Foreword To The Book 'Guru Nanak In The Eyes Of Non-Sikhs' By Sarjit Singh Bal

Guru Nanak has a unique place amongst the spirtual leaders, preceptors, reformers and saints of India. His teachings have a universal appeal and they hold good for all ages.

The impact of this great Teacher on Indian Society during the last 500 years cannot be easily estimated. In the fields of spirituality and ethics, he has deeply influenced the lives, thinking and conduct of millions of people.

India--and more so the Punjab--can legitimately feel proud that this man of God was born in this land. But the great Master did not confine his mission to this country; he travelled far and wide, to far off lands and countries, in order to enlighten humanity as a whole and deliver to them his message of love, peace, devotion to God, social justice, religious tolerance and universal brotherhood of man. For Guru Nanak no country was foreign and no people were alien.

We are fortunate that the 500th Birth Anniversary of the great Guru has fallen during our life. It is an opportunity for mankind to acknowledge its debt of gratitude to its great benefactor and teacher. It should be a matter of gratification for all concerned that the auspicious occasion is being celebrated, in a befitting manner, throughout India, as well as at numerous places abroad.

The Panjab University, Chandigarh also decided to pay its respectful homage to Guru Nanak not only by holding the celebrations on a level which the occasion demanded, but also by publishing nine standard and scholarly books on the life, teachings, philosophy, poetry and other aspects of the great Teacher.

The authors of all these books have attempted to deal with the subject-matter of their respective books in an objective, dispassionate, authentic and scholarly manner. There can be difference of opinion amongst scholars, but honest differences should not be unwelcome in the world of scholarship.

The present book is one of the set which is being published by the Panjab University on the auspicious occasion.

The book is a compilation of twelve carefully selected accounts of Guru Nanak, mostly by Muslims and Christians during the last four hundred years. In making the selection, the compiler and editor has, thus, attempted to present a non-Sikh view of Guru Nanak during the last three centuries. It contains writings of Mohsin Fani, John Malcolm, J. D. Cunningham, R. N. Cust. Sir Muhammed Iqbal and others. Some of these essays have not been easily available to historians and scholars so far.

I should also like to take this opportunity to piece on record my appreciation for Shri Bal Krishna. Secretary, Publication Bureau, Panjab University, who has produced this book, as well as all the other books of the set, in a very short time and in a very efficient manner.

                                                                                                                Suraj Bhan 

                                                                                                Vice Chancellor

Panjab University

Chandigarh

November 23, 1969