I
I feel like laughing
When I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.
In shallow seas and ocean depths, he searches.
He wanders with sadness in his heart.
One goes to the Ka’ba, another to Kashi.
Without knowledge of the soul, man aimlessly roams.
Kabir says: ‘Listen, o brotherly saint,
It is the innate spirit that will meet the imperishable Lord.’
II
What is to be done tomorrow, do it today; what is to be done today, do it
now.
If the moment is met with destruction, then when will it happen?
To ask is akin to dying, do not ask or beg from others.
It is better to die than to ask, this is the teaching of the True Guide.
Where there is the ego, there is adversity.
Where there is doubt, there is insalubrity.
So says Kabir:
How can the four illnesses be removed, save though patience?
III
O mind! Have love for the Master.
When His refuge arrives, each one is saved:
such are the ways of the Lord.
Witnessing the body’s beauty, do not be forgetful of the Lord,
no different is it to the dew on the grass.
The physical form is raw—and in the end, it rests fallen,
like the sand of a torn-down wall.
Do not allow birth to cycle the wheels repeatedly:
caste, life—all will pass.
Kabir says thus, climbing upon the fort of the body,
and drumming a victory drum.
Kabir (1398–1518) was an Indian mystical poet celebrated by Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims alike. He suggested that truth is located within the person who walks the path of righteousness and regards every living and non-living thing as divine. The emphasis of his philosophy was on dissolving the ego. Kabir has large groups of followers in India who function much like tariqas in Sufism. The poems are translated by I. A. Visram, a doctoral candidate in the study of religion at the University of Oxford.