In these couplets from the Adi Granth, Kabir warns man against ego and pride, for in this world of matter nothing is permanent. The ultimate reality behind youth, beauty and health is disease and death. Death is the final leveler, reducing young and old, beautiful and ugly, rich and poor, to the same state.

Kabir, be not proud of your body —
A sheet of skin stuffed with bones;
They who rode stately horses
Under canopies of gold
Now lie wrapped in earth.

Kabir, be not proud
Of your lofty mansions:
Today or tomorrow
The earth will be your bed
And grass will cover your head.

Kabir, be not proud
Nor sneer at the forlorn;
Your canoe is still in the sea,
Who knows what its fate will be?

Kabir, be not proud
Of your beauty and youth;
This day or the next
You will have to leave it,
Like a serpent its slough.

A.G., p. 1366:37-40