Songs of Kabir — Song XXXVII
Songs of Kabir — Song XXXVII
Kabir
I. 36. _sûr parkâs', tanh rain kahân pâïye_
Where is the night, when the sun is shining? If it is night,
then the sun withdraws its light. Where knowledge is, can
ignorance endure?
If there be ignorance, then knowledge must die.
If there be lust, how can love be there? Where there is love,
there is no lust.
Lay hold on your sword, and join in the fight. Fight, O my
brother, as long as life lasts.
Strike off your enemy's head, and there make an end of him
quickly: then come, and bow your head at your King's Durbar.
He who is brave, never forsakes the battle: he who flies from it
is no true fighter.
In the field of this body a great war goes forward, against
passion, anger, pride, and greed:
It is in the kingdom of truth, contentment and purity, that this
battle is raging; and the sword that rings forth most loudly is
the sword of His Name.
Kabîr says: "When a brave knight takes the field, a host of
cowards is put to flight.
It is a hard fight and a weary one, this fight of the
truth-seeker: for the vow of the truth-seeker is more hard than
that of the warrior, or of the widowed wife who would follow her
husband.
For the warrior fights for a few hours, and the widow's struggle
with death is soon ended:
But the truth-seeker's battle goes on day and night, as long as
life lasts it never ceases."
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Complete 100-song 1915 English selection translated by Rabindranath Tagore. A selected edition, not the entire Kabir corpus. · Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
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