[Kabir, Bijak, Sabda 4, in The Bijak of Kabir, trans. by Linda Hess and Shukdev Singh]

Saints, I see the world is mad.
If I tell the truth they rush to beat me,
if I lie they trust me.
I've seen the pious Hindus, rule-followers,
early morning bath-takers,
killing souls; they worship rocks.
They know nothing.

I've seen plenty of Muslim teachers, holy men,
reading their holy books,
and teaching their pupils techniques.
They know just as much.

And posturing yogis, hypocrites,
hearts crammed with pride,
praying to brass, to stones, reeling,
with pride in their pilgrimage,
fixing their caps and their prayer-beads,
painting their brow-marks and arm-marks,
braying their hymns and their couplets,
reeling. They never heard of soul.

The Hindu says Ram is the beloved,
the Turk says Rahim.
Then they kill each other.
No one knows the secret.

They buzz their mantras from house to house, puffed with pride.
The pupils drown along with their gurus.
In the end they're sorry.
Kabir says, listen saints:
They're all deluded!
Whatever I say, nobody gets it.
It's too simple.