The One (is) in eye, in word, in mouth; thou knowest the One in both places (i.e. worlds).

In sleeping, the One; in waking, the One; in the One thou art absorbed.”

(India Office MS., No. 2484, fol. 568.)

It is not only with respect to the idea of the unity of God that this identity of expression is discernible; for other technical terms of Ṣūfīism are, also, reproduced in Sikhism. Thus the Ṣūfī Farīdu ʾd-Dīn Shakrganj calls Deity “the light of life,” and Jalālu ʾd-Dīn speaks of “flashes of His love,” while Jāmī represents the “light” of the Lord of Angels as animating all parts of the universe; and Niz̤āmī exclaims, “Then fell a light, as of a lamp, into the garden (of my heart),” when he feels that a ray of the Divine has entered into his soul. It is not difficult to collect many such instances from the works of Persian Ṣūfīs. Turning to Sikhism, we find that the Ādi Granth is full of similar expressions. It is enough to cite the following exclamation of Nānak himself: “In all (is) light. He (is) light. From His light, there is light in all.” (India Office MS., No. 2484, fol. 35.) And in another place he says: “The Luminous One is the mingler of light (with himself).” (fol. 186.) On fol. 51 we find: “There death enters not; light is absorbed in the Luminous One.”

Another favourite metaphor of Ṣūfīs for the Deity is “the Beloved”; for example, when Ḥāfiz̤ says: “Be thankful that the Assembly is lighted up by the presence of the Beloved.” This term is well recognized in Sikhism; thus in the Ādi Granth, “If thou call thyself the servant of the Beloved, do not speak despitefully (of Him).” (India Office MS., No. 2484, fol. 564.) “Love to the Beloved naturally puts joy into the heart. I long to meet the Lord (Prabhu); therefore why should I be slothful.” (India Office MS., 2484, fol. 177.) Also, “In my soul and body are excessive pangs of separation, how shall the Beloved come to my house and meet (with me)?” And again: “The Beloved has become my physician.” (India Office MS., No. 1728, fol. 87.) The words used in the Panjābī texts are pirīˏā, prītam, and pirī, “a lover,” or “beloved one.”

Another remarkable proof of Persian influence is found in the form of the Ādi Granth itself. It consists of a collection of short poems, in many of which all the verses composing the poem rhyme together, in singular conformity with the principle regulating the construction of the Persian g͟hazal. This resemblance is rendered more striking by the fact that the name of Nānak is worked into the composition of the last line of each of the poems. This last characteristic is too persistent to be considered the result of accident; and while it is altogether foreign to the practice of Hindū verse, it is in precise accord with the rule for the correct composition of the g͟hazal.

The foregoing facts seem conclusive as to the influence of Persian Ṣūfīism on the origin of the Sikh religion. Dr. Trumpp, when discussing the philosophy of the Ādi Granth, admits the intimate connection between Sikhism and Ṣūfīism in the following words:—

“We can distinguish in the Granth a grosser and a finer kind of Pantheism.… In this finer shade of Pantheism, creation assumes the form of emanation from the Supreme (as in the system of the Sūfīs); the atomic matter is either likewise considered co-eternal with the Absolute and immanent in it, becoming moulded into various, distinct forms by the energizing vigour of the absolute joti (light); or, the reality of matter is more or less denied (as by the Sūfīs, who call it the عَدَم‎, τὸ μὴ ὄν) so that the Divine joti is the only real essence in all.”—(Introduction to Translation of the Ādi Granth, pp. c.–ci.)

Any doubt that may remain on the question seems to be set at rest by the express statement in the life of Guru Arjun, who was urged by his followers to reduce to writing the genuine utterances of Nānak, because “by reciting the numerous verses and speeches uttered by other Ṣūfīs, which have received the name of Bābā Nānak, pride and worldly wisdom are springing up in the hearts of men.” (Sikhān de Rāj dī Vithiˏā, p. 29.) And in the Ādi Granth itself, we find the following remarkable verses ascribed to Nānak:—

“A ball of intoxication, of delusion, is given by the Giver.