PagineOn this tree is a bird
by Kabir
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore (1915) · From Songs of Kabir, XXX
On this tree is a bird: it dances in the joy of life. None knows where it is: and who knows what the burden of its music may be?
Where the branches throw a deep shade, there does it have its nest: and it comes in the evening and flies away in the morning, and says not a word of that which it means.
None tell me of this bird that sings within me.
It is neither coloured nor colourless: it has neither form nor outline:
It sits in the shadow of love.
It dwells within the Unattainable, the Infinite, and the Eternal; and no one marks when it comes and goes.
Kabîr says: "O brother Sadhu! deep is the mystery. Let wise men seek to know where rests that bird."
This poem and this translation are in the public domain. Source text: Project Gutenberg.