KABIR: LIFE AND POEMS Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith Kabir (meaning ‘great’) was born near Varanasi (Banaras), India, in 1398 A.D. and died towards the end of the 15th Century. He was brought up by an elderly Muslim weaver-couple named Niru and Nirna, having been abandoned shortly after birth. He learnt the same trade as his new parents and used the imagery of weaving often in his poems. It is said that he had a number of Gurus or spiritually perfected Masters. One was a Sufi Master named Sheikh Taqqi. The most famous was Ramanand, a Bhakti Master. Kabir wanted to become his disciple, but it was said that Ramanand only accepted Brahmins as disciples. Kabir refused to accept this. He devised a plan! One day he hid under the steps of the ghats where Ramanand would go to bathe early every morning. Ramanand stepped on the body of Kabir (as Kabir had hoped). The Master having trod on one of God’s creatures called out Ram, Ram, his personal mantra or prayer to God. Kabir, having obtained the prayer began to recite it and Ramanand on seeing the sincerity and cleverness of the young man accepted him as a disciple. Kabir strongly denounced the orthodox ways of religions: rituals and ceremonies. His quick wit and razor sharp tongue tore strips off the hypocritical theologians and priests. Kabir’s short teaching poems which are called sakhis (meaning ‘sayings’ or ‘witness’) are like short, hard, sharp punches at the heart - direct, full of power, they take your breath away for a moment, you see stars, they hurt for quite some time afterwards, they are a real shock to the system, to the intellect, the dishonesty we nurture inside ourselves. 120 pages .~Introduction to Bhakti Poets Series~ TULSIDAS, KABIR, VRIND, LALLA DED, RAHIM, VYASA, JAYADEVA (approx. 110-120 pages each… others to follow) Paul Smith (b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu, Hindi and other languages including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, ‘Attar, Sana’i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Mu’in, Amir Khusrau, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Lalla Ded, Mahsati, Baba Farid, Iqbal, Vrind, Rahim and others, and his own poetry, fiction, biographies, plays, children’s books and 12 screenplays. New Humanity Books amazon.com/author/smithpa
