<h3 id="id00214" style="margin-top: 3em"> LI</h3>
<p id="id00215" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 129. <i>sakhiyo, ham hûn bhâî vâlamâs'î</i></p>
<p id="id00216"> Dear friend, I am eager to meet my Beloved! My youth has<br/>
flowered, and the pain of separation from Him troubles my<br/>
breast.<br/>
I am wandering yet in the alleys of knowledge without purpose,<br/>
but I have received His news in these alleys of knowledge.<br/>
I have a letter from my Beloved: in this letter is an unutterable<br/>
message, and now my fear of death is done away.<br/>
Kabîr says: "O my loving friend! I have got for my gift the<br/>
Deathless One."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00217" style="margin-top: 3em"> LII</h3>
<p id="id00218" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 130. <i>sâîn vin dard kareje hoy</i></p>
<p id="id00219"> When I am parted from my Beloved, my heart is full of misery: I<br/>
have no comfort in the day, I have no sleep in the night. To<br/>
whom shall I tell my sorrow?<br/>
The night is dark; the hours slip by. Because my Lord is absent,<br/>
I start up and tremble with fear.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Listen, my friend! there is no other satisfaction,<br/>
save in the encounter with the Beloved."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00220" style="margin-top: 3em"> LIII</h3>
<p id="id00221" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 122. <i>kaum muralî s'abd s'un ânand bhayo</i></p>
<p id="id00222"> What is that flute whose music thrills me with joy?<br/>
The flame burns without a lamp;<br/>
The lotus blossoms without a root;<br/>
Flowers bloom in clusters;<br/>
The moon-bird is devoted to the moon;<br/>
With all its heart the rain-bird longs for the shower of rain;<br/>
But upon whose love does the Lover concentrate His entire life?<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00223" style="margin-top: 3em"> LIV</h3>
<p id="id00224" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 112. <i>s'untâ nahî dhun kî khabar</i></p>
<p id="id00225"> Have you not heard the tune which the Unstruck Music is playing?<br/>
In the midst of the chamber the harp of joy is gently and<br/>
sweetly played; and where is the need of going without to hear<br/>
it?<br/>
If you have not drunk of the nectar of that One Love, what boots<br/>
it though you should purge yourself of all stains?<br/>
The Kazi is searching the words of the Koran, and instructing<br/>
others: but if his heart be not steeped in that love, what does<br/>
it avail, though he be a teacher of men?<br/>
The Yogi dyes his garments with red: but if he knows naught of<br/>
that colour of love, what does it avail though his garments be<br/>
tinted?<br/>
Kabîr says: "Whether I be in the temple or the balcony, in the<br/>
camp or in the flower garden, I tell you truly that every<br/>
moment my Lord is taking His delight in me."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00226" style="margin-top: 3em"> LV</h3>
<p id="id00227" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 73. <i>bhakti kâ mârag jhînâ re</i></p>
<p id="id00228"> Subtle is the path of love!<br/>
Therein there is no asking and no not-asking,<br/>
There one loses one's self at His feet,<br/>
There one is immersed in the joy of the seeking: plunged in the<br/>
deeps of love as the fish in the water.<br/>
The lover is never slow in offering his head for his Lord's<br/>
service.<br/>
Kabîr declares the secret of this love.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00229" style="margin-top: 3em"> LVI</h3>
<p id="id00230" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 68. <i>bhâi kôî satguru sant kahâwaî</i></p>
<p id="id00231"> He is the real Sadhu, who can reveal the form of the Formless to<br/>
the vision of these eyes:<br/>
Who teaches the simple way of attaining Him, that is other than<br/>
rites or ceremonies:<br/>
Who does not make you close the doors, and hold the breath, and<br/>
renounce the world:<br/>
Who makes you perceive the Supreme Spirit wherever the mind<br/>
attaches itself:<br/>
Who teaches you to be still in the midst of all your activities.<br/>
Ever immersed in bliss, having no fear in his mind, he keeps the<br/>
spirit of union in the midst of all enjoyments.<br/>
The infinite dwelling of the Infinite Being is everywhere: in<br/>
earth, water, sky, and air:<br/>
Firm as the thunderbolt, the seat of the seeker is established<br/>
above the void.<br/>
He who is within is without: I see Him and none else.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00232" style="margin-top: 3em"> LVII</h3>
<p id="id00233" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 66. <i>sâdho, s'abd sâdhnâ kîjai</i></p>
<p id="id00234"> Receive that Word from which the Universe springeth!<br/>
That word is the Guru; I have heard it, and become the disciple.<br/>
How many are there who know the meaning of that word?<br/></p>
<p id="id00235"> O Sadhu! practise that Word!<br/>
The Vedas and the Puranas proclaim it,<br/>
The world is established in it,<br/>
The Rishis and devotees speak of it:<br/>
But none knows the mystery of the Word.<br/>
The householder leaves his house when he hears it,<br/>
The ascetic comes back to love when he hears it,<br/>
The Six Philosophies expound it,<br/>
The Spirit of Renunciation points to that Word,<br/>
From that Word the world-form has sprung,<br/>
That Word reveals all.<br/>
Kabîr says: "But who knows whence the Word cometh?<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00236" style="margin-top: 3em"> LVIII</h3>
<p id="id00237" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 63. <i>pîle pyâlâ, ho matwâlâ</i></p>
<p id="id00238"> Empty the Cup! O be drunken!<br/>
Drink the divine nectar of His Name!<br/>
Kabîr says: "Listen to me, dear Sadhu!<br/>
From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head this mind is<br/>
filled with poison."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00239" style="margin-top: 3em"> LIX</h3>
<p id="id00240" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 52. <i>khasm na cînhai bâwari</i></p>
<p id="id00241"> O man, if thou dost not know thine own Lord, whereof art thou so<br/>
proud?<br/>
Put thy cleverness away: mere words shall never unite thee to<br/>
Him.<br/>
Do not deceive thyself with the witness of the Scriptures:<br/>
Love is something other than this, and he who has sought it truly<br/>
has found it.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00242" style="margin-top: 3em"> LX</h3>
<p id="id00243" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 56. <i>sukh sindh kî sair kâ</i></p>
<p id="id00244"> The savour of wandering in the ocean of deathless life has rid me<br/>
of all my asking:<br/>
As the tree is in the seed, so all diseases are in this asking.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00245" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXI</h3>
<p id="id00246" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 48. <i>sukh sâgar men âîke</i></p>
<p id="id00247"> When at last you are come to the ocean of happiness, do not go<br/>
back thirsty.<br/>
Wake, foolish man! for Death stalks you. Here is pure water<br/>
before you; drink it at every breath.<br/>
Do not follow the mirage on foot, but thirst for the nectar;<br/>
Dhruva, Prahlad, and Shukadeva have drunk of it, and also Raidas<br/>
has tasted it:<br/>
The saints are drunk with love, their thirst is for love.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Listen to me, brother! The nest of fear is broken.<br/>
Not for a moment have you come face to face with the world:<br/>
You are weaving your bondage of falsehood, your words are full of<br/>
deception:<br/>
With the load of desires which you. hold on your head, how can<br/>
you be light?"<br/>
Kabîr says: "Keep within you truth, detachment, and love."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00248" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXII</h3>
<p id="id00249" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 35. <i>satî ko kaun s'ikhâwtâ hai</i></p>
<p id="id00250"> Who has ever taught the widowed wife to burn herself on the pyre<br/>
of her dead husband?<br/>
And who has ever taught love to find bliss in renunciation?<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00251" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXIII</h3>
<p id="id00252" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 39. <i>are man, dhîraj kâhe na dharai</i></p>
<p id="id00253"> Why so impatient, my heart?<br/>
He who watches over birds, beasts, and insects,<br/>
He who cared for you whilst you were yet in your mother's womb,<br/>
Shall He not care for you now that you are come forth?<br/>
Oh my heart, how could you turn from the smile of your Lord and<br/>
wander so far from Him?<br/>
You have left Your Beloved and are thinking of others: and this<br/>
is why all your work is in vain.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00254" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXIV</h3>
<p id="id00255" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 117. <i>sâîn se lagan kathin hai, bhâî</i></p>
<p id="id00256"> Now hard it is to meet my Lord!<br/>
The rain-bird wails in thirst for the rain: almost she dies of<br/>
her longing, yet she would have none other water than the<br/>
rain.<br/>
Drawn by the love of music, the deer moves forward: she dies as<br/>
she listens to the music, yet she shrinks not in fear.<br/>
The widowed wife sits by the body of her dead husband: she is not<br/>
afraid of the fire.<br/>
Put away all fear for this poor body.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00257" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXV</h3>
<p id="id00258" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 22. <i>jab main bhûlâ, re bhâî</i></p>
<p id="id00259"> O brother! when I was forgetful, my true Guru showed me the Way.<br/>
Then I left off all rites and ceremonies, I bathed no more in the<br/>
holy water:<br/>
Then I learned that it was I alone who was mad, and the whole<br/>
world beside me was sane; and I had disturbed these wise people.<br/>
