Others

O servant where dost thou seek me

O servant, where dost thou seek Me?
O servant, where dost thou seek Me?

Lo! I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque:
I am neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash:


Neither am I in rites and ceremonies,


nor in Yoga and renunciation.
If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me:
thou shalt meet Me in a moment of time.


Kabir says, ' O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath.'

Oh friend, I love you, think this over

Oh friend, I love you, think this over
carefully! If you are in love,
then why are you asleep?

If you have found him,
give yourself to him, take him.


Why do you lose track of him again and again?


If you are about to fall into heavy sleep anyway,
why waste time smoothing the bed
and arranging the pillows?


Kabir will tell you the truth: this is what love is like:
suppose you had to cut your head off
and give it to someone else,
what difference would that make?

O friend

O friend! hope for Him whilst you live
O friend! hope for Him whilst you live,
know whilst you live, understand whilst you live:
for in life deliverance abides.


If your bonds be not broken whilst living,
what hope of deliverance in death ?


It is but an empty dream, that the soul shall have union with Him
because it has passed from the body:


If He is found now, He is found then,
If not, we do but go to dwell in the City of Death.


If you have union now, you shall have it hereafter.


Bathe in the truth, know the true Guru,
have faith in the true Name!


Kabir says : 'It is the spirit of the quest which helps;
I am the slave of this Spirit of the quest.'

O lord Increate, who will serve Thee?

O lord Increate, who will serve Thee?
Every votary offers his worship to the God of his own creation:
each day he receives service-
None seek Him, the Perfect:
Brahma, the Indivisible Lord.
They believe in ten Avatars;
but no Avatar can be the Infinite Spirit,
for he suffers the results of his deeds:
The Supreme One must be other than this.


The Yogi, the Sanyasi,
the Ascetics, are disputing one with another:


Kabîr says, 'O brother! he who has seen that radiance of love,
he is saved.'

O lord Increate, who will serve Thee?

O lord Increate, who will serve Thee?
Every votary offers his worship to the God of his own creation:
each day he receives service-
None seek Him, the Perfect:
Brahma, the Indivisible Lord.
They believe in ten Avatars;
but no Avatar can be the Infinite Spirit,
for he suffers the results of his deeds:
The Supreme One must be other than this.


The Yogi, the Sanyasi,
the Ascetics, are disputing one with another:


Kabîr says, 'O brother! he who has seen that radiance of love,
he is saved.'

Many Hoped

Many hoped
but no one found
Hari's heart.
Where do the senses rest?
Where do the Ram-chanters go?
Where do the bright ones go?
Corpses: all gone
to the same place.
Drunk on the juice
of Ram's bliss,
Kabir says,
I've said and I've said,
I'm tired of saying.

Many Hoped

Many hoped
but no one found
Hari's heart.
Where do the senses rest?
Where do the Ram-chanters go?
Where do the bright ones go?
Corpses: all gone
to the same place.
Drunk on the juice
of Ram's bliss,
Kabir says,
I've said and I've said,
I'm tired of saying.

My body is flooded

My body is flooded
With the flame of Love.
My soul lives in
A furnace of bliss.


Love's fragrance
Fills my mouth,
And fans through all things
With each outbreath.

Lift The Veil

Lift the veil
that obscures
the heart

and there
you will find
what you are
looking for

Knowing Nothing Shuts The Iron Gates

Knowing nothing shuts the iron gates;
the new love opens them.

The sound of the gates opening wakes
the beautiful woman asleep.

Kabir says: Fantastic!
Don't let a chance like this go by!

It Is Needless To Ask Of A Saint

It is needless to ask of a saint the caste to which he belongs;
For the priest, the warrior. the tradesman, and all the
thirty-six castes, alike are seeking for God.
It is but folly to ask what the caste of a saint may be;
The barber has sought God, the washerwoman, and the carpenter-
Even Raidas was a seeker after God.
The Rishi Swapacha was a tanner by caste.
Hindus and Moslems alike have achieved that End, where remains no mark of
distinction.

It Is Needless To Ask Of A Saint

It is needless to ask of a saint the caste to which he belongs;
For the priest, the warrior. the tradesman, and all the
thirty-six castes, alike are seeking for God.
It is but folly to ask what the caste of a saint may be;
The barber has sought God, the washerwoman, and the carpenter-
Even Raidas was a seeker after God.
The Rishi Swapacha was a tanner by caste.
Hindus and Moslems alike have achieved that End, where remains no mark of
distinction.

I won’t come

I won’t come
I won’t go
I won’t live
I won’t die

I’ll keep uttering
The name
And lose myself
In it

I’m bowl
And I’m platter
I’m man
And I’m woman

I’m grapefruit
And I’m sweet lime
I’m Hindu
And I’m Muslim

I’m fish
And I’m net
I’m fisherman
And I’m time

I’m nothing
Says Kabir
I’m not among the living
Or the dead.

