Guru Nanak Dev Ji traveled to the far corners of the world to spread his message of a universal truth: to see a divine light that lives in every human being. With that, he uplifted humanity to live with dignity and grace. In recent decades, people across the globe have adopted a daily practice of reciting Japji Sahib in their morning sadhana. Inspired individuals translated Japji Sahib into their native language for the benefit of their communities – thus expanding the reach of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s message even further.
Now, through the efforts of many wonderful volunteers, from countries across the globe, we have translations of Japji Sahib in many languages. This page contains links to the translation of Japji Sahib in 20 languages. Click this image to read Japji Sahib in Gurmukhi, as written by Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Click on the image of the language below and you will be taken to a PDF document of that translation. If you scroll down this page, you’ll find out more about the translators and the artist for these beautiful translations.
The translators of the languages represented on this page are as follows:
- Arabic – translation by Amrita Nishan Kaur (Dalia Adel)
- Chinese – translation by the Sikh Dharma Chinese Sangat
- Dutch – translation from www.sikhs.nl
- English – based on the translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa can also be found here..
- Estonian – translation by Mata Santokh Kaur
- Finnish – translation by Shabad Deep Kaur (Teija Enoranta)
- French – translation from www.sikhs.nl
- German – translation by SS Sat Hari Singh Khalsa and can also be found here.
- Guarini (Paraguay & Uruguay) – translation by Sukhdev Kaur can also be found here.
- Hebrew – translation by Simrit Kaur Sarit Maor
- Italian – translation by Atma Singh
- Japanese – permission to share translation pending
- Malaysian – translation by Gorchanjit Singh
- Norwegian – translation by Harveen Kaur
- Polish – translation by Zbigniew Becker
- Portuguese – translation by SS Dr. Gurusangat Kaur Khalsa
- Russian – translation by Sergei Lakatosh
- Spanish – translation by SS Ravi Kaur Khalsa can also be found here.
- Swedish – translation by Birjot Kaur (Åse Rinman)
- Turkish – translation by Sach Dhyan Kaur (Nur Taran) can also be found here.
How these Translations Came to Be
In 2019, Sikh Dharma International commissioned a special volume, which included Japji Sahib translated into 19 languages. This compilation of Japji Sahib was created as a loving offering to the Sadh Sangat for the occasion of the 550th Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s birth. It is comprised of nineteen different languages where each country’s interpretive translation* is presented in their native script and is held within an artistic border depicting their country’s national flower. This scripture titled “Japji Sahib – the Light of Guru Nanak for the World“, was given to the Sikh Museum at the Golden Temple.
About the artist:
We are grateful to Jiwan Randhir Singh (aka Timothy Teruo Watters), the artist who created the beautiful artwork for each language translation. He is an artist, author and graphic designer. Whether writing adventurous tales, painting in watercolor or oils, Jiwan Randhir is always creating and blending the old with the new. His first children’s book When Piglets Fly was published in 2019 and is available on Amazon.com. He is honored to be a part of this Japji Sahib offering. His art can be viewed at TimothyWatters.com.
Presentation of the Volume of Japji Sahib Translations
On November 7, 2019, a press conference took place as part of the Light of Guru Nanak Yatra, to present the original 400 page “Light of Guru Nanak for the World” Volume, which includes Japji Sahib in 19 languages. Then on November 8, 2019, this sacred volume was offered as a gift to the Golden Temple Museum on behalf of the Sangat of Sikh Dharma International.
Click here to see an image slideshow and video of this volume being presented in India.
*DISCLAIMER on the Translations
We value each translation that was given as an offering to this project for the occasion of the 550th Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s birthday. Because there are multiple languages, Sikh Dharma International was not in a position to verify the accuracy of each of the translations. Each individual who shared the message of Japji Sahib offered their best interpretation of this Bani as they translated it from English into their own native language.