Religion

Song VI: The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:

by Kabir c. 1440–1518

Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill (1915) · From Songs of Kabir (1915)

Religion

The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:
The moon is within me, and so is the sun.
The unstruck drum of Eternity is sounded within me; but my deaf ears cannot hear it.

So long as man clamours for the I and the Mine, his works are as naught:
When all love of the I and the Mine is dead, then the work of the Lord is done.
For work has no other aim than the getting of knowledge:
When that comes, then work is put away.

The flower blooms for the fruit: when the fruit comes, the flower withers.
The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it wanders in quest of grass.

MLA

Kabir. “Song VI: The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/kabir/5/.

Chicago

Kabir. “Song VI: The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/kabir/5/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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