Oh mind, let go of the vices and pleasures which have made you wander through countless lives. Now, go to the shelter of the Satguru. You will receive bliss and Bibek (the wisdom to understand the difference between infinite and finite; truth and myth).
Sri Bala Sandhur Vaach..
Oh supremely pure Guru Angad Dev ji, listen to the Katha, as this amazing history happened. After leaving Maan Chand, we came to Multan. Shamas Tabrez was there along with many Peers. The Flag of the Bedis wanted to meet them. Although Shamas Tabrez had lived in the 12th Century, Guru ji’s meetings transcends time, place and dimensions. Shamas Tabrez’s grave is located in Multan. His moto was “Un-Ul-Haque,” meaning “I am the Truth.” This also reflects the Mahavaakya of the Yajur Veda: “Ahang Brahmasmi,” which means “I am the Brahm.” Shamas Tabrez is believed to be Mansoor in his previous birth and Sarmad in his birth after. Guru ji wanted to give them his wisdom. This wisdom saves the Jeev Aatma. Where Shamas Tabrez lived, the Master of the World came and sat there. When the Peers found out of Guru ji’s arrival, they all decided with each other: “he has won all of the biggest places and defeated the biggest scholars. He made the Kabbah move with his feet. He is powerful and a great converser. Nobody can stand in front of him. We can’t face him in debate. We should request him to leave.” After deciding this, the Peers filled a pot of milk to the top and brought it to Guru ji. They wanted to signal Guru ji that Multan was already filled with Peers. Just as the pot was filled to the top, leaving no more room to add anymore milk, that is how Multan was; that no more Peers could settle here. They signaled him to go to some other place. When the pot of milk was presented to Guru ji, he understood everything. Guru ji took a Chambeli (Jasmine) flower and placed it on top of the milk. The flower floated and immersed. Guru ji gave the Peers a signal informing them: “the pot is filled and the flower immersed in it. See me as the same.” When the Peers saw this, they understood the signal. They knew that Guru ji was really high. Shamas Tabrez spoke as a Jagyaso: “I have done a strict and harsh Tapp. My body has dried up. I wanted the vices of my mind to be destroyed. I tried for a very long time. My mind was not still, even for a second. It kept moving like the flame of a Diva. How can the mind be destroyed? Give me that wisdom with love.”
Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji responded: “by destroying the burrow, the snake cannot be destroyed. The snake can only be charmed with Mantras. There is no other way. The mind cannot be charmed by Tapp. The mind wanders in every direction. It wishes for glory and praise as you do more Tapp. To ponder the Shabads of the Satguru, that is the Mantra. That’s how the mind can come under your control. There is no other way.” Shamas ji asked: “what is the Shabad?” Guru ji then said: “the world is false. Understand this with determination. It is like a mirage for the deer. There is no use in applying effort towards it. Understand that it is an illusion and turn your mind away from it. See the world as a bow made from the horns of a rabbit. Since rabbits don’t have horns, such a bow does not exist. If someone wanted to win against the enemies with the bow made from a rabbit’s horns, that would not be possible. If another person would say: “I saw a garden in the sky. I smelled its flowers.” This would also be untrue. If another would say: “I shopped in the markets of Harchandauri (a city in the clouds),” this is not real. This world is not real. Don’t apply efforts towards it. Engrain the words of the Satguru in your heart. Seeing the Aatma as the real form, the world can be seen for what it really is. This is the way to win the mind. You will be in bliss if you focus on this.”
Peer Bahaaval Hak was sitting nearby. He heard Guru ji’s words and said: “Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, if you say the world is an illusion along with the Maya, how can we give and take anything without the Maya?” Sri Guru ji responded: “understand this: Maya is an illusion. The ways of the world are also illusions. See the truth just as the rope is mistaken for a snake in the dark. One sees a river in their dream and crosses it in a canoe. He gives a Takka to use the canoe. See the way of Maya in the same way. Everything in the dream was an illusion. See the Parmeshwar as infinite and true. His name is True as well. Understand this in your mind.”
