Songs of Kabir — trans. Rabindranath Tagore, with an introduction by Evelyn Underhill (1915)

The true Name is like none other name!
The distinction of the Conditioned from the Unconditioned is but
a word:
The Unconditioned is the seed, the Conditioned is the flower and
the fruit.
Knowledge is the branch, and the Name is the root.
Look, and see where the root is: happiness shall be yours when
you come to the root.
The root will lead you to the branch, the leaf, the flower, and
the fruit:
It is the encounter with the Lord, it is the attainment of bliss,
it is the reconciliation of the Conditioned and the
Unconditioned.

LXXXI

III. 74. _pratham ek jo âpai âp_

In the beginning was He alone, sufficient unto Himself: the
formless, colourless, and unconditioned Being.
Then was there neither beginning, middle, nor end;
Then were no eyes, no darkness, no light;
Then were no ground, air, nor sky; no fire, water, nor earth; no
rivers like the Ganges and the Jumna, no seas, oceans, and waves.
Then was neither vice nor virtue; scriptures there were not, as
the Vedas and Puranas, nor as the Koran.
Kabîr ponders in his mind and says, "Then was there no activity:
the Supreme Being remained merged in the unknown depths of His
own self."
The Guru neither eats nor drinks, neither lives nor dies:
Neither has He form, line, colour, nor vesture.
He who has neither caste nor clan nor anything else--how may I
describe His glory?
He has neither form nor formlessness,
He has no name,
He has neither colour nor colourlessness,
He has no dwelling-place.

LXXXII

III. 76. _kahain Kabîr vicâr ke_

Kabîr ponders and says: "He who has neither caste nor country,
who is formless and without quality, fills all space."
The Creator brought into being the Game of Joy: and from the word
Om the Creation sprang.
The earth is His joy; His joy is the sky;
His joy is the flashing of the sun and the moon;
His joy is the beginning, the middle, and the end;
His joy is eyes, darkness, and light.
Oceans and waves are His joy: His joy the Sarasvati, the Jumna,
and the Ganges.
The Guru is One: and life and death., union and separation, are
all His plays of joy!
His play the land and water, the whole universe!
His play the earth and the sky!
In play is the Creation spread out, in play it is established.
The whole world, says Kabîr, rests in His play, yet still the
Player remains unknown.

LXXXIII

III. 84. _jhî jhî jantar bâjai_

The harp gives forth murmurous music; and the dance goes on without hands and feet. It is played without fingers, it is heard without ears: for He is the ear, and He is the listener. The gate is locked, but within there is fragrance: and there the meeting is seen of none. The wise shall understand it.

LXXXIV

III. 89. _mor phakîrwâ mângi jây_

The Beggar goes a-begging, but
I could not even catch sight of Him:
And what shall I beg of the Beggar He gives without my asking.
Kabîr says: "I am His own: now let that befall which may befall!"

LXXXV

III. 90. _naihar se jiyarâ phât re_

My heart cries aloud for the house of my lover; the open road and the shelter of a roof are all one to her who has lost the city of her husband. My heart finds no joy in anything: my mind and my body are distraught. His palace has a million gates, but there is a vast ocean between it and me: How shall I cross it, O friend? for endless is the outstretching of the path. How wondrously this lyre is wrought! When its strings are rightly strung, it maddens the heart: but when the keys are broken and the strings are loosened, none regard it more. I tell my parents with laughter that I must go to my Lord in the morning;

They are angry, for they do not want me to go, and they say: "She thinks she has gained such dominion over her husband that she can have whatsoever she wishes; and therefore she is impatient to go to him." Dear friend, lift my veil lightly now; for this is the night of love. Kabîr says: "Listen to me! My heart is eager to meet my lover: I lie sleepless upon my bed. Remember me early in the morning!"

LXXXVI

III. 96. _jîv mahal men S'iv pahunwâ_

Serve your God, who has come into this temple of life! Do not act the part of a madman, for the night is thickening fast. He has awaited me for countless ages, for love of me He has lost His heart: Yet I did not know the bliss that was so near to me, for my love was not yet awake. But now, my Lover has made known to me the meaning of the note that struck my ear: Now, my good fortune is come. Kabîr says: "Behold! how great is my good fortune! I have received the unending caress of my Beloved!"

LXXXVII

I. 71. _gagan ghatâ ghaharânî, sâdho_