Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
My pilgrimage to Mecca is right here, on the banks of the Gomati River.
That is where my teacher in yellow robes lives.
This one says the holiest place is right where a heart turns to the One.
Haj hamaaree gomtee teer means "my Hajj is on the banks of the Gomati." The Hajj is the great pilgrimage Muslims make to the holy city of Mecca. The Gomati is a river in Kabir's own part of India. Jahaa baseh peetambar peer means "where the teacher in yellow robes lives."
In Kabir's time, people traveled huge distances to reach holy cities. Kabir honors that longing. He simply says his own holy place is close by, wherever true wisdom and the One are found.
Think of searching the whole town for the perfect place to feel peaceful, then finding it in a quiet corner of your own room. Kabir is saying the sacred is not only at the end of a long road. It is wherever a heart turns to the One. So you do not have to go anywhere special to be near what is holy.
Where do you feel closest to something bigger and holy — does it have to be a special faraway place?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI