Kabir · Rumi - Rumi quotes and Rumi Poems

Songs of Kabir

Songs of Kabir
by Rabindranath Tagore (Translator),
Andrew Harvey (Introduction)

I. 58 bago na ja re na ja

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.

LII

I. 130. sain vin dard kareje hoy

WHEN I am parted from my Beloved, my heart is full of misery: I have no confort in the day, I have no sleep in the night.
To whom shall I tell my sorrow?
The night is dark; the hours slip by.
Because my Lord is absent, I start up and tremble with fear.
Kabir says: “Listen, my friend! there is no other satisfaction, save in the encounter with the Beloved.”

LIII

I. 122. kaum murali ‘sabad ‘sun anand bhayo

WHAT is thea flute whose music thrills me with joy?
The flame burns without a lamp;
The lotus blossoms without a root;
Flowers bloom in clusters;
the moon-bird is devoted to the moon;
With all its heart the rain-bird longs for the shower of rain;
But upon whose love does the Lover concentrate His entire life?

LIV

I. 112. ‘sunta nahi dhun ki khabar

HAVE you not heard the tune with the Unstruck Music is playing? In the mist of the chamber the harp of joy is gently and sweetly played; and where is the need of going without to hear it?

If you have not drunk of the nectar of One Love, what boots it though you should purge yourself of all stains?

The Kazi is searching the words of the Koran, and instructing others: but if his heard be not steeped in that love, what does it avail, though he be a teacher of men?

The Yogi dyes his garments with red: but if he knows naught of that colour of love, what does it avail though his garments be tinted?

Kabir says: “Whether I be in the temple or the balcony, in the camp or in the flower garden, I tell you truly that every moment my Lord is taking His delight in me.”

I. 73. bhakti ka marag jhina re

SUBTLE is the path of love!
Therein there is no asking and no not-asking,
There one loses one’s self at His feet,
There one is immersed in the joy of the seeking: plunged in the deeps of love as the fish in the water.
The lover is never slow in offering his head for his Lord’s service.
Kabir declares the secret of this love.

LVI

I. 68. bhai koi satguru sant kahawai

HE is the real Sadhu, who can reveal the form of the Formless to the vision of these eyes:
Who teaches the simple way of attaining Him, that is other than rites or ceremonies:
Who does not make you close the doors, and hold the rath, and renounce the world:
Who teaches you to be still in the midst of all your activities.
Ever immersed in bliss, having no fear in his mind, he keeps the spirit of union in the midst of all enjoyments.
The infinite dwelling of the Infinity Being is everywhere: in earth, water, sky, and air:
Firm as the thunderbolt, the seat of the seeker is establishes above the void.
He who is within is without: I see Him and none else.

Songs of Kabir

Further Reading: