Born in Punjab's Hadali village (now in Pakistan) in 1915, Khushwant Singh is one of India's best-known and most widely read authors and columnists. He was founder-editor of Yojana and editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India and the Hindustan Times. His several acclaimed and best-selling books include the novels Train to Pakistan, I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale and Delhi, his autobiography, Truth, Love and a Little Malice and the two-volume A History of the Sikhs. He has also translated the works of major Punjabi and Urdu poets, novelists and short-story writers. Khushwant Singh was member of the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974, which he returned in 1984 to protest the siege of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army. In 2007, he was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan. He was also honoured with the Punjab Rattan Award by the government of Punjab in 2006.
The Japji, composed by Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, is the most important prayer of the Sikhs and one of the most sublime and majestic examples of sacred poetry in any language. Comprising a series of hymns in praise of 'The One God Who is Truth', it opens the sacred book of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib and is recited every morning by all practising Sikhs. The Rehras is a prayer of thanks giving, recited at the end of the day in gratitude and also for inspiration. It comprises hymns by five of the ten Sikh Gurus: Guru Nanak, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjun and Guru Gobind Singh. This volume brings together Khushwant Singh's classic English translations of the two best-known and in many ways, defining sacred compositions of the Sikhs. Beautifully illustrated, this is a collector's edition for anyone interested not only in the Sikh faith but also in great sacred literature.