From that time forth I knew no more how to roll in the dust in<br/>
obeisance:<br/>
I do not ring the temple bell:<br/>
I do not set the idol on its throne:<br/>
I do not worship the image with flowers.<br/>
It is not the austerities that mortify the flesh which are<br/>
pleasing to the Lord,<br/>
When you leave off your clothes and kill your senses, you do not<br/>
please the Lord:<br/>
The man who is kind and who practises righteousness, who remains<br/>
passive amidst the affairs of the world, who considers all<br/>
creatures on earth as his own self,<br/>
He attains the Immortal Being, the true God is ever with him.<br/>
Kabîr says: "He attains the true Name whose words are pure, and<br/>
who is free from pride and conceit."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00260" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXVI</h3>
<p id="id00261" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 20. <i>man na rangâye</i></p>
<p id="id00262"> The Yogi dyes his garments, instead of dyeing his mind in the<br/>
colours of love:<br/>
He sits within the temple of the Lord, leaving Brahma to worship<br/>
a stone.<br/>
He pierces holes in his ears, he has a great beard and matted<br/>
locks, he looks like a goat:<br/>
He goes forth into the wilderness, killing all his desires, and<br/>
turns himself into an eunuch:<br/>
He shaves his head and dyes his garments; he reads the Gîtâ and<br/>
becomes a mighty talker.<br/>
Kabîr says: "You are going to the doors of death, bound hand and<br/>
foot!"<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00263" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXVII</h3>
<p id="id00264" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 9. <i>nâ jâne sâhab kaisâ hai</i></p>
<p id="id00265"> I do not know what manner of God is mine.<br/>
The Mullah cries aloud to Him: and why? Is your Lord deaf? The<br/>
subtle anklets that ring on the feet of an insect when it moves<br/>
are heard of Him.<br/>
Tell your beads, paint your forehead with the mark of your God,<br/>
and wear matted locks long and showy: but a deadly weapon is in<br/>
your heart, and how shall you have God?<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00266" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXVIII</h3>
<p id="id00267" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 102. <i>ham se rahâ na jây</i></p>
<p id="id00268"> I hear the melody of His flute, and I cannot contain myself:<br/>
The flower blooms, though it is not spring; and already the bee<br/>
has received its invitation.<br/>
The sky roars and the lightning flashes, the waves arise in my<br/>
heart,<br/>
The rain falls; and my heart longs for my Lord.<br/>
Where the rhythm of the world rises and falls, thither my heart<br/>
has reached:<br/>
There the hidden banners are fluttering in the air.<br/>
Kabîr says: "My heart is dying, though it lives."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00269" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXIX</h3>
<p id="id00270" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 2. <i>jo khodâ masjid vasat hai</i></p>
<p id="id00271"> If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?<br/>
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage,<br/>
then who is there to know what happens without?<br/>
Hari is in the East: Allah is in the West. Look within your<br/>
heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;<br/>
All the men and women of the world are His living forms.<br/>
Kabîr is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my<br/>
Pir.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00272" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXX</h3>
<p id="id00273" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 9. <i>s'îl santosh sadâ samadrishti</i></p>
<p id="id00274"> He who is meek and contented., he who has an equal vision, whose<br/>
mind is filled with the fullness of acceptance and of rest;<br/>
He who has seen Him and touched Him, he is freed from all fear<br/>
and trouble.<br/>
To him the perpetual thought of God is like sandal paste smeared<br/>
on the body, to him nothing else is delight:<br/>
His work and his rest are filled with music: he sheds abroad the<br/>
radiance of love.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Touch His feet, who is one and indivisible,<br/>
immutable and peaceful; who fills all vessels to the brim with<br/>
joy, and whose form is love."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00275" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXI</h3>
<p id="id00276" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 13. <i>sâdh sangat pîtam</i></p>
<p id="id00277"> Go thou to the company of the good, where the Beloved One has His<br/>
dwelling place:<br/>
Take all thy thoughts and love and instruction from thence.<br/>
Let that assembly be burnt to ashes where His Name is not spoken!<br/>
Tell me, how couldst thou hold a wedding-feast, if the bridegroom<br/>
himself were not there?<br/>
Waver no more, think only of the Beloved;<br/>
Set not thy heart on the worship of other gods, there is no worth<br/>
