Devotees who are engrossed in the practice of Naam and have attained self-realization do not bother about anything else. They become truly humble and fail to see anything bad in others. But among the worldly, says Kabir, there are few who do not indulge in talking ill of others. A devotee should have affection and regard even for the slanderer, for according to the Saints, critics are a devotee's best friends. They make him aware of his faults and through their own malice lighten the burden of his karmas and thus make him clean.

The couplets selected here praise the slanderer for his cleansing role, but at the same time warn a devotee never to indulge in maligning others. If he is inclined to find fault, he should try to realize his own shortcomings and reform himself. Like the bumblebee that looks only at the nectar in flowers and not at their shape, size, colour or fragrance, the devotee should see the One Lord present in everyone.

Kabir, those miserable ones
Indulge in slander
Who have not attained knowledge;
But those intoxicated
By the Lord's Name
Relish nothing else.

K.G., p. 65:1

Men laugh and make fun
Of others' shortcomings
But never look at their own,
Which are countless, not few.

K.G. ,p. 65:2

Keep the slanderer near,
Give him a hut in your yard,
For without water, without soap,
He will wash you and make you clean.

K.G., p. 65:3

K.G., p. 65:4

May my slanderer never die,
May he for ages live;
Kabir realized his Master
Through the slanderer's kind words.

K.S.S., p. 160:3

I have scanned the seven seas
And the vast Jambu Deep;
Hardly a person could I find
Who does not love to malign.

K.S.S., p. 161:7

Kabir, never malign
Even the bit of straw
That lies under your feet;
Some day it may fly up
And land in your eyes—
The pain will remind you
That nothing is worthless
In this world.

K.G., p. 65:6

K.G., p. 65:5

Praise not your own self
Nor speak ill of others;
There is still a long way to go —
Who knows what may happen tomorrow.

K.G., p. 65:7 fn

Praise not your own self
Nor call others bad;
Who knows under which desolate tree
Your carcass will rot
And turn into a heap of bones

K.G., p. 65:7

Kabir, I set out
To find an evil person
But could not find
A single one;
When my own heart I searched
I found out
There is none worse than me.

K.S.S., p. 141:11

I am the worst of all,
All are better than me;
One who realizes this
Is a friend of Kabir.

K.S.S., p. 141:12

K.G., p. 43:3