Literally “A person beyond Time i.e. God.” The term Purakh is from ‘Purusa’ in Samkhya philosophy, which stands for the higher person, which copulates with Prakirti (Nature) for creation. In the Sikh terminology, God has been called Akaal Purakh and Karta Purakh also. He is the Cause of every phenomena of every cause. ‘He’ is Purakh but it does not denote His gender. In Sikhism, God has not been assigned any gender:
The wise and the beauteous True Form (Almighty), Is neither male, nor female, nor bird. (Guru Granth Sahib p. 1010) He is father, mother, brother and he is everything: (Guru Granth Sahib p. 103) (O Almighty!) You are my father, you are my mother, You are my relations, you are my brother. You are my protector at all places. O livable ! Then whom to fear and worry (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 103); You are my Master, I pray before You. The life and body are Your gift. You are my mother and father, I am your child. (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 268).
Another term for Akaal Purukh is Akaal Moorat (eternal being). The most popular Sikh term, however, is Waheguru. In Sikh philosophy, God has been defined as The Only One entity, the (only) Truth, the only Creator, one beyond fear and enmity, Timeless, beyond birth and death, Self-Existent.
O lovable, Master! You (God) are in the beginning, in middle and in the end, None else is seen. You are beyond Gunas; you are in all Gunas, You are the giver of pleasures. You are detached; you are busy in enjoying all lovables. (Guru Granth Sahib, p.102) In Your grace are lots of pleasures. None knows your end. Thus, You are the highest of the high. The whole material is sustained by You. Whatever is done by you; it is binding on us. Your strength and dynamism is known only by You. Nanak says, “I, the servant, am ever sacrificing myself for You.” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.268)
In Jaap Sahib, God has been remembered with hundreds of names but the final verdict in this composition is that God is Anaam (beyond names) i.e. He cannot be addressed with a particular or only one specific Name because He is the Name. According to Sikhism, He is Self-Existent; He is from and by Himself:
He Himself has created and Himself stands as pillar. (Guru Granth Sahib, p.968) He himself has created and Himself has realized. Then separating earth from sky, He spreads sky as canopy (on earth). (Guru Granth Sahib, p.1279)
He is Omnipotent, and Omnipresent; He is the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Destroyer. God cannot be defined or explained in words. It can be realized (through Grace of Guru).
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)