The company that a person keeps makes a deep impression on his mind. Association with cheats, drunkards and the immoral will pull one's mind down to their level. It is an accepted fact that most bad habits are acquired through the company of those who indulge in them. Saints, fully aware of the working of the human mind, know that evil company has a subtle degrading influence, inevitably marring a man's mind just as a rotten fruit spoils the fruits next to it. Kabir warns man of the pitfalls of bad company and through examples from folklore and nature says that those who wish to tread the path of devotion should avoid bad company.

The raindrop, pure in the sky,
Becomes dirty
In contact with earth:
Without good company
Man loses his essence,
His mettle;
He turns into slag
And ruins his worth.

K.G., p. 37:1

Seek not the company
Of the evil —
An iron bar will not float
Nor take you across the sea;
The drop of rain falls
On the roots of a plantain,
Into an oyster's shell
Or the mouth of a snake:
The results accord
With the company it keeps.

K.G., p. 37:2

K.G., p. 37:3

I'm wounded by the thorns
Of bad company,
Like the plantain tree
Near the jujube:
Each time the jujube
Moves its branches
The plantain is torn
By its thorns —
Lord rescue me from the company
Of those averse to Thee.

K.G., p. 37:4

'Me and mine' is the sign of death,
The company of the evil
Is the company of Kal;
Says Kabir: My friend,
Listen to the words
Of the God-intoxicated ones.

K.G., p. 37:5

The fly is caught in treacle,
Her wings are stuck;
She wrings her hands,
She beats her head,
But cannot free herself
From the treacle
That causes her ruin.

K.G., p. 37:6

K.G., p. 37:7

Who willfully turns
His face away from truth,
Who adores all that is false,
Spare me his company, Lord,
Even in my dreams.

K.G., p. 39:9