He was the first Guru to have been born a Sikh and to have been a Guru's (Guru Ram Das's) son, though not his eldest. He completed the building of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar (the construction of the sacred pool (sarovar) had been undertaken by his father). He compiled the first authoritative version of the Sikh scripture, Adi Granth, in 1604, and installed it in the Darbar Sahib. Spurious versions of the hymns of Guru Nanak and his successors were circulating, and the Panth was spreading geographically, so there was a need for an authentic collection to be made available.

Relations with the imperial court during the last years of Akbar's reign were cordial and Sikh aspirations were high, but in 1605, Jehangir succeeded his father, Guru Arjan was arrested on the suspicion of assisting the rival claimant to the throne, Khusrau, and was tortured. He died by drowning in the river Ravi under mysterious circumstances.