Nitnem

Nit means daily and nem means rule. The Sikh Rehat Maryada asks a Sikh to rise in the early hours, bathe and remember God by repeating Vahiguru. In the morning, the prayers are Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib and the Ten Savaiye. After sunset comes Sodar Rehras, and before sleep Sohila.

The order is old in part. Bhai Gurdas, in Var 1, says that in Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Kartarpur the Japji was recited in the morning, and that Sodar and Arti were sung in the evening. Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji placed the three texts at the start of the scripture when compiling it in 1604. The compositions of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji were added later.[Src][EoS]

Japji Sahib is by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and opens Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. It begins with the Mool Mantar and closes with a salok. The Miharban Janamsakhi says Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji arranged its stanzas in one order under Guru Ji's instruction.

Jaap Sahib is Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji's hymn of praise, and the Ten Savaiye are drawn from Akal Ustat. Both are in the Dasam Granth. Many Sikhs add other Bani by personal custom, such as Anand Sahib or Sukhmani Sahib. Nihangs add Var Sri Bhagauti Ji.[EoS][EoS][DB]

Rehras is a composite evening prayer. Its core is the set of hymns called So Dar and So Purakh on angs 8 to 12. The Sikh Rehat Maryada adds Benti Chaupai, a savaiya and a dohira of the tenth Guru, the first five and last stanzas of Anand Sahib, and the Mundavani with a salok.

The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism explains that the prayer grew over time, reaching later generations through small prayer books with minor differences. It treats the SGPC text as the accepted form today. The word rehras comes from a line of Sri Guru Ram Das Ji and is taken to mean supplication. Some traditional scholars read it as a Persian phrase for the straight path.[EoS][Src][DB]

Sohila has five hymns, on angs 12 and 13: three by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and one each by Sri Guru Ram Das Ji and Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji. Its third hymn, the Arti, is associated in tradition with Guru Ji's time at the Jagannath temple in Puri, and pictures the whole sky as a tray of lamps offered to God.

Its themes include the fear of death and its overcoming. It is therefore also recited at cremations, after the pyre has been lit.[EoS][EoS][Src]