| Saahib mera ek hai, duja kaha na jaaye,
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| Duja Saahib jo kahun, saahib khada rachaaye.
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| My Master is one, without a second,
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| If I see multiplicity, it is also my Master’s play.
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| Maali aavat dekh ke, kaliyaan kare pukar,
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| Phool phool chun liye, kaal hamari baar.
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| Seeing the Master Gardener, the buds whisper to each other:
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| Fully blossomed ones are plucked away, our appointed day is near.
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| Chhah gayi chinta miti, manva beparvah
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| Jinko kachu na chaiye, woh hi Shahenshah.
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| If cravings are dissolved, worries go, mind becomes free,
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| He who wants nothing is surely the king of all kings.
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| Het preet sun jo mile, ta ko miliye dhaaye
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| Antar raakhe jo mile, taase mile balaaye.
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| You hasten to meet the ones who meet You with love,
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| Those who meet You with a pure heart, have indeed found a Friend unmatched.
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| Kabira te nar andh hai, guru ko kehte aur,
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| Har roothe Guru chhod hain, Guru roothe nahi chhod.
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| Kabir says, blinds are they who realize not the value of a true Master.
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| One may seek the shelter of God after displeasing God,
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| But there is no refuge after one is refused at the door of a Master.
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| Karta tha to kyun raha, ab kahe pachhtaye,
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| Bove pe babool ka, aam kahan se hoye.
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| Heedless I committed innumerable wrongs, now I suffer,
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| Nurturing the thistles of a barren tree, can one expect mango?
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| Sab Dharti kaagad karun, lekhan sab ban raaye,
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| Saat samand ki muss karun, Guru gun likha na jaye.
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| If the entire earth is a writing tablet, all the forest be its pen,
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| all waters of seven seas be its ink — even then the Lord’s praises remain
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| unfinished.
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| Ab guru dil mein dekheya, gaavan ko kachhu naahin,
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| Kabira jab tum gaavate, tab jana Guru nahi.
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| Once the Lord is recognized within the heart, there is nothing left to be told,
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| Kabir, whenever you tried to utter the mysteries, the knowledge of your Master
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| vanishes.
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| Main laaga uss ek se, ek bhaya sab maahin,
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| Sab mera main saban ka, tihan doosara naahin.
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| I am attached with that One, the One who is with all,
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| When everyone is mine, and I am everyone’s, there ends all duality.
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| Ja marne se jag dare, mere man anand,
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| Kab mar hun kab paahun, puran parmanand.
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| The world trembles at the thought of death, but its a matter of joy for me,
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| When shall I die, when shall I find the perfect joy (of the vision of the
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| Beloved)?
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| Sab ban to chandan nahi, shoore ke dal nahi,
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| sab samundra moti nahi yun Sadhu jag mahi.
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| Neither all forests are of sandalwoods, nor all teams are full of valiant
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| warriors,
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| nor all seas are filled with pearls; |
| likewise the real gnostics of God are
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| truly rare.
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| Jab hum jag mein pag dharyo, sab hanse hum roye,
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| Kabira ab aisi kar chalo, paache hansi na hoye.
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| When you came to this mortal world, everyone around you were happy to see you
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| and you were the only one weeping.
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| Kabir, now be in this world such that none laugh at your behind
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| but you yourself depart the world laughing, leaving all weeping, mourning.
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| Agun kiye to bahu kiye, karat na mani haar,
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| Bhaven banda bhakshe, bhaaven gardan maar.
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| Tirelessly so many misdeeds have been committed,
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| Now that I’ve realized O Lord, do as You please.
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| Sadhu bhukha bhaav ka, dhan ka bhookha naahin,
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| Dhan ka bhookha jo phire, so to Saadhu nahi.
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| Having no appetite for material wealth, true saints are hungry only for love,
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| Those who thirst after material wealth are not saintly at all.
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| Saahib sun sab hott hai, bande te kachhu naahin,
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| Rai te parbat kare, parbat rai mahi.
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| Listen friend! |
| This world has nothing for you, vanity of vanities.
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| Seriously narrow is the passage to salvation, smaller even than the mustard
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| seed.
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| Jyun til mahi tel hai, jyun chakmak mein aag,
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| Tera Sain tujh mein base, jaag sake to jaag.
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| Oil is found Inside the sesame seed, inside flinstone is fire, like that
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| Your Lord is within, now awaken to That truth if you dare!
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| — from the Sufi Kalaam of Kabir, the Mystic Saint of Medieval India
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| (and with additional lines from original) |