in the worship of other masters.<br/>
Kabîr deliberates and says: "Thus thou shalt never find the<br/>
Beloved!"<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00278" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXII</h3>
<p id="id00279" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 26. <i>tor hîrâ hirâilwâ kîcad men</i></p>
<p id="id00280"> The jewel is lost in the mud, and all are seeking for it;<br/>
Some look for it in the east, and some in the west; some in the<br/>
water and some amongst stones.<br/>
But the servant Kabîr has appraised it at its true value, and has<br/>
wrapped it with care in the end of the mantle of his heart.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00281" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXIII</h3>
<p id="id00282" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 26. <i>âyau din gaune kâ ho</i></p>
<p id="id00283"> The palanquin came to take me away to my husband's home, and it<br/>
sent through my heart a thrill of joy;<br/>
But the bearers have brought me into the lonely forest, where I<br/>
have no one of my own.<br/>
O bearers, I entreat you by your feet, wait but a moment longer:<br/>
let me go back to my kinsmen and friends, and take my leave of<br/>
them.<br/>
The servant Kabîr sings: "O Sadhu! finish your buying and<br/>
selling, have done with your good and your bad: for there are<br/>
no markets and no shops in the land to which you go."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00284" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXIV</h3>
<p id="id00285" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 30. <i>are dil, prem nagar kä ant na pâyâ</i></p>
<p id="id00286"> O my heart! you have not known all the secrets of this city of<br/>
love: in ignorance you came, and in ignorance you return.<br/>
O my friend, what have you done with this life? You have taken<br/>
on your head the burden heavy with stones, and who is to<br/>
lighten it for you?<br/>
Your Friend stands on the other shore, but you never think in<br/>
your mind how you may meet with Him:<br/>
The boat is broken, and yet you sit ever upon the bank; and thus<br/>
you are beaten to no purpose by the waves.<br/>
The servant Kabîr asks you to consider; who is there that shall<br/>
befriend you at the last?<br/>
You are alone, you have no companion: you will suffer the<br/>
consequences of your own deeds.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00287" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXV</h3>
<p id="id00288" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 55. <i>ved kahe sargun ke âge</i></p>
<p id="id00289"> The Vedas say that the Unconditioned stands beyond the world of<br/>
Conditions.<br/>
O woman, what does it avail thee to dispute whether He is beyond<br/>
all or in all?<br/>
See thou everything as thine own dwelling place: the mist of<br/>
pleasure and pain can never spread there.<br/>
There Brahma is revealed day and night: there light is His<br/>
garment, light is His seat, light rests on thy head.<br/>
Kabîr says: "The Master, who is true, He is all light."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00290" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXVI</h3>
<p id="id00291" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 48. <i>tû surat nain nihâr</i></p>
<p id="id00292"> Open your eyes of love, and see Him who pervades this world I<br/>
consider it well, and know that this is your own country.<br/>
When you meet the true Guru, He will awaken your heart;<br/>
He will tell you the secret of love and detachment, and then you<br/>
will know indeed that He transcends this universe.<br/>
This world is the City of Truth, its maze of paths enchants the<br/>
heart:<br/>
We can reach the goal without crossing the road, such is the<br/>
sport unending.<br/>
Where the ring of manifold joys ever dances about Him, there is<br/>
the sport of Eternal Bliss.<br/>
When we know this, then all our receiving and renouncing is<br/>
over;<br/>
Thenceforth the heat of having shall never scorch us more.<br/></p>
<p id="id00293"> He is the Ultimate Rest unbounded:<br/>
He has spread His form of love throughout all the world.<br/>
From that Ray which is Truth, streams of new forms are<br/>
perpetually springing: and He pervades those forms.<br/>
All the gardens and groves and bowers are abounding with blossom;<br/>
and the air breaks forth into ripples of joy.<br/>
There the swan plays a wonderful game,<br/>
There the Unstruck Music eddies around the Infinite One;<br/>
There in the midst the Throne of the Unheld is shining, whereon<br/>
the great Being sits—<br/>
Millions of suns are shamed by the radiance of a single hair of<br/>
His body.<br/>
On the harp of the road what true melodies are being sounded!<br/>
and its notes pierce the heart:<br/>
There the Eternal Fountain is playing its endless life-streams of<br/>
birth and death.<br/>
They call Him Emptiness who is the Truth of truths, in Whom all<br/>
truths are stored!<br/></p>
<p id="id00294"> There within Him creation goes forward, which is beyond all<br/>
