Four hundred and sixteen years ago, on the banks of the river Ravi, in the city of Lahore, Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs breathed his last. His beloved Sikh, Bhai Gurdas, also his amanuensis, described the manner of his passing in the 23rd stanza of his 24th Vaar or ballad:
Imbued in the Lord, release finds he A joyous fish in water free
With the light of God, his soul does merge Towards the flame the moth does surge
Lost in the Lord, he bears his pain On the hunter, eyes of faun remain
In honey drenched a drunken bee Of pain and suffering he is free
To the sacred words, he clings The trilling songbird sweetly sings
Sweet solace, peace, a gentle calm Love of his flock a soothing balm
This wondrous tale of glorious flight To you I am, a sacrifice
The power of the Mughals was at its zenith and on the throne sat Jahangir, the son of Akbar the great. Unlike his late father, who had been the epitome of egalitarianism, Jahangir had a markedly different world view; and unfortunately, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs had got his attention.
The following excerpt is from the Jahangirnama or Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, the Mughal Emperor’s autobiography, translated by Wheeler M. Thackston:
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