Saints have described the Master with similes from nature and daily life in order to bring out his various qualities and the spiritual benefits he bestows on the disciple. Here Kabir says the Master is a grinder who removes the rust of ingrained habits and superstitions; he puts the disciple on the hone of Naam and purifies his mind. Like a washerman, he cleanses the disciple's mind of all worldly attachments, and like a potter, he molds the disciple's mind and soul into a vessel fit to contain the elixir of spiritual bliss. Like a blacksmith, he heats the iron of the disciple's mind to remove its impurities and shape it into an instrument of spiritual utility. The Master is a beacon of spirituality and the disciple coming in contact with him is spiritually illumined. Like the philosophers' stone he completely transforms the disciple, and like the banker he judges the worth of the disciple and admits him into the Lord's treasury.

In the end Kabir identifies the Master with Shabd or the Word when he calls him the ship of Shabd. He further says that the Master and God are one, therefore all attempts to describe him are incomplete because one cannot say that the Master is a man and not God, nor that he is God and not a man, for he is both God and man at the same time.

Submit yourself to the Master
— The adept grinder —
Let him burnish your mind;
He'll remove all layers of rust,
Like a mirror it will shine.

K.S.S., p. 3:24

Disciple is the sword,
Master, the grindstone;
He'll put the disciple
On the hone of Naam —
If he bears the scouring by Shabd
And still stays firm
At the Master's feet,
He will emerge a disciple
Pure and bright.

K.S.S., p. 3:25

K.S.S., p. 3:26

Master is the potter,
Disciple, the pot;
The Master puts him on the wheel
And removes his rough corners —
He raps the pot on the outside
But inside keeps
His hand of support.

K.S.S., p. 3:27

I met the true Master
As hot iron meets the blacksmith:
He put me under the hammer
And brought out my essence;
He made me pure gold.

K.G., p. 3:28

Master is the magic stone,
Approach him
With humility and care;
He is the burning candle
To which neighbours come
To light their candles
From its flame.

K.S.S., p. 10:113

K.S.S., p. 10:116

The Master is the ship of Shabd,
Only few know of his state;
When the drop and the Ocean are one,
How can I say, he is this, not That?

K.S.S., p. 10:118