philosophy; for philosophy cannot attain to Him:<br/>
There is an endless world, O my Brother! and there is the<br/>
Nameless Being, of whom naught can be said.<br/>
Only he knows it who has reached that region: it is other than<br/>
all that is heard and said.<br/>
No form, no body, no length, no breadth is seen there: how can I<br/>
tell you that which it is?<br/>
He comes to the Path of the Infinite on whom the grace of the<br/>
Lord descends: he is freed from births and deaths who attains<br/>
to Him.<br/>
Kabîr says: "It cannot be told by the words of the mouth, it<br/>
cannot be written on paper:<br/>
It is like a dumb person who tastes a sweet thing—how shall it<br/>
be explained?"<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00295" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXVII</h3>
<p id="id00296" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 60. <i>cal hamsâ wâ des' jahân</i></p>
<p id="id00297"> O my heart! let us go to that country where dwells the Beloved,<br/>
the ravisher of my heart!<br/>
There Love is filling her pitcher from the well, yet she has no<br/>
rope wherewith to draw water;<br/>
There the clouds do not cover the sky, yet the rain falls down in<br/>
gentle showers:<br/>
O bodiless one! do not sit on your doorstep; go forth and bathe<br/>
yourself in that rain!<br/>
There it is ever moonlight and never dark; and who speaks of one<br/>
sun only? that land is illuminate with the rays of a million<br/>
suns.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00298" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXVIII</h3>
<p id="id00299" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 63. <i>kahain Kabîr, s'uno ho sâdho</i></p>
<p id="id00300"> Kabîr says: "O Sadhu! hear my deathless words. If you want your<br/>
own good, examine and consider them well.<br/>
You have estranged yourself from the Creator, of whom you have<br/>
sprung: you have lost your reason, you have bought death.<br/>
All doctrines and all teachings are sprung from Him, from Him<br/>
they grow: know this for certain, and have no fear.<br/>
Hear from me the tidings of this great truth!<br/>
Whose name do you sing, and on whom do you meditate? O, come<br/>
forth from this entanglement!<br/>
He dwells at the heart of all things, so why take refuge in empty<br/>
desolation?<br/>
If you place the Guru at a distance from you, then it is but the<br/>
distance that you honour:<br/>
If indeed the Master be far away, then who is it else that is<br/>
creating this world?<br/>
When you think that He is not here, then you wander further and<br/>
further away, and seek Him in vain with tears.<br/>
Where He is far off, there He is unattainable: where He is near,<br/>
He is very bliss.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Lest His servant should suffer pain He pervades him<br/>
through and through."<br/>
Know yourself then, O Kabîr; for He is in you from head to foot.<br/>
Sing with gladness, and keep your seat unmoved within your heart.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00301" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXIX</h3>
<p id="id00302" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 66. <i>nâ main dharmî nahîn adharmî</i></p>
<p id="id00303"> I am neither pious nor ungodly, I live neither by law nor by<br/>
sense,<br/>
I am neither a speaker nor hearer, I am neither a servant nor<br/>
master, I am neither bond nor free,<br/>
I am neither detached nor attached.<br/>
I am far from none: I am near to none.<br/>
I shall go neither to hell nor to heaven.<br/>
I do all works; yet I am apart from all works.<br/>
Few comprehend my meaning: he who can comprehend it, he sits<br/>
unmoved.<br/>
Kabîr seeks neither to establish nor to destroy.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00304" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXX</h3>
<p id="id00305" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 69. <i>satta nâm hai sab ten nyârâ</i></p>
<p id="id00306"> The true Name is like none other name!<br/>
The distinction of the Conditioned from the Unconditioned is but<br/>
a word:<br/>
The Unconditioned is the seed, the Conditioned is the flower and<br/>
the fruit.<br/>
Knowledge is the branch, and the Name is the root.<br/>
Look, and see where the root is: happiness shall be yours when<br/>
you come to the root.<br/>
The root will lead you to the branch, the leaf, the flower, and<br/>
the fruit:<br/>
It is the encounter with the Lord, it is the attainment of bliss,<br/>
it is the reconciliation of the Conditioned and the<br/>
Unconditioned.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00307" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXI</h3>
<p id="id00308" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 74. <i>pratham ek jo âpai âp</i></p>
<p id="id00309"> In the beginning was He alone, sufficient unto Himself: the<br/>
formless, colourless, and unconditioned Being.<br/>
Then was there neither beginning, middle, nor end;<br/>
Then were no eyes, no darkness, no light;<br/>
Then were no ground, air, nor sky; no fire, water, nor earth; no<br/>
