There is but one God whose name is True, the Creator, devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent, great, and bountiful. The True One was in the beginning; the True One was in the primal age.
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Sikh
Guru Nanak
Sikh1469 – 1539Nankana Sahib, Punjab (modern-day Pakistan)10,522 quotes· 7 sources
Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and one of the great spiritual reformers of South Asia, who taught that God is One, formless, and accessible to all human beings regardless of caste, religion, or gender. His hymns form the foundation of the Guru Granth Sahib, the eternal Sikh scripture.
Born in 1469 near Lahore, Nanak showed signs of spiritual depth from childhood and, according to tradition, received a direct experience of God in his thirties that launched his mission. He undertook four great journeys (udasis) across South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia, engaging with Hindu pandits, Muslim mullahs, yogis, and kings, always bringing the message that true religion is inner transformation through love, service, and remembrance of the divine Name. He composed over 900 hymns — collected in the Guru Granth Sahib — that address the soul in vivid poetic language, drawing on both Hindu and Islamic spiritual vocabulary while transcending both. He also instituted the langar (free community kitchen) as a practical expression of equality and service. His teaching of Ik Onkar — 'There is One God' — remains the cornerstone of Sikh theology and a vision of unity that resonates far beyond the Sikh tradition.
Wisdom
By his order bodies are produced; his order cannot be described. By his order souls are infused into them; by his order greatness is obtained. By his order men are high or low; by his order they obtain preordained pain or pleasure. By his order some obtain their reward; by his order others must ever wander in transmigration. All are subject to his order; none is exempt from it. He who understands God's order, Nanak, is never guilty of egoism.
God created nights, seasons, lunar days, and week-days, wind, water, fire, and the nether regions. In the midst of these he established the earth as a temple. In it he placed living beings of different habits and kinds. Their names are various and endless, and they are judged according to their acts. True is God, and true is his court. There the elect are accepted and honoured. The Merciful One marks them according to their acts. The bad and the good shall there be distinguished. Nanak, on arrival there, this shall be seen.
Make continence your furnace, resignation your goldsmith, understanding your anvil, divine knowledge your tools, the fear of God your bellows, austerities your fire, divine love your crucible, and melt God's name therein. In such a true mint the Word shall be coined. This is the practice of those on whom God looks with an eye of favour. Nanak, the Kind One by a glance makes them happy.
The air is the guru, water our father, and the great earth our mother; day and night are our two nurses, male and female, who set the whole world a-playing. Merits and demerits shall be read out in the presence of the Judge. According to men's acts, some shall be near, and others distant from God. They who have pondered on the Name and departed after the completion of their toil shall have their countenances made bright, Nanak; how many shall be emancipated in company with them.
Guru Nanak, during his travels, took a Hindu, Bala, and a Muslim, Mardana, with him, signifying equality of all humans, regardless of their caste or religion.
Purify your mind. When asked why he didn't shave his head, Guru Nanak said, 'I have shaved my mind.'
Shave your mind. When asked by someone, 'O saint, why haven't you shaved your head? You are a Sannyasin,' Guru Nanak replied, 'My dear friend, I have shaved my mind.'
By thinking I cannot obtain a conception of him, even though I think hundreds of thousands of times. Even though I be silent and keep my attention firmly fixed on him, I cannot preserve silence. The hunger of the hungry for God does not subside, though they obtain the load of the worlds. If a man should have thousands and hundreds of thousands of devices, even one would not help him in obtaining God. How shall a man become true before God? How shall the veil of falsehood be rent? By walking, Nanak, according to the will of the Commander, as preordained.
Who can sing his power? Who has power to sing it? Who can sing his gifts or know his signs? Who can sing his attributes, his greatness, and his deeds? Who can sing his knowledge, whose study is arduous? Who can sing him who fashions the body and again destroys it? Who can sing him who takes away life and again restores it? Who can sing him who appears to be far, but is known to be near? Who can sing him who is all-seeing and omnipresent? In describing him there would never be an end. Millions of men give millions upon millions of descriptions of him, but they fail to describe him. The Giver gives; the receiver grows weary of receiving. In every age man subsists by his bounty. The Commander by his order has laid out the way of the world. Nanak, God the unconcerned is happy.
True is the Lord, true is his name; it is uttered with endless love. People pray and beg, 'Give us, give us'; the Giver gives his gifts. Then what can we offer him whereby his court may be seen? What words shall we utter with our lips, on hearing which he may love us? At the ambrosial hour of morning, meditate on the true Name and God's greatness. The Kind One will give us a robe of honour, and by his favour we shall reach the gate of salvation. Nanak, we shall thus know that God is altogether true.
If I please him, that is my place of pilgrimage to bathe in; if I please him not, what ablutions shall I make? What can all the created beings I behold obtain without previous good acts? Precious stones, jewels, and gems shall be treasured up in your heart if you hearken to even one word of the Guru. The Guru has explained one thing to me: that there is but one Bestower on all living beings; may I not forget him.
Were a man to live through the four ages, yea, ten times longer; were he to be known on the nine continents, and were everybody to follow in his train; were he to obtain a great name and praise and renown in the world; if God's look of favour fell not on him, no one would notice him. He would be accounted a worm among worms, and even sinners would impute sin to him. Nanak, God may bestow virtue on those who are devoid of it, as well as on those who already possess it; but no such person is seen as can bestow virtue upon him.
By hearing the name of God men become Sidhs, Pirs, Surs, and Naths; by hearing the Name man understands the real nature of the earth, its supporting bull, and Heaven; by hearing the Name man obtains a knowledge of the continents, the worlds, and the nether regions. By hearing the Name death does not affect one. Nanak, the saints are ever happy. By hearing the Name sorrow and sin are no more.
By hearing the Name man becomes as Shiv, Brahma, and Indar. By hearing the Name even the low become highly lauded. By hearing the Name the way of Jog and the secrets of the body are obtained. By hearing the Name man understands the real nature of the Shastars, the Simritis, and the Veds. Nanak, the saints are ever happy. By hearing the Name sorrow and sin are no more.
By hearing the Name truth, contentment, and divine knowledge are obtained. Hearing the Name is equal to bathing at the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage. By hearing the Name and reading it man obtains honour. By hearing the Name the mind is composed and fixed on God. Nanak, the saints are ever happy. By hearing the Name sorrow and sin are no more.
By hearing the Name, the depth of the sea of virtue is sounded. By hearing the Name men become Shaikhs, Pirs, and Emperors. By hearing the Name a blind man finds his way. By hearing the Name the unfathomable becomes fathomable. Nanak, the saints are ever happy. By hearing the Name sorrow and sin are no more.
The condition of him who obeys God cannot be described. Whoever tries to describe it shall afterward repent. There is no paper, or pen, or writer to describe the condition of him who obeys God. So pure is his name: whoever obeys God knows the pleasure of it in his own heart.
By obeying him wisdom and understanding enter the mind; by obeying him man knows all worlds; by obeying him man suffers not punishment; by obeying him man shall not depart with Jam. So pure is God's name: whoever obeys God knows the pleasure of it in his own heart.
By obeying him man's path is not obstructed; by obeying him man departs with honour and distinction; by obeying him man proceeds in ecstasy on his way; by obeying him man forms an alliance with virtue. So pure is God's name: whoever obeys God knows the pleasure of it in his own heart.