Poetry Codex

Indian

Kabir

c. 1440–1518

Kabir was a Hindi-language mystic poet and weaver of Benares (Varanasi), traditionally dated c. 1440 to 1518. Born, by tradition, into a Muslim weaving family, he is said to have received initiation from the Hindu teacher Ramananda, and he rejected the claims of both Hindu and Muslim orthodoxy in favour of direct devotion to a single, formless God.

His short songs and couplets were transmitted orally and later collected in the Bijak, the Adi Granth of the Sikhs and other anthologies. The English Songs of Kabir (1915) were rendered by Rabindranath Tagore with the help of Evelyn Underhill, who wrote the introduction; this edition gives the hundred songs of that volume.

Poems (100)

  1. Song I: O servant, where dost thou seek Me?
  2. Song II: It is needless to ask of a saint the caste to which he belongs;
  3. Song III: O friend! hope for Him whilst you live, know whilst you live
  4. Song IV: Do not go to the garden of flowers!
  5. Song V: Tell me, Brother, how can I renounce Maya?
  6. Song VI: The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:
  7. Song VII: When He Himself reveals Himself
  8. Song VIII: Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves
  9. Song IX: O How may I ever express that secret word?
  10. Song X: To Thee Thou hast drawn my love, O Fakir!
  11. Song XI: I played day and night with my comrades, and now I am greatly afraid.
  12. Song XII: Tell me, O Swan, your ancient tale.
  13. Song XIII: O Lord Increate, who will serve Thee?
  14. Song XIV: The river and its waves are one
  15. Song XV: Where Spring, the lord of the seasons, reigneth
  16. Song XVI: Between the poles of the conscious and the unconscious
  17. Song XVII: The light of the sun, the moon, and the stars shines bright:
  18. Song XVIII: The middle region of the sky, wherein the spirit dwelleth
  19. Song XIX: O my heart! the Supreme Spirit, the great Master, is near you: wake
  20. Song XX: To what shore would you cross, O my heart
  21. Song XXI: Lamps burn in every house, O blind one! and you cannot see them.
  22. Song XXII: O brother, my heart yearns for that true Guru
  23. Song XXIII: The shadows of evening fall thick and deep
  24. Song XXIV: More than all else do I cherish at heart that love which makes me to…
  25. Song XXV: My Lord hides Himself, and my Lord wonderfully reveals Himself:
  26. Song XXVI: All things are created by the Om;
  27. Song XXVII: It is the mercy of my true Guru that has made me to know the unknown;
  28. Song XXVIII: Before the Unconditioned, the Conditioned dances: "Thou and I are one
  29. Song XXIX: Gorakhnath asks Kabîr:
  30. Song XXX: On this tree is a bird: it dances in the joy of life
  31. Song XXXI: A sore pain troubles me day and night, and I cannot sleep;
  32. Song XXXII: Dance, my heart! dance to-day with joy.
  33. Song XXXIII: Where is the need of words, when love has made drunken the heart?
  34. Song XXXIV: How could the love between Thee and me sever?
  35. Song XXXV: My body and my mind are grieved for the want of Thee;
  36. Song XXXVI: O friend, awake, and sleep no more!
  37. Song XXXVII: Where is the night, when the sun is shining? If it is night
  38. Song XXXVIII: The lock of error shuts the gate, open it with the key of love: Thus
  39. Song XXXIX: O friend! this body is His lyre; He tightens its strings
  40. Song XL: He is dear to me indeed who can call back the wanderer to his home
  41. Song XLI: O sadhu! the simple union is the best
  42. Song XLII: There is nothing but water at the holy bathing places
  43. Song XLIII: I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty:
  44. Song XLIV: The Hidden Banner is planted in the temple of the sky
  45. Song XLV: Who are you, and whence do you come?
  46. Song XLVI: O sadhu! purify your body in the simple way.
  47. Song XLVII: There is a strange tree
  48. Song XLVIII: I have stilled my restless mind, and my heart is radiant
  49. Song XLIX: That which you see is not: and for that which is, you have no words.
  50. Song L: The flute of the Infinite is played without ceasing
  51. Song LI: Dear friend, I am eager to meet my Beloved! My youth has flowered
  52. Song LII: When I am parted from my Beloved, my heart is full of misery
  53. Song LIII: What is that flute whose music thrills me with joy?
  54. Song LIV: Have you not heard the tune which the Unstruck Music is playing
  55. Song LV: Subtle is the path of love!
  56. Song LVI: He is the real Sadhu
  57. Song LVII: Receive that Word from which the Universe springeth!
  58. Song LVIII: Empty the Cup! O be drunken!
  59. Song LIX: O man, if thou dost not know thine own Lord
  60. Song LX: The savour of wandering in the ocean of deathless life has rid me of…
  61. Song LXI: When at last you are come to the ocean of happiness
  62. Song LXII: Who has ever taught the widowed wife to burn herself on the pyre of…
  63. Song LXIII: Why so impatient, my heart?
  64. Song LXIV: Now hard it is to meet my Lord!
  65. Song LXV: O brother! when I was forgetful, my true Guru showed me the Way.
  66. Song LXVI: The Yogi dyes his garments
  67. Song LXVII: I do not know what manner of God is mine.
  68. Song LXVIII: I hear the melody of His flute, and I cannot contain myself:
  69. Song LXIX: If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?
  70. Song LXX: He who is meek and contented., he who has an equal vision
  71. Song LXXI: Go thou to the company of the good
  72. Song LXXII: The jewel is lost in the mud, and all are seeking for it;
  73. Song LXXIII: The palanquin came to take me away to my husband's home
  74. Song LXXIV: O my heart! you have not known all the secrets of this city of love
  75. Song LXXV: The Vedas say that the Unconditioned stands beyond the world of…
  76. Song LXXVI: Open your eyes of love
  77. Song LXXVII: O my heart! let us go to that country where dwells the Beloved
  78. Song LXXVIII: Kabîr says: "O Sadhu! hear my deathless words
  79. Song LXXIX: I am neither pious nor ungodly, I live neither by law nor by sense,
  80. Song LXXX: The true Name is like none other name!
  81. Song LXXXI: In the beginning was He alone, sufficient unto Himself: the formless
  82. Song LXXXII: Kabîr ponders and says: "He who has neither caste nor country
  83. Song LXXXIII: The harp gives forth murmurous music
  84. Song LXXXIV: The Beggar goes a-begging, but
  85. Song LXXXV: My heart cries aloud for the house of my lover
  86. Song LXXXVI: Serve your God, who has come into this temple of life!
  87. Song LXXXVII: Clouds thicken in the sky! O
  88. Song LXXXVIII: This day is dear to me above all other days
  89. Song LXXXIX: Is there any wise man who will listen to that solemn music which…
  90. Song XC: To whom shall I go to learn about my Beloved?
  91. Song XCI: I have learned the Sanskrit language, so let all men call me wise:
  92. Song XCII: The woman who is parted from her lover spins at the spinning wheel.
  93. Song XCIII: Beneath the great umbrella of my King millions of suns and moons and…
  94. Song XCIV: O sadhu! my land is a sorrowless land.
  95. Song XCV: Came with my Lord to my Lord's home
  96. Song XCVI: O friend, dear heart of mine, think well! if you love indeed
  97. Song XCVII: The Lord is in me, the Lord is in you, as life is in every seed
  98. Song XCVIII: The month of March draws near: ah, who will unite me to my Lover?
  99. Song XCIX: Oh Narad! I know that my Lover cannot be far:
  100. Song C: Hang up the swing of love to-day

See Kabir in the full archive →