rivers like the Ganges and the Jumna, no seas, oceans, and waves.<br/>
Then was neither vice nor virtue; scriptures there were not, as<br/>
the Vedas and Puranas, nor as the Koran.<br/>
Kabîr ponders in his mind and says, "Then was there no activity:<br/>
the Supreme Being remained merged in the unknown depths of His<br/>
own self."<br/>
The Guru neither eats nor drinks, neither lives nor dies:<br/>
Neither has He form, line, colour, nor vesture.<br/>
He who has neither caste nor clan nor anything else—how may I<br/>
describe His glory?<br/>
He has neither form nor formlessness,<br/>
He has no name,<br/>
He has neither colour nor colourlessness,<br/>
He has no dwelling-place.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00310" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXII</h3>
<p id="id00311" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 76. <i>kahain Kabîr vicâr ke</i></p>
<p id="id00312"> Kabîr ponders and says: "He who has neither caste nor country,<br/>
who is formless and without quality, fills all space."<br/>
The Creator brought into being the Game of Joy: and from the word<br/>
Om the Creation sprang.<br/>
The earth is His joy; His joy is the sky;<br/>
His joy is the flashing of the sun and the moon;<br/>
His joy is the beginning, the middle, and the end;<br/>
His joy is eyes, darkness, and light.<br/>
Oceans and waves are His joy: His joy the Sarasvati, the Jumna,<br/>
and the Ganges.<br/>
The Guru is One: and life and death., union and separation, are<br/>
all His plays of joy!<br/>
His play the land and water, the whole universe!<br/>
His play the earth and the sky!<br/>
In play is the Creation spread out, in play it is established.<br/>
The whole world, says Kabîr, rests in His play, yet still the<br/>
Player remains unknown.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00313" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXIII</h3>
<p id="id00314" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 84. <i>jhî jhî jantar bâjai</i></p>
<p id="id00315"> The harp gives forth murmurous music; and the dance goes on<br/>
without hands and feet.<br/>
It is played without fingers, it is heard without ears: for He is<br/>
the ear, and He is the listener.<br/>
The gate is locked, but within there is fragrance: and there the<br/>
meeting is seen of none.<br/>
The wise shall understand it.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00316" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXIV</h3>
<p id="id00317" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 89. <i>mor phakîrwâ mângi jây</i></p>
<p id="id00318"> The Beggar goes a-begging, but<br/>
I could not even catch sight of Him:<br/>
And what shall I beg of the Beggar He gives without my asking.<br/>
Kabîr says: "I am His own: now let that befall which may befall!"<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00319" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXV</h3>
<p id="id00320" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 90. <i>naihar se jiyarâ phât re</i></p>
<p id="id00321"> My heart cries aloud for the house of my lover; the open road and<br/>
the shelter of a roof are all one to her who has lost the city<br/>
of her husband.<br/>
My heart finds no joy in anything: my mind and my body are<br/>
distraught.<br/>
His palace has a million gates, but there is a vast ocean between<br/>
it and me:<br/>
How shall I cross it, O friend? for endless is the outstretching<br/>
of the path.<br/>
How wondrously this lyre is wrought! When its strings are<br/>
rightly strung, it maddens the heart: but when the keys are<br/>
broken and the strings are loosened, none regard it more.<br/>
I tell my parents with laughter that I must go to my Lord in the<br/>
morning;<br/></p>
<p id="id00322"> They are angry, for they do not want me to go, and they say: "She<br/>
thinks she has gained such dominion over her husband that she<br/>
can have whatsoever she wishes; and therefore she is impatient<br/>
to go to him."<br/>
Dear friend, lift my veil lightly now; for this is the night of<br/>
love.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Listen to me! My heart is eager to meet my lover: I<br/>
lie sleepless upon my bed. Remember me early in the morning!"<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00323" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXVI</h3>
<p id="id00324" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 96. <i>jîv mahal men S'iv pahunwâ</i></p>
<p id="id00325"> Serve your God, who has come into this temple of life!<br/>
Do not act the part of a madman, for the night is thickening<br/>
fast.<br/>
He has awaited me for countless ages, for love of me He has<br/>
lost His heart:<br/>
Yet I did not know the bliss that was so near to me, for my love<br/>
was not yet awake.<br/>
But now, my Lover has made known to me the meaning of the note<br/>
that struck my ear:<br/>
Now, my good fortune is come.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Behold! how great is my good fortune! I have<br/>
