Kabeerdaas ji is categorized as a saint but his thoughts and compositions are not confined to religion, spirituality, meditation and bhajans alone.  He also deals with worldly life – the character and behaviour of individuals; practices (and malpractices) rampant in society; evils of caste system which divides people into ‘high’ and ‘low’ classes, etc.  He also goes in depth in denouncing superstitions and hypocrisy prevalent in practice of religions and sects in general.  He considers them as obstructions in the way of health, peace and happiness of society.  We should take all these things into account if we want to understand and interpret Kabeerdaas ji’s poetry correctly.

— Kusum Banthia

हिन्दी में पढ़िये

पानी केरा बुदबुदा , अस मानुस की जात ।
देखत ही छुप जायेगी ज्यों तारा परभात ।।

Talking about the transience of human life, Kabeerdaas ji likens it to bubbles formed on water. Just as the bubbles disappear within a few moments of formation, or the stars in the morning sky fade away in no time, the duration of man’s life in this world is also very short. Kabeerdaas ji is drawing attention to the fact that coming into this world, we get caught in the maze of glamour and infatuation, attachment and desire so much so that we fail to take some time off for the upliftment of our spiritual side. We should keep in mind that the span of life is very short and if we want to do something for betterment of our souls or of this world, we should not leave it for later on but do it immediately.

दुख में सुमिरन सब करैं , सुख में करै न कोय ।
जो सुख में सुमिरन करै , दुख काहे को होय ।।

Dukh men sumiran sab karain, sukh men kare na koy
Jo sukh men sumiran karai, dukh kaahe ko hoy

A person immersed in worldly pleasures does not think of God, nor does he realise that his happiness and pleasure have, in themselves, come to him through grace of God alone. But when trouble or pain strike him, he calls out to God for help. Kabeer says that if he had (gratefully) remembered God even in his happy days, he would not have had to face sorrow at all. Kabeer implies that through devotion to God, his mind would have become clean and calm; he would always have taken the path of righteousness and so would never ever have had occasion to grieve.