Rukan Deen Peer then spoke: “tell us the characteristics of saints. How are their nature and character? Give us this wisdom in an easy way.” Sri Guru ji said: “listen with your ears to the glory of saints; listen to their characteristics: they are happy hearing the praises of others. They serve the person with good qualities. They think of their Aatmas. They think of the Gyaan. They do this everyday. They are wise. They are compassionate from their minds. They are always wise. They stop their eyes from looking at other women. The people who commit bad deeds, the saints do not wish to be in their company. They never show their powers or strength to anyone else. They see enemy and friend as the same. In sorrow and joy; respect and disrespect; pain and pleasure: they stay the same in every state. They sing the praises of the Parmeshwar, day and night. They spend their life with the Naam.” The Compassionate One then uttered the Hazarnama:
Tilang Mahalla 1..
The one who is attentive (with the mind) is blessed.. The one who is not attentive is without blessings.. Honour/Dharam is the friend.. The one without honour is an infidel.. Ego is catastrophe.. Anger is blasphemy.. Desire (of the mind) is Satan.. Pride is damned.. The face of the slanderer is black.. The honourable is peaceful.. The dishonoured is with a black face.. The ungrateful is embarrassed.. The one with the bad intentions is impure.. The soft-hearted is pure.. The one without desires is an Auliya.. The greedy is a sinner.. (To speak) Lie is Hell.. (To speak) Truth is Heaven.. The one who speaks bad is pale.. The one who feels the pain of others is the Darvesh.. The one who does not feel pain is a butcher.. The one who gives food is compassionate (Rahim).. To give Gyaan is humility.. Hospitality is greatness.. The one who donates is the Satti.. The one who does not give is a cheap person.. Tyranni is sin.. The one without pride of strength is pure.. To be just is praiseworthy.. Knowledge is the best book (medicine).. To pray for others is wealth.. To curse others is catastrophe.. Justice is the cleanliness.. Theft is greed.. To indulge in extra- marital affairs is impurity.. Praise is the Wazoo (the cleansing).. The Bhaang (call to prayer) is the sound of Khuddah.. Nature is a miracle.. Fakiri is patience.. Without contentment is deceit.. The Peers can show the way to Khuddah.. To be without a Peer/ Guru is to be lost.. The sword is chivalry.. Langar is the greatest donation.. Justice is the Emperor.. Whoever knows all of this.. Then, Nanak says, that person is wise..1..
(Sri Nanak Prakash Granth)
Hearing all of this, all of the Peers bowed to Guru ji’s lotus feet. They praised Guru ji with bliss in their hearts. Sri Guru ji said: “listen Peer Bahaaval, greed of money deceives everyone. Many ideologies are made because of greed.” The Peers folded their hands and said: “you are Dhan Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji. Your words were like Amrit which destroyed the pain of death. Your Darshan is always a success. Your Fakiri is great that you have earned. Your greatness is so grand. You are the Guru of the world. Only you are deserving for such a status. In Kaliyuga, you gave wisdom to the people. You saved millions, oh Jagtesha. Everyone talks of their Fakiris but what you did is the greatest. The Tapp that Sheikh Fareed ji did is great (who did Tapp for 36 years. He stayed hungry in the jungles and then served his Guru for 12 years). Seeta ji did the right Sat (she did not see any other man and proclaimed to be immersed into the Earth if she was pure) and Lakshman ji was the greatest Jatti (chaste). Kabir ji did the right Bhagti (living in the householder’s life and doing Bhagti). The determination of Dhroo ji was great (who did Tapp in the jungles on one leg). The right Ghristi was Adam (Either Shiv ji, Adam, or Ibrahim Adam the king). The correct Jog was done by Gorakh Nath ji. The correct renouncer was Bharthri ji (who left his kingdom and wives). The correct Tapp was done by Raja Janak ji (who was a saint and lived in the luxuries of kingdoms). The great fight was the one that Ravan fought (he did not give up till the end). The deepest depression of separation was by Ram Chander ji (after losing his wife). The best Sanyas was by Datt ji. You did the best Fakiri. You have all of the qualities of the ones mentioned.” They all bowed to Guru ji’s feet and became his servants. Guru ji then said: “remember the Name of Khuddah. Do the Sangat of saints. Receive all of the joys. Keep the fear of the Master in your mind. You won’t be touched by vices then. When one does Satsangat, one receives Mukti easily.” The Peers all heard this and stood up. They bowed with love. They were really happy to meet Guru ji. They said: “Guru Nanak Dev ji, you are Dhan.” Guru ji then left them.
