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Professor Sahib Singh (Punjabi: ਸਾਹਿਬ ਸਿੰਘ,Hindi: साहिब सिंघ, 16 February 1892 - 29 October 1977) was a renowned Sikh academic who made a tremendous contribution to Sikh literature. He was an exceptional grammarian, author, scholar and theologian. He was born in a Hindu family to father Hiranand and was named Natthu Ram [1]
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As a youth, Natthu Ram was apprenticed to a Muslim teacher, Hayat Shah, son of the famous Punjabi poet, Hashim to teach him Persian.
Whilst at junior school, he saw Sikh soldiers and was so impressed with them that he decided to keep unshorn hair. In 1906, when he was in the ninth grade he became Amritdhari and assumed the name of Sahib Singh. It was the time when he stopped learning Persian and started learning Sanskrit, which later on helped him in understanding Guru Granth Sahib ji.[2]
After passing the tenth grade, Bhai Sahib joined a local school. Later, he applied for a job with the postal department, and got the job, borrowing 20 Rs from his house maid as traveling expenses.
Soon Bhai Sahib Singhs' desire for higher education became so great that he left home. He had no where to go with virtually no money in his pocket. He later met Pundit Vesta Parsad, a scholarly teacher for help.
Sahib Singh ji passed his FA and BA and started work at Frakka college and later joined Gujranwala Khalsa college. It was at this college that he met Bava Harkrishan Singh and Bhai Jodh Singh. Sahib Singh's financial situation had improved by this time so that he was able to pay back his debts.[3]
The untimely death of his father made the situation hard for him, yet he managed to enter Dyal Singh College, Lahore, and then the Government College, Lahore[4] where he obtained his bachelor's degree. In 1917 he joined Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Gujranwala[5] as a lecturer in Sanskrit.[6] In 1921 Bhai Sahib Singh ji became the Assistant General Secretary of the SGPC. Bhai Sahib Singh took part in Guru Ka Bagh Morcha in 1922 and was arrested. In 1923 Bhai ji was again arrested when he took part in Jaito Morcha. In 1927 Bhai ji rejoined Gujranwala college, where he stayed until 1936. At this time Bhai ji moved to Amritsar and joined the Khalsa college as a lecturer in Punjabi. At the college he met fellow Sikh scholars like Professor Teja Singh, Professor Ganda Singh, Bhai Veeram Singh and Prof Mohan Singh ji. In 1952 Sahib Singh ji retired from this college to take up a post as Principal at Shaheed Missionary college, Amritsar. In 1962 Bhai ji left to join his son at Sidva Bit near Jagroan. When his son moved to Patiala, Bhai ji took classes at Gurmat college in Patiala. He was awarded D.Lit by Punjabi University, Patiala in 1971.[7]
Prof. Sahib Singh was often afflicted with illnesses due to his tough working schedule. Nonetheless, Prof. Sahib Singh was a very strong willed person and remained in eternal happiness. Ultimately, he became very ill, being afflicted with Parkinson's disease. Bhai Sahib left for heavenly abode on 29 October 1977.
Prof. Sahib Singh wrote extensively in Punjabi, but most of his works have now been translated into English, Hindi and other prominent world languages.[8]
The translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib by Professor Sahib Singh has been made available on the Gurbani-CD and on the Internet. The typing work of this Teeka was spearheaded by Avtar Singh Dhami of Union City, California, USA. Dr. Thind formatted the text of Teeka by Professor Sahib Singh to improve the use of text on the computer and for the Internet. He also made the web pages of Teeka that are available on http://www.gurugranthdarpan.com[9]