Even a famous mystic of the time, Shah Hussain, was not accorded that honor.

It is sometimes argued that since the modern Indian languages began to take shape in the eighth or ninth century and that literary traditions remained strongly conservative and were reflected primarily through Apabhramsha up to the 11th century, it is difficult to accept that the Multani dialect could have attained in the 12th century such literary refinement as is evidenced in Sheikh Farid's verses. Also they are so similar in their style and diction to the compositions of Guru Nanak and even Guru Arjan that it becomes bard to believe that there is a distance of some three hundred years between the two. If we proceed on the basis of this argument of chronic change, the language of Sheikh Farid's verses is not much different from refined Multani speech extant even today after a lapse of four centuries. And there is no reason to believe that the rate of change was quicker in the earlier period.

There can be no doubt about Sheikh Farid's deep learning. His available compositions, though written in a dialect, amply suggest a learned mind behind the sensitive idiom,. a mind that has steeped itself in the tradition of his age and creed and is capable of absorbing the influences of his environment.

However, a feature of Sheikh Farid's compositions available in the Guru Granth is that they do not seem to be the work of a religious missionary of Islam who is known to have enjoyed great esteem in high circles both religious and temporal and to have converted large numbers of people to Islam. These compositions have very little of the spirit of Islamic Sharia, use very little of Islamic religious lore and do not show any marked sectarian trend. From the nature of the contents, they seem to be the work of a Muslimw who though deeply religious had very little to do with Islamic lore. On the other hand, he is keenly aware with the transitory nature of this world as per the Sikh belief. It is surprising indeed that nowhere in these verses does the name of the muslim prophet mohammed ever occur, nor do his tides of Nabi, Rasul, Paigambar, etc. Even the word 'Murshid', a popular concept of Sufi tradition, is not to be found. The general temper is devotional, no doubt, and great stress is laid upon the performance of prayers, fasting and other ways of worship according to Islam. The spirit is, nevertheless, of hindu bhakti. Even the words Guru and Prabhu occur in one of the hymns.

Like most religious and metaphysical writing, Sheikh Farid's poetry has for its general content, man's love of God. Such poetry has naturally to be lyrical and sentimental. In Sheikh Farid the relationship between God and man is that of husband and wife. In the very first three of his couplets found in the Guru Granth he visualizes the relationship between man and God first as that between man and death and then gives it the conjugal parallel. The day woman was born, he says, the hour of dedication to the husband was fixed. Death, the bridegroom, heard of for long, comes and shows himself at the appointed hour. The helpless soul is beaten out of the bones. Death, the bridegroom, must take away in marriage the soul, the bride. Let the soul understand this that the appointed hour cannot be evaded.

There is very little difference between God and the Angel of Death in Sheikh Farid's imagery. In another couplet he says:

Had I known the sesame seeds were so small in quantity
I should have been liberal in filling my fist.
Had I known my Lord was not yet an adult,
I would have prided less in myself.

In yet another verse, he says again:

Had I known the end would slip,
Tighter would I have made the knot.
Nobody matters to me as much as You,
Though I have traversed a whole world.

This world indeed appears to Sheikh Farid to be an obstacle in the way of man's union with God. He says:

The lanes are muddy and far is the house
of the One I love so much.
If I walk to Him I wet my rug, and
remaining behind, I fail in my love!

Life in this world is a period of separation from God, which is full of sorrow, and pain:

Sorrow is the bedstead,
Pain the fiber with which it is woven,
And separation is the quilt
See this is the life we lead, O Lord.

Absorption in the affairs of the world, in forgetfulness of God, is regarded by Sheikh Farid as desertion by a woman of her husband and going over to an alien house.

Give it not me, Oh Lord, that I should
seek alien shelter.
If that is what You have willed,
Rather take the life out of this body.

Man's duty in this life is to win the love of God as it is the woman's to win the love of her husband, and as such, youth or age should not matter;

Those who have not wooed Him when their hair was dark,
May do so when their hair is grey.
For if you love the Lord
The newness of youth will be yours again.

The metaphors of wooing the husband and being accepted by him or failing in being accepted have been used in many other verses also:

I did not sleep with my love tonight
And every bit of my body aches.
Go ask the deserted ones,
How they pass their nights.

I am not afraid of the passing of my youth,
If the love of my Lord does not pass with it.
So many youths have withered away without love.

The fear of death is perhaps a more forceful emotion in Sheikh Farid's poetry and he has expressed it in touching figures of speech. As mentioned before, the main image is that of death as the bridegroom and the human soul as the bride, and subordinate figures, the reduction of the body to dust, the greying of the hair, the trembling of the limbs and drying away of the bones have been used to reinforce the argument. The motif of rich and poor being brought to the same end has also been used quite often, too.

The impermanence of life on this earth has been illustrated by the figure of a bir4 coming to play on the bank of a pool. In some verses man has been instructed how to behave in this transitory world. He is advised to live humbly and poorly and remain ever conscious of his sins.

