The shadows of evening fall thick and deep, and the darkness of
love envelops the body and the mind.
Open the window to the west, and be lost in the sky of love;
Drink the sweet honey that steeps the petals of the lotus of the
heart.
Receive the waves in your body: what splendour is in the region
of the sea!
Hark! the sounds of conches and bells are rising.
Kabîr says: "O brother, behold! the Lord is in this vessel of my
body."



XXIV


II. 48. jis se rahani apâr jagat men

More than all else do I cherish at heart that love which makes me
to live a limitless life in this world.
It is like the lotus, which lives in the water and blooms in the
water: yet the water cannot touch its petals, they open beyond
its reach.
It is like a wife, who enters the fire at the bidding of love.
She burns and lets others grieve, yet never dishonours love.
This ocean of the world is hard to cross: its waters are very
deep. Kabîr says: "Listen to me, O Sadhu! few there are who
have reached its end."