I said to the wanting-creature inside me

I said to the wanting-creature inside me:
What is this river you want to cross?
There are no travelers on the river-road, and no road.
Do you see anyone moving about on that bank, or resting?
There is no river at all, and no boat, and no boatman.
There is no towrope either, and no one to pull it.
There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford!


And there is no body, and no mind!
Do you believe there is some place that will
make the soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.

Be strong then, and enter into your own body;
there you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don't go off somewhere else!


Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts
of imaginary things.
and stand firm in that which you are.

I Played day and night

I played day and night with my comrades,
and now I am greatly afraid.


So high is my Lord's palace,
my heart trembles to mount its stairs:
yet I must not be shy, if I would enjoy His love.


My heart must cleave to my Lover;
I must withdraw my veil,
and meet Him with all my body:


Mine eyes must perform the ceremony of the lamps of love.


Kabîr says: 'Listen to me, friend:
he understands who loves.
If you feel not love's longing for your Beloved One,
it is vain to adorn your body,
vain to put unguent on your eyelids.'

I have been thinking

I have been thinking...
I have been thinking of the difference between water
I have been thinkingI have been thinkingand the waves on it. Rising,
water's still water, falling back,
it is water, will you give me a hint
how to tell them apart?


Because someone has made up the word
'wave,' do I have to distinguish it
from water?


There is a Secret One inside us;
the planets in all the galaxies
pass through his hands like beads.


That is a string of beads one should look at with luminous eyes.

I Burst Into Laughter

I burst into laughter
whenever I hear
that the fish is thirsty in water.

Without the knowledge of Self
people just wander to Mathura or to Kashi
like the musk-deer unaware
of the scent in his navel,
goes on running forest to forest.

In water is the lotus plant
and the plant bears flowers
and on the flowers are the bees buzzing.
Likewise all yogis and mendicants
and all those who have renounced comforts,
are on here and hereafter and the nether world contemplating.


Friend, the Supreme Indestructible Being,
on whom thousands of sages meditate
and even Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh,
really resides within one's self.

Though He is near, He appears far away and
that is what makes one disturbed;
says Kabir, listen, O wise one,
by Guru alone is the confusion curbed.

Hey brother, why do you want me to talk?

Hey brother, why do you want me to talk?
Talk and talk and the real things get lost.

Talk and talk and things get out of hand.
Why not stop talking and think?

If you meet someone good, listen a little, speak;
If you meet someone bad, clench up like a fist.

Talking with a wise man is a great reward.
Talking with a fool? A waste.

Kabir says: A pot makes noise if it's half full,
But fill it to the brim - no sound.

Hey brother, why do you want me to talk?

Hey brother, why do you want me to talk?
Talk and talk and the real things get lost.

Talk and talk and things get out of hand.
Why not stop talking and think?

If you meet someone good, listen a little, speak;
If you meet someone bad, clench up like a fist.

Talking with a wise man is a great reward.
Talking with a fool? A waste.

Kabir says: A pot makes noise if it's half full,
But fill it to the brim - no sound.

Having Crossed The River

Having crossed the river,
where will you go, O friend?


There's no road to tread,
No traveler ahead,
Neither a beginning, nor an end.


There's no water, no boat, no boatman, no cord;
No earth is there, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford.


You have forgotten the Self within,
Your search in the void will be in vain;
In a moment the life will ebb
And in this body you won't remain.


Be ever conscious of this, O friend,
You've to immerse within your Self;
Kabir says, salvation you won't then need,
For what you are, you would be indeed.

Having Crossed The River

Having crossed the river,
where will you go, O friend?


There's no road to tread,
No traveler ahead,
Neither a beginning, nor an end.


There's no water, no boat, no boatman, no cord;
No earth is there, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford.


You have forgotten the Self within,
Your search in the void will be in vain;
In a moment the life will ebb
And in this body you won't remain.


Be ever conscious of this, O friend,
You've to immerse within your Self;
Kabir says, salvation you won't then need,
For what you are, you would be indeed.

Friend, Wake Up! Why Do You Go On Sleeping?

Friend, wake up! Why do you go on sleeping?
The night is over— do you want to lose the day
the same way?
Other women who managed to get up early have

already found an elephant or a jewel...
so much was lost already while you slept...
and that was so unnecessary!

The one who loves you understood, but you did not.
You forgot to make a place in your bed next to you.
Instead you spent your life playing.
In your twenties you did not grow
because you did not know who your Lord was.
Wake up! Wake up! There's no one in your bed—
He left you during the long night.


Kabir says: The only woman awake is the woman
who has heard the flute!

Do Not Go To The Garden Of Flowers

Do not go to the garden of flowers!
Do not go to the garden of flowers!
O Friend! go not there;
In your body is the garden of flowers.


Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus,
and there gaze on the Infinite Beauty.

Do Not Go To The Garden Of Flowers

Do not go to the garden of flowers!
Do not go to the garden of flowers!
O Friend! go not there;
In your body is the garden of flowers.


Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus,
and there gaze on the Infinite Beauty.