Like most men of renunciation, Sheikh Farid regards detachment from this world as the right path for man. A true fakir has been pictured by him thus:

On the bank of a pool in the moor
The swan has come to alight
But he does not dip his beak to drink,
He is eager to fly away.

The teachings of Sheikh Farid as embodied in these verses do not indeed smack at all of any superior attitude. He comes down to the level of the poorest of the poor and calls himself a sinner. This attitude of his endeared him to the conquered people. It is this fact of endearment which is responsible, perhaps, for the inclusion of his poetry in the Scripture of the Sikh Gurus who were in their time and in their own way endeavoring to uplift their people and to give them the strength to stand up to oppression.

There is nothing in Sheikh Farid's poetry that is strident, or offensive to the sentiments of the Indian people. Unlike missionaries in general, he does not play up the superior virtues of his creed. Nowhere does he make any reference to the caste system, to idolatry or to other peculiar features of the Brahmanical creed or creeds. His verse is singularly free from any social, historical or sectarian prejudices. No doubt, in many of his verses he exhorts people to offer prayers in the Muslim way and to practice other obligations of the Muslim creed, but his teachings are of a general moral nature and have to be judged as such. His message is for a typical feudal society; stressing detachment from the world, if not actual renunciation of it, to purge oneself of all ambition and passion, to be humble, poor, passive and contented. As such Farid must be credited with exercising a refining influence on the society of his day and keeping down the pressure of individual ambition and greed and of conflict. No other teaching was to be expected from a high-souled man like Sheikh Farid, especially when he happened to be on the winning side in the conflict between the two sets of forces.

Specimens of Farid's verse:

My bread is made of wood and my hunger is my sauce
Those who eat rich meals shall come to grief.

Says Farid, you must fathom the ocean which contains what you want
Why do you soil your hand searching the petty ponds;
Says Farid, the Greater is in the creation and the creation in theCreator
Whom shall we blame when He is everywhere?

Farid ji's Bani

Bhagat Farid Ji's Bani from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji:

Love for God:

They alone are true, whose love for God is deep and heart-felt.
Those who have one thing in their heart, and something else in their mouth, are judged to be false. ((1))
Those who are imbued with love for the Lord, are delighted by His Vision.
Those who forget the Naam, the Name of the Lord, are a burden on the earth. ((1)(Pause))
Those whom the Lord attaches to the hem of His robe, are the true dervishes at His Door.
Blessed are the mothers who gave birth to them, and fruitful is their coming into the world. ((2))
O Lord, Sustainer and Cherisher, You are infinite, unfathomable and endless.
Those who recognize the True Lord - I kiss their feet. ((3))
I seek Your Protection - You are the Forgiving Lord.
Please, bless Shaykh Fareed with the bounty of Your meditative worship. ((4)(1))

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Ang 488

Messenger of Death:

The day of the bride's wedding is pre-ordained.
On that day, the Messenger of Death, of whom she had only heard, comes and shows its face.
It breaks the bones of the body and pulls the helpless soul out.
That pre-ordained time of marriage cannot be avoided. Explain this to your soul.
The soul is the bride, and death is the groom. He will marry her and take her away.
After the body sends her away with its own hands, whose neck will it embrace?
The bridge to hell is narrower than a hair; haven't you heard of it with your ears?
Fareed, the call has come; be careful now - don't let you be robbed.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Ang 1377

Behold the Beloved in your own heart:

Bhagat Farid Ji - O Raven, you have searched my skeleton

Separated from God, my body burns like an oven,
My bones burn like firewood.
To meet the Beloved I would walk until my feet were tired,
I would walk on my head.
[Guru Nanak comments:] You need not burn yourself like an oven,
need not inflame your bones.
Why torture your poor limbs?
Behold the Beloved in your own heart.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Ang 1384

Do not break anyone's heart:

Do not utter even a single harsh word; your True Lord and Master abides in all.
Do not break anyone's heart; these are all priceless jewels.
The minds of all are like precious jewels; to harm them is not good at all.
If you desire your Beloved, then do not break anyone`s heart.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Ang 1384

Thoughts on Farid's Bani

O Raven, you have searched my skeleton, and eaten all my flesh. But please do not touch these eyes as I hope to behold my Beloved. (91) (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Ang 1382)

Farid ji has refered to desires as a bird, ie: "You can meet the Lord today, O Shaykh Fareed, if you restrain your bird-like desires which keep your mind in turmoil. ||1||Pause||" And so the reference to a Raven or Crow in the above tuk (line of Bani) is a reference to desires of the mind.

Bhagat Farid's Bani

Bhagat Farid's Bani can be found in the following Ang's of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji:

Bhagat Farid, Ang 488
Bhagat Farid, Ang 794
Guru Arjan Sahib, Bhagat Kabir, Sheikh Farid, Ramkali Ki Var, Ang 957 to 966
Bhagat Farid, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji, Guru Amar Das Ji, Ang 1377 to 1385



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