II. 126. jâg piyârî, ab kân sowai
O friend, awake, and sleep no more!
The night is over and gone, would you lose your day also?
Others, who have wakened, have received jewels;
O foolish woman! you have lost all whilst you slept.
Your lover is wise, and you are foolish, O woman!
You never prepared the bed of your husband:
O mad one! you passed your time in silly play.
Your youth was passed in vain, for you did not know your Lord;
Wake, wake! See! your bed is empty: He left you in the night.
Kabîr says: "Only she wakes, whose heart is pierced with the
arrow of His music."
XXXVII
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."
XXXVIII
I. 50. bhram kâ tâlâ lagâ mahal re
The lock of error shuts the gate, open it with the key of love:
Thus, by opening the door, thou shalt wake the Beloved.
Kabîr says: "O brother! do not pass by such good fortune as
this."