received the unending caress of my Beloved!"<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00326" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXVII</h3>
<p id="id00327" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 71. <i>gagan ghatâ ghaharânî, sâdho</i></p>
<p id="id00328"> Clouds thicken in the sky! O, listen to the deep voice of their<br/>
roaring;<br/>
The rain comes from the east with its monotonous murmur.<br/>
Take care of the fences and boundaries of your fields, lest the<br/>
rains overflow them;<br/>
Prepare the soil of deliverance, and let the creepers of love and<br/>
renunciation be soaked in this shower.<br/>
It is the prudent farmer who will bring his harvest home; he<br/>
shall fill both his vessels, and feed both the wise men and the<br/>
saints.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00329" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXVIII</h3>
<p id="id00330" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 118. <i>âj din ke main jaun balihârî</i></p>
<p id="id00331"> This day is dear to me above all other days, for to-day the<br/>
Beloved Lord is a guest in my house;<br/>
My chamber and my courtyard are beautiful with His presence.<br/>
My longings sing His Name, and they are become lost in His great<br/>
beauty:<br/>
I wash His feet, and I look upon His Face; and I lay before Him<br/>
as an offering my body, my mind, and all that I have.<br/>
What a day of gladness is that day in which my Beloved, who is my<br/>
treasure, comes to my house!<br/>
All evils fly from my heart when I see my Lord.<br/>
"My love has touched Him; my heart is longing for the Name which<br/>
is Truth."<br/>
Thus sings Kabîr, the servant of all servants.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00332" style="margin-top: 3em"> LXXXIX</h3>
<p id="id00333" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 100. <i>kôi s'untâ hai jñânî râg gagan men</i></p>
<p id="id00334"> Is there any wise man who will listen to that solemn music which<br/>
arises in the sky?<br/>
For He, the Source of all music, makes all vessels full fraught,<br/>
and rests in fullness Himself.<br/>
He who is in the body is ever athirst, for he pursues that which<br/>
is in part:<br/>
But ever there wells forth deeper and deeper the sound "He is<br/>
this—this is He"; fusing love and renunciation into one.<br/>
Kabîr says: "O brother! that is the Primal Word."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00335" style="margin-top: 3em"> XC</h3>
<p id="id00336" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 108. <i>main kâ se bûjhaun</i></p>
<p id="id00337"> To whom shall I go to learn about my Beloved?<br/>
Kabîr says: "As you never may find the forest if you ignore the<br/>
tree, so He may never be found in abstractions."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00338" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCI</h3>
<p id="id00339" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 12. <i>samskirit bhâshâ padhi lînhâ</i></p>
<p id="id00340"> I have learned the Sanskrit language, so let all men call me<br/>
wise:<br/>
But where is the use of this, when I am floating adrift, and<br/>
parched with thirst, and burning with the heat of desire?<br/>
To no purpose do you bear on your head this load of pride and<br/>
vanity.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Lay it down in the dust, and go forth to meet the<br/>
Beloved. Address Him as your Lord."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00341" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCII</h3>
<p id="id00342" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 110. <i>carkhâ calai surat virahin kâ</i></p>
<p id="id00343"> The woman who is parted from her lover spins at the spinning<br/>
wheel.<br/>
The city of the body arises in its beauty; and within it the<br/>
palace of the mind has been built.<br/>
The wheel of love revolves in the sky, and the seat is made of<br/>
the jewels of knowledge:<br/>
What subtle threads the woman weaves, and makes them fine with<br/>
love and reverence!<br/>
Kabîr says: "I am weaving the garland of day and night. When my<br/>
Lover comes and touches me with His feet, I shall offer Him my<br/>
tears."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00344" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCIII</h3>
<p id="id00345" style="margin-top: 2em"> III. 111. <i>kotîn bhânu candra târâgan</i></p>
<p id="id00346"> Beneath the great umbrella of my King millions of suns and moons<br/>
and stars are shining!<br/>
He is the Mind within my mind: He is the Eye within mine eye.<br/>
Ah, could my mind and eyes be one! Could my love but reach to my<br/>
Lover! Could but the fiery heat of my heart be cooled!<br/>
Kabîr says: "When you unite love with the Lover, then you have<br/>
love's perfection."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00347" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCIV</h3>
<p id="id00348" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 92. <i>avadhû begam des' hamârâ</i></p>
<p id="id00349"> O sadhu! my land is a sorrowless land.<br/>
I cry aloud to all, to the king and the beggar, the emperor and<br/>
