Zafarnama (letter)

The Zafarnāma (Gurmukhi: ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ; Persian: ظفرنامہ, lit. Epistle of Victory) was a spiritual victory letter sent by Guru Gobind Singh in 1705 to the Mughal Emperor of India, Aurangzeb, after the Battle of Chamkaur. The letter is written in Persian and verse. The version currently in circulation found in the Dasam Granth, the compilation of Guru Gobind Singh’s poetry, is in Gurmukhi script and Persian verse. Guru Gobind Singh sent 5 Singhs including Daya Singh, Dharam Singh and Sambhal Singh with the help of Naib Subedar Haji Sardar Shah to deliver the Zafarnama to Emperor Aurangzeb in Ahmednagar on 5 January 1707, the last day of Ramadaan that year.

Quotes

• I have no faith in thy oaths,
  Even if thou bringest in God as thy witness. (13)

• I haven’t even an iota of trust in thee,
  For, all thy ministers and thy courtiers are liars. (14)

• He who puts faith in thy oath on the Koran,
  He in the end, comes to ruin. (15)

• When an affair is past every other remedy
  It is righteous, indeed to unsheath the sword. (22)

• Hadn’t I taken thee to thy word upon the Koran,
  I wouldn’t have chosen the path I did. (23)

• I knew not that thy men were crafty and deceitful like a fox.
  Else I wouldn’t have driven myself to this state. (24)

• He who swears to me on the Koran
  Ought not to have killed or imprisoned my men. (25)

• Now if you were to swear a hundred times on the Koran,
  I’d regard not thy word, not an iota of it. (49)
  • Zafarnama