2. There are four stages of Sûfiism: Sharîat, the law or external ceremonies; Tarîqat, walking in God's way; Mârafat, Divine knowledge; Haqîqat, certainty or union with God. Many learned natives of India believe that the Sûfi system is based on Vedânt.]

{p. 14}

'AIN. Practise good works to the best of thy power:

Without good works and virtues man shall die full of regret.

GHAIN. O Rukn-ul-Din, they are rich who know themselves--

In this cage of the body God who hath neither mother nor father sporteth.

FE. Have done with the world, and think it not thine own:

If thou deem it to belong to God, thou shalt not be confounded.

QAF. They in whose hearts the love of God hath arisen shall have no rest till they find Him.

The bodies of those who have met the Lord God have become refined gold.

KAF. Remember thy creed; in what else is there profit?

O Rukn-ul-Din, be not excessively addicted to sensuality.

GAF. Man's mind is wanton; if thou restrain it,

Thou shalt plant thy feet firmly on the way to haqiqat.

LAM. May curses rain on those who abandon their prayers

They lose whatever little or much they have earned.

MIM. Wilfulness is prohibited; walk as thy religious guide directeth thee.

The wealth of those, saith Nanak, who have not given alms shall slip away.

NUN. Look to truth alone, and know that the world is false.

They who think the world is true shall die confounded.

WAW. They become saints who associate with the true.

The more they remember God, the more they love Him.

HE. Be in fear of that day when God will judge thee;

What order will He pass in our case, O Rukn-ul-Din?

LAM. They on whom He casteth His look of mercy have become worthy.

What is desire for life if a man regulate not his own conduct?

{p. 15}

ALIF. God is in thee; why thinkest thou not on Him, O ignorant man?

By service to the guru God is found, and deliverance obtained at last.

YE. Love God whose empire is everlasting.

He is unrivalled, O Nanak, and in need of no one.[1]

There are numerous Persian words and some Persian verses of the Guru found in the Granth Sahib, and it may be accepted as a fact that. he became a fair Persian scholar. It is highly probable that his habit of free thought and toleration for other men's opinions were assisted by his perusal of the Muhammadan writings with which the Persian language abounds.