the fakir—<br/>
Whosoever seeks for shelter in the Highest, let all come and<br/>
settle in my land!<br/>
Let the weary come and lay his burdens here!<br/></p>
<p id="id00350"> So live here, my brother, that you may cross with ease to that<br/>
other shore.<br/>
It is a land without earth or sky, without moon or stars;<br/>
For only the radiance of Truth shines in my Lord's Durbar.<br/>
Kabîr says: "O beloved brother! naught is essential save Truth."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00351" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCV</h3>
<p id="id00352" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 109. <i>sâîn ke sangat sâsur âî</i></p>
<p id="id00353"> Came with my Lord to my Lord's home: but I lived not with Him and<br/>
I tasted Him not, and my youth passed away like a dream.<br/>
On my wedding night my women-friends sang in chorus, and I was<br/>
anointed with the unguents of pleasure and pain:<br/>
But when the ceremony was over, I left my Lord and came away, and<br/>
my kinsman tried to console me upon the road.<br/>
Kabîr says, "I shall go to my Lord's house with my love at my<br/>
side; then shall I sound the trumpet of triumph!"<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00354" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCVI</h3>
<p id="id00355" style="margin-top: 2em"> I. 75. <i>samajh dekh man mît piyarwâ</i></p>
<p id="id00356"> O friend, dear heart of mine, think well! if you love indeed,<br/>
then why do you sleep?<br/>
If you have found Him, then give yourself utterly, and take Him<br/>
to you.<br/>
Why do you loose Him again and again?<br/>
If the deep sleep of rest has come to your eyes, why waste your<br/>
time making the bed and arranging the pillows?<br/>
Kabîr says: "I tell you the ways of love! Even though the head<br/>
itself must be given, why should you weep over it?"<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00357" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCVII</h3>
<p id="id00358" style="margin-top: 2em"> II. 90. <i>sâhab ham men, sâhab tum men</i></p>
<p id="id00359"> The Lord is in me, the Lord is in you, as life is in every seed.<br/>
O servant! put false pride away, and seek for Him within you.<br/>
A million suns are ablaze with light,<br/>
The sea of blue spreads in the sky,<br/>
The fever of life is stilled, and all stains are washed away;<br/>
when I sit in the midst of that world.<br/>
Hark to the unstruck bells and drums! Take your delight in love!<br/>
Rains pour down without water, and the rivers are streams of<br/>
light.<br/>
One Love it is that pervades the whole world, few there are who<br/>
know it fully:<br/>
They are blind who hope to see it by the light of reason, that<br/>
reason which is the cause of separation—<br/>
The House of Reason is very far away!<br/>
How blessed is Kabîr, that amidst this great joy he sings within<br/>
his own vessel.<br/>
It is the music of the meeting of soul with soul;<br/>
It is the music of the forgetting of sorrows;<br/>
It is the music that transcends all coming in and all going<br/>
forth.<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00360" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCVIII</h3>
<p id="id00361" style="margin-top: 2em"> II. 98. <i>ritu phâgun niyarânî</i></p>
<p id="id00362"> The month of March draws near: ah, who will unite me to my Lover?<br/>
How shall I find words for the beauty of my Beloved? For He is<br/>
merged in all beauty.<br/>
His colour is in all the pictures of the world, and it bewitches<br/>
the body and the mind.<br/>
Those who know this, know what is this unutterable play of the<br/>
Spring.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Listen to me, brother' there are not many who have<br/>
found this out."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00363" style="margin-top: 3em"> XCIX</h3>
<p id="id00364" style="margin-top: 2em"> II. 111. <i>Nârad, pyâr so antar nâhî</i></p>
<p id="id00365"> Oh Narad! I know that my Lover cannot be far:<br/>
When my Lover wakes, I wake; when He sleeps, I sleep.<br/>
He is destroyed at the root who gives pain to my Beloved.<br/>
Where they sing His praise, there I live;<br/>
When He moves, I walk before Him: my heart yearns for my Beloved.<br/>
The infinite pilgrimage lies at His feet, a million devotees are<br/>
seated there.<br/>
Kabîr says: "The Lover Himself reveals the glory of true love."<br/></p>
<h3 id="id00366" style="margin-top: 3em"> C</h3>
<p id="id00367" style="margin-top: 2em"> II. 122. <i>kôî prem kî peng jhulâo re</i></p>
<p id="id00368"> Hang up the swing of love to-day! Hang the body and the mind<br/>
between the arms of the Beloved, in the ecstasy of love's joy:<br/>
Bring the tearful streams of the rainy clouds to your eyes, and<br/>
cover your heart with the shadow of darkness:<br/>
Bring your face nearer to His ear, and speak of the deepest<br/>
longings of your heart.<br/>
Kabîr says: "Listen to me, brother! bring the vision of the<br/>
Beloved in your heart."<br/></p>
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