The Adi Granth, later revered as the Guru Granth Sahib, took shape under the direct guidance of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, at Amritsar around 1603–1604. Guru Arjan oversaw a deliberate and discerning process: collecting, verifying, and organizing the sacred hymns so that the Sikh community would have a single, authoritative scripture. Bhai Gurdas served as the principal scribe, carefully writing down the compositions as Guru Arjan dictated and supervised. Great care was taken to exclude spurious or falsely attributed hymns, especially those circulating under the names of the earlier Gurus. The hymns were arranged primarily according to musical rāgas rather than by date or author, reflecting the centrality of sung devotion in Sikh practice. This act of compilation was not merely editorial; it was a spiritual consolidation of a living tradition into a coherent scriptural form.

The contributors to the Adi Granth represent a wide spiritual horizon, yet their voices converge on a shared vision of devotion to the One. From within the Sikh lineage, the hymns of Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, and Guru Arjan himself form the core of the text. Alongside them stand the bhagats, Hindu devotional saints such as Kabir, Ravidas (Raidas), Namdev, Trilochan, Dhanna, Jaidev, Beni, Ramanand, Pipa, Sain, Sadhana, Parmanand, Bhikhan, and others whose teachings resonated with Sikh principles. The scripture also includes compositions of the Muslim mystic Sheikh Farid, embodying a genuine openness to wisdom beyond formal religious boundaries. Certain Sikh devotees and associated figures, such as Mardana and Surdas, are also represented, further illustrating the breadth of the spiritual company gathered into this volume.

Theologically, the Adi Granth remains unified despite its many authors, emphasizing devotion to the One Formless Reality, ethical living, remembrance of the Divine Name, and a rejection of caste hierarchy, empty ritual, and sectarian division. Linguistically diverse yet written in the Gurmukhi script, it weaves together various North Indian vernaculars into a single scriptural tapestry. Guru Arjan’s work thus created a center of gravity for the Sikh community, while honoring the authenticity of multiple mystic lineages. Later, Guru Gobind Singh added the hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur and brought the canon to its final form as the Guru Granth Sahib, without altering the main body compiled by Guru Arjan. In this way, the Adi Granth stands as both a historical compilation and a living testimony to the universality of the search for the Divine.