In this poem the devotee's inner experiences are described with unusual metaphors. Through spiritual practice the devotee's soul goes into the inner regions, where it enjoys bliss without the aid of physical perception. In the higher regions the devotee obtains the pearl of love which dangles on a shining string — love sustained by divine grace. This love is not a physical instinct, nor is it experienced on a physical level.

In order to stress the purity and spiritual quality of this love, Kabir says that it is purified by the breeze of longing in the inner spiritual regions. The earth rains and the sky becomes wet; that is, mind and soul, which before were absorbed in earthly pleasures, have now reversed their attention, turned inwards and are attending to the melody and beauty of the inner regions. The sun and the moon are surat and nirat — the faculties of the soul to hear and see. At a stage on the inner journey these two faculties become one, even as the sound that the soul hears and the light it sees are two aspects of the same power — Shabd. When surat and nirat become one, only then the soul merges into Shabd.

The river or current of the soul goes through the tree of Brahm, and going further it enters into Shabd, the vessel of gold. Giving a general description of the inner regions, Kabir says that the soul comes into contact with the five melodies of Shabd, the five parrots; withered by the agony of long separation, the soul now blossoms. Originally parted from this region of supreme bliss, the soul has now regained its primal home.

Kindle within your heart
The flame of love for the Lord:
Dance without feet,
Without tongue, his praises sing,
Ever remain engrossed in Him.

Where pearls of rare beauty are formed
Without the raindrop,
Without mother-of-pearl,
Without even the sea;
Pearls that dangle
On the string of light;
Pearls washed by the luminous breeze
In the vault of the firmament,
Made pure and bright;
Where the ground rains
And the sky is drenched;
Where the sun and the moon
Join and become one;
Where the two unite
To fuse into one
In the glory of union;
Where immaculate swans
Play with delight
In the billows of eternal bliss;
Where the river flows into the tree
And flows further to fill
The radiant vessel of gold;
Where five parrots alight
And perch with joy,
And the wilderness blossoms
Into dazzling blooms of light.

From there I was once severed,
And there have I been attached again;
I've made the sky of supreme bliss
My everlasting abode.
Kabir, Thy slave, O Lord,
Was a wandering wayfarer;
With love and joy
He has trod the path
Back to Thee.

K.G., p. 137:280
Ihi bidhi rām su lyo lāi