Guru Granth Sahib ji.

The Guru Granth Sahib is the
living Guru of Sikhism . It
is a voluminous text of 1430
Angs , compiled and
composed during the period
of Sikh gurus , from 1469 to
1708.  It is a collection of
hymns ( Shabad) or Baani
describing the qualities of
God  and why one should
meditate on God's name.
Guru Gobind Singh (1666–
1708), the tenth guru, after
adding Guru Tegh Bahadur 's
bani to the Adi Granth
affirmed the sacred text as
his successor, elevating it to
Guru Granth Sahib. The
text remains the how
scripture of the Sikhs,
regarded as the teachings of
the Ten Gurus.  The role of
Guru Granth Sahib, as a
source or guide of prayer,
is pivotal in Sikh worship.
The Adi Granth, the first
rendition, was first compiled
by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru
Arjan (1563–1606), from
hymns of the first five Sikh
gurus and 15 other great
saints, or bhagats, including
those of the Hindu and
Muslim faith.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh guru added all 115 of Guru Tegh Bahadur 's hymns to the Adi
Granth and this second rendition became known as the Guru Granth Sahib.  After the tenth Sikh guru died many copies were
prepared for distribution by
Baba Deep Singh Ji and Bhai
Mani Singh Ji.

It is written in the
Gurmukhī script, in various
dialects – including Lehndi
Punjabi , Braj Bhasha,
Khariboli , Sanskrit and
Persian – often coalesced
under the generic title of
Sant Bhasha.

History:-

During the Guruship of Guru
Nanak , collections of his
hymns were compiled and
sent to distant Sikh
communities for use in
morning and evening
prayers. His successor,
Guru Angad, began
collecting his predecessor's
sacred writings. This
tradition was continued by
the third and fifth guru.
When the fifth Guru, Guru
Arjan , was collecting the
writings of his predecessor,
he discovered that
pretenders to the Guruship
were releasing forged
anthologies of the previous
gurus' writings and including
their own writings alongside
them.  In order to
prevent spurious scriptures
from gaining legitimacy,
Guru Arjan began compiling
a sacred book for the Sikh
community. He finished
collecting the religious
writings of Guru Ram Das,
his immediate predecessor,
and convinced Mohan, the
son of Guru Amar Das, to
give him the collection of
the religious writings of the
first three Gurus. In
addition, he sent disciples
to go across the country to
find and bring back any
previously unknown writings.
He also invited members of
other religions and
contemporary religious
writers to submit writings for
possible inclusion. Guru
Arjan selected hymns for
inclusion into the book and
Bhai Gurdas acted as his
scribe.

While the manuscript was
being put together, Akbar,
the Mughal Emperor ,
received a report that the
manuscript contained
passages vilifying Islam.
Therefore, while traveling
north, he stopped en route
and asked to inspect it. Baba Buddha and Bhai
Gurdas brought him a copy
of the manuscript so far, and
after choosing three random
passages to be read,
determined the report to be
false. He also granted a
request from Guru Arjan to
remit the annual tax
revenue of the district
because of the failure of the
monsoon .

In 1604, Guru Arjan 's
manuscript was completed
and installed at the
Harmandir Sahib with Baba
Buddha as the first granthi,
or reader. Since communities
of Sikh disciples were
scattered all over northern
India, copies of the holy
book needed to be made for
them. However, in this
first transcription a number
of minor changes were made
by the copyists.

The sixth, seventh, and
eighth Gurus did not write
religious verses, however the
ninth Guru, Guru Tegh
Bahadur did and the tenth
Guru, Guru Gobind Singh
included Guru Tegh
Bahadur's writings into the
Guru Granth Sahib. Guru
Gobind Singh had his
writings compiled in a
separate granth, which today
is called Dasam Granth
Sahib. It is not revered as
Guru by the Sikhs. The Guru
is only Guru Granth Sahib.
In 1704 at Damdama Sahib,
during a one-year respite
from the heavy fighting with
Aurengzeb which the Khalsa
was engaged in at the time,
Guru Gobind Singh and Bhai
Mani Singh added the
religious compositions of
Guru Tegh Bahadur to the
Guru Granth Sahib to create
a definitive version.
During these months of
"intense literary activity"
they used the original
volume prepared by Guru
Arjan by borrowing it from
the descendants of Dhirmal,
the elder brother of Guru
Har Rai and inserted Guru
Tegh Bahadur's verses in the
appropriate places. The
religious verses of Guru
Gobind Singh were not
included in the Guru Granth
Sahib, but some of his
religious verses are included
in the daily prayers of Sikhs.
During this period, Bhai
Mani Singh also collected
Guru Gobind Singh's
writings as well as his court
poets and included them in
a non-religious volume
known as the Dasam Granth .