Guru ji walked slowly. Sri Guru Angad Dev ji listen, I asked Guru Nanak Dev ji: “which Peer was the best out of them all?” Guru ji heard this and said: “the one named Shamas Tabrez: he has the highest status. I will tell you his Prasang, by which he became really wise. Where Rome is in the foreign land, a person named Mansoor lived there. He met a great saint there. The saint destroyed Mansoor’s concept of Jeev. He then only saw the Brahm. He then said: “An-Al-Haq.” His duality was gone. He didn’t see anything else besides the Brahm. There was a Maulana that lived in his city who followed the Turk Shariya. He heard Mansoor say “An-Al-Haq.” He was afraid and told Mansoor to stop saying that. The one who sees the One, he is never afraid of anything. The Maulana quarrelled a lot with Mansoor. Mansoor didn’t listen to him. He was then arrested and hung to death. He kept saying: “An-Al-Haq.” He was killed but he didn’t let his mind wander. The blood that fell to the ground was heard saying: “An-Al-Haq.” The Maulanas saw this and were amazed. They saw this as impossible. They burnt his body then. The ashes from the fire could still be heard, shouting out: “An-Al-Haq.” The Maulana then took the ashes and put them in a glass urn. He sealed the urn and kept it in his home. He captured the ashes and thought to himself: “now he can’t say that.” After some time, the Maulana had a daughter who grew up. One day, she opened up the glass urn and smelled the ashes. She didn’t smell anything and ate a little bit of the ashes to see what they were. She didn’t taste anything. She thought to herself: “what is this? It has no smell or taste. I wonder why Father kept this here. It doesn’t seem of any use.” The girl became pregnant from eating the ash. She saw the signs of pregnancy. The parents were shocked. They deemed the girl a sinner and became worried. The Maulana and his wife discussed amongst themselves: “it is good to kill her. We will be dishonoured otherwise.” When the Maulana fell asleep at night, he had a dream. He heard a voice in his dream: “if you kill your daughter, you will be in pain. You will be killed as well. Therefore, stop thinking about killing her.” The Maulana got scared with his dream. He hid his daughter in his home. After 9 months, the girl gave birth to a boy. The Maulana took the baby boy and put him in a pot. He took the pot to the river and threw it in it. There was a Dhobi washing clothes on the shore nearby. He saw the pot floating in the river and opened it. He saw the baby and picked it up. He was shocked but raised the baby as his own. The baby was named Shamas Tabrez because his face was radiant like the sun. As Shamas Tabrez grew up, he was detached from the world.
The Maulana had a school. One day, Shamas Tabrez came to the school. Many children met Shamas Tabrez who read the Koran. The Maulana was not in the school. He was at home. Shamas Tabrez took all of the books and threw them into a pond. The children all yelled out that they lost their books. The Maulana ran to his school. He ran after Shamas Tabrez but couldn’t catch him. He was too fast for him. He then came to the pond and took the books out of the water. He flapped them to take the water out only, to see that no water fell out. Instead, there was a lot of dust that came out of the books. Shamas Tabrez showed him that dust came out of the books instead of water. The Maulana was amazed to see this. He recognized Shamas Tabrez as a powerful person. There was no water that came from the books. He ringed out dust. He ran to Shamas Tabrez and fell to his feet. He wanted to be his student. He said: “tell me the path to Khuddah.” To test the Maulana, Shamas ji said: “if this is what you want, then obey me. Give me alcohol to drink. Bring your daughter to me.” The Maulana did not wander. He took the boy home. He laid out a bed and had him sit with love. He brought him alcohol to drink. He sent his daughter to Shamas Tabrez and locked the doors of the room. Shamas Tabrez saw his mother and told her what happened to him: “don’t worry. I was born of your womb. I am your son and are here to see you. I didn’t drink your milk as a child. I will drink it now to fulfill my childhood wish. Give it to me now, mother.” The mother understood everything: “this is my son who my father took away from me. He put him in the river. He was raised and is now older.” She was overcome with motherly love and so, milk came into her breasts. Shamas Tabrez drank the milk and said: “I am leaving now. If your father asks, tell him: “he has gone to another place. If you want to ask him something, go and meet him where he is.” Shamas ji left the home. The door remained locked. Shamas left with his power.
