Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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the consequences. When asked to change certain hymns in the Guru
Granth, Guru Arjan refused to erase or alter even an iota. He refused
to embrace Islam, which was one of Jahangir’s intentions as expressed
by him. When sentenced by Jahangir, he refused to relent. He could
have saved himself even by paying the fine in lieu of the death sentence,
which was changed at the instance of Saint Mian Mir. I have is for the
poor, the friendless and the stranger. If thou ask for money thou
mayest take what I have; but if thou ask for it by way of fine I shall
not give thou even a Kauri. And as to what thou hast said regarding
the erasures of hymns in the Granth Sahib, I cannot erase or alter an
iota. I am a worshipper of the Immortal God, the Supreme Soul of
the world. There is no monarch saveHim. 29 The last part of this
adress was a clear challenge to the sovereign authority of the Mughals.
When Mian Mir, the famous Muslim Sufi saint of Lahore, came to see
Guru Arjan, he found the Guru’s body all blistered and suppurated.
He offered to intercede with the Emperor on the Guru’s behalf and
asked him why he was undergoing that torture. The Guru replied, “I
bear all this torture to set an example… The Gurutest of faith is the
hour of misery. Without examples to guide, ordinary persons’ minds
quail in the midst of suffering. In the second place, if he, who
possesseth power within him, defends not his religion by the open
profession thereof, the man who possesseth no such powers will, when
put to the torture, abjure his faith. The sin will light on the head of
him who hath the power but showeth is not; and God will deem him
an enemy of religion.” 30
This statement of the Guru, and his reply to Jahangir, make the
ideals, which inspired Guru Arjan to make the supreme sacrifice, quite
clear. To Mian Mir he made it plain that he was suffering torture to set
an example that religion must be defended by ‘the open profession
thereof.’ Open profession of religion by Guru Arjan meant open
defiance of the Shariatic law, which involved defiance of the Muslim
State.
We have seen that the institution of Sacha Padshah, as
opposed to the established ruling authority, had taken roots in the