Nitnem — daily discipline — is the set of prayers an observant Sikh recites: Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, and others before dawn, Rehras in the evening, Kirtan Sohila before sleep. The pre-dawn hour (amrit vela) is specified in the scripture itself as the time when the mind is clearest. It is recitation from memory rather than reading, and the practice is what makes the scripture's language present in daily life for hundreds of millions of repetitions rather than sitting on a shelf.