When the sun came up, the Maulana opened the door. He saw his daughter and said: “where did that boy go whom I left here? The doors did not open.” The girl told her father: “go and meet him where he is. I will tell you where he is.” After she told him, the Maulana quickly went to the place. He met Shamas Tabrez and bowed to him. He became humble and bowed to his feet. Shamas gave him wisdom about meeting the Khuddah. He told him everything and went to another place.
After some time, there was a great King there whose child had died. He was depressed in sorrow. The king called all of the Fakirs and Maulanas. He arrested them all by his soldiers. He said to them all: "the prophet Eesa (Jesus) wrote a Ketaab which I will say to you a passage: "I can resurrect a dead person by the command of Khuddah. There will be other prophets like me who can do this." I have read all this. There are some people who can bring people back to life. The saints can do this. Your prophet has said so. Think about all this with a pure mind. My son has died in pain. I am in sorrow. I want you to bring him back to life. Otherwise get together and tell me that what Eesa said was a lie." Hearing the king's words, the Maulanas and Fakirs got worried. They all sat in the jail and couldn't figure out how to get out.
Shamas came to this place by himself. He asked the prisoners: "why are you all sitting here, worried? Did some task of your spoil?" The people all responded: "the king wants us to make his dead son alive again. He has arrested us for this reason. Nobody here has that power." Shamas said: "I can make him alive again but you will give me pain in response." They all folded their hands and said: "why would we give you pain? We would never do that. Make the boy alive and release us. We will worship your feet." Shamas went to the place of the king. He saw the dead boy and stood in front of him. He said: "by my command, be alive again. Walk around as you did before." The dead boy woke up right away. He got up and the king's pain was all gone. Everyone was happy. He released all of the prisoners.
The Maulanas got together in one place. They said: "he did a wrong thing. He violated the Shariya. He said the boy should be alive by “My” command. He didn't say by “Khuddah’s” command. He didn't say Khuddah's name. He committed blasphemy. This is not according to our faith. He should be punished." They went to Shamas and had him arrested, those who said they wouldn't give him pain. Shamas said: "what punishment do you want to give me? Do what is in your mind. I can't be killed. I am the Aatma. You are liars though. You will be punished." The Maulanas said: "according to Shariya, you should be skinned alive. You made the boy alive by your command. We condemn you." Shamas was skinned alive. Blood dripped. He didn't die. He left Rome. He was deformed and scary to look at. His body was infested with insects. He had puss on his body. He was unaffected by this. Nobody would come close to him. He left that land and came to Multan. He became anxious from hunger. He asked for food but nobody gave him food. Someone gave him a fish out of compassion. It was raw. Nobody let him cook the fish. He came to the city of Multan and sat down with the fish. He said to the sun: "my name is Shamas. Your name is Shamas as well. Do my task. Come down and cook my fish. I will eat it then. I am hungry. Then we will be friends." The sun came down. He made it really hot. The fish was cooked in the sun. The people felt the heat of the sun go really hot. This is known in Multan till today. It is still really hot there today. The whole world saw this miracle. They fell to Shamas Tabrez’s feet. They all served him in every way. They became his servants by mind, words and actions. Shamas has been living there since then. He is the most powerful Peer. This is his Prasang oh Bala.