Selection from Songs of Kabir, Part 1 of 2

WITHIN this earthen vessel are bowers and groves, and within it is the Creator. Within this vessel are the seven oceans and the unnumbered stars. The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within; And within this vessel the Eternal Soundeth, and spring wells up. Kabir says: “Listen to me, my Friend! My beloved Lord is within.”There the Unstruck Music sounds of itself; There the streams of light flow in all directions. Few are the men who can cross to that shore! Goddess of Music, play on the veena — There is my Lord self-revealed, and the scent of sandal and flowers dwells in those deeps. “The Formless is in the midst of all forms. I sing the glory of forms.”