Bhagat Farid ji
The Sweetness of Divine Love
Baba Farid was a great Sufi saint known for his deep love and devotion to God. The word Sufi is believed to come from the word “Suf,” meaning wool. In earlier times, many saints and pirs wore long woolen robes as a sign of humility and detachment from worldly comforts. Because of this, people began calling them Sufis.
The Difficulty in Completing the Granth
Sufis devoted their lives to remembering and praising Allah, often through prayer, poetry, and spiritual songs. Baba Farid ji was one of those great sufi saints. Like the infinite sky, Baba Farid Ji remained open to wisdom everywhere,. He learnt from the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars alike. He was a seeker of divine light and learn fron every thing whatever came his way. Because of the spiritual values given by his parents, devotion to God naturally blossomed in his heart. Baba Farid Ji spoke pure Punjabi, the language of the common people. Most of his spiritual verses were composed in Punjabi, His poetry expresses deep spiritual aspects as:
● Virag – detachment from worldly illusions
● Gyan – spiritual wisdom
● Virah – longing for the Divine
● Bhakti Ras – the sweetness of devotion
His Intense Devotion
Baba Farid Ji spent most of his life in ibadat (prayer and remembrance of God) day and night. He lived very simply and was so detached from worldly pleasures that he often forgot about hunger and thirst. He would eat only when he truly felt hungry. Because of this intense spiritual discipline, his body became extremely thin and weak. In one of his famous lines, he expresses his deep longing for God:
“My body has become like a dry skeleton. O crow, you may eat my flesh if you wish, but do not touch my eyes for with these eyes I still hope to see my Beloved.”
These verses express the fire of divine longing (birha) burning in his heart, His only desire was to meet his Beloved. As explained by Giani Sant Singh Maskeen: The Divine does not accept a person by their appearance,
but by the purity of the heart. Even though Baba Farid Ji’s body became extremely weak, his love, devotion, and longing for God only grew stronger..
The Story of the Sugar (Shakkar)
When Baba Farid Ji was about eight years old, he loved to play like other children. One evening, after returning home, his mother asked him:
“Fareed, did you remember Allah today? Did you pray?”
The innocent child asked:
“If I pray, what will Allah give me?”
His mother lovingly replied:
“Allah will give you shakkar (sweets).”
because she knew children delight in sweet treats. From that day, the young Farid began to perform his namaz regularly. His mother secretly placed sweets under his prayer mat, so when he finished praying, he would find them and feel happy. This continued for many days.
The Day Everything Changed
One day, his mother forgot to place the sweets under the mat as she had to go somewhere. But on that day, the young Farid became so absorbed in prayer that he went into deep meditation and forgot about the sweets completely. In that moment, he experienced the sweetness of divine presence. When his mother later came with sweets, Farid said:
“Mother, I no longer need these sweets. Today God Himself gave me the true sweetness. I have tasted the sweetness of the Divine.”
From that day onward, his devotion was no longer for sweets—it was pure love for God.
