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Baba Farid Shakar Ganj (r.a.)

(1173-1266 AD)"Farid return thou good for evil; In thy heart bear

no revenge.Thus thy body will be free of maladies, And thy life

have all blessings

Baba Sheikh Farid had been in the 12th & 13th centuries, a great intellectual, unique

renunciat, perfect ascetic and committed devotee of the Timeless Lord whocommunicated to the common folk the revealed divine message through the medium

of sweet, soothing Punjabi language. Farid lived a householder's life marked withcontentment and perseverance. One of the greatest virtues of his life was his love

and sympathy for entire mankind. His heart felt pain of oppression perpetuated bythe Muslim invaders in the name of religion. He tried to put balm on the hurt psyche

of the people through the medium of sweet, soothing words so that the adverseimpact caused by excesses of the orthodox Muslims to the image of Islam could be

neutralized. Such an act on the part of someone was required for the revival of thefeeling of fraternity amongst mankind. The unique humanitarian values of

compassion, love, sympathy, mutual understanding and appreciation are clothed inthe hymns of Farid as fragrance is in flowers. For his sweet words, sweet ideals and

sweet behavior, Farid became known as an epitome of Sweetness (Shakarganj); hisfull name was Sheikh Farid ud-din Maund Ganj-I-Shakar.

Farid occupies a place of pre-eminence among the Punjabi poets. During his lifetime,wherever he went, whomever he conversed with, could not but be influenced by the

high, pious and divine ideas of Farid. So much do that Raja Gokul Dev changed thename of his capital town to Faridkot in honor of this great Sufi saint. Faridkot is

today one of the important towns of the Punjab state. Sheikh Farid was a disciple of

Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaki, the disciple & spiritual successor of Hazrat Ali who hadreceived spiritual training from Hasan Basri; a known saint of Chishti tradition. Babaji was born in 1173AD at Khetwal, now known as Chawli Mashaikh, a village in the

Multan district (Pakistan). His mother's name was Mariam, also called Kursum bysome. It is said that after birth, he didn't suckle milk for breatfeeding until night

because he observed Roza (fast) at the time of his birth. This simplicity and austerity

in the manner of his diet was to remain a life-long habit. The writer of 'Life andTimes of Sheikh Farid' says that half a tumbler of Sherbat (sweetened water), few

raisins and half a loaf of bread, prepared of the millet flour generally comprised his

daily meal.Farid's mother was very wise & noble, and wished for her son to acquire the best

education so that he could comprehend the Truth. His father, Sheikh Jala ud-dinSuleman, was descendant of the second Caliph of Islam. According to a historian,

Farid was related to the Royal family of empire Farakhshal of Kabul, but the familywas uprooted due to the invasions by Changez. Farid deeply impressed his spiritual

mentor, Kaki, with his varied virtues. Thus, Kaki had a high respect for this disciplewhom he used to call the most important bead in the rosary of Dharma.

In an absolutely impressive manner, Sheikh Farid realized this manifest world, thereality of God. He advises us to overcome worldly temptations & remain devoted to

God, the creator of the whole universe. He cautions us against the false attractionsof the world through his Bani which is deeply sensitive to the feeling of Empathy,

Inevitable death & the waste of human life due to man's indifference to God &

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goodness. He continued preaching his message throughout his life, and at lastbreathed his last in AD 1266 at Pak Patan, earliar known by the name Ajodhan. He

was succeeded on his spiritual throne by his son, Diwan BaDaruud-din Suleman.The essence of the hymns of Farid can be stated as follows:

Never forget Death under any circumstances. Avoid all quarrelling & polemics.

Non-violence is the most beautiful ornament of Peaceful life.Baba Farid ji exhorts mankind to cultivate these & all such virtues. He states thatContentment resides in the heart purified of all traces of Ego & Greed. Talking of a

Faqir (hermit) he states that any new cloth is like a coffin for him. According to him,

the detached person is also the wisest. He is the greatest who can face both pleasure& pain with Equanimity. The richest person is the one with the most content heart.

He who has given up contentment is the worst dependent. Farid ji preached Ideologyreflecting the reality of life. That is perhaps why he has been known as the best poet

of old age & death.According to Farid, self-realization or liberation from self is the other name for God-

realization.. One who is subject to desires of senses, is the meanest of all becausesuch a man fails to control his mind, and the endless desires emanating from mind

make him a tool in the hands of the devil who makes him dance to his tune. Farid

not only preached detachment and austerity but also made these the guidingprinciples of his life. It is said that at the time of Farid's death even a small piece ofcloth to serve as coffin for his body could not be found in his house. For the tomb

over his grave, the bricks were taken by pulling down a portion of one of the walls ofhis house.

The hymns of Sheikh Farid are available at 3 different places in the Siri Guru GranthSahib Ji (SGGS):

2 hymns under Asa musical measures. 2 hymns under Suhi measure

112 slokas toward end of Scripture.Every reader of SGGS looks up to the hymns of Sheikh Farid with due respect &

reverence & seeks solace for his restless mind by reciting them.

The fame of Sheikh Farid had crossed the boundaries of Punjab & spread to theregions far & wide because his utterances touch every human heart. There is at a hill

town called Girar in the Wardha district in the South, a place sacred to his memory.Similarly, he is revered as 'Shakar Bhai' on the Dawar Mountain at Janagarh, in

Kathiawar.Muslims & Hindus alike made their lives meaningful by following his teachings & the

noble and pious spiritual flight achieved by him. Inclusion of Baba Farid ji's Bani

immortalised his personality, vision & philosophy eternal and everlasting. As it is, hishymns form an integral part of Gurbani and inspire the mankind to live a life on

contentment and austerity. They reiterate the humanitarian values of mutual loveand understanding. Every human who has faith in religion or righteousness cannot

but respect and revere Sheikh Farid from the core of his heart.