Rabindranath Tagore Quotes

Those who wish to sit, shut their eyes,
and meditate to know if the world's true or lies,
may do so. It's their choice. But I meanwhile
with hungry eyes that can't be satisfied
shall take a look at the world in broad daylight.

المديح يخجلني، مع أنني أسعى إليه سرًا

I have read in books that we are called 'caged birds'. I cannot speak for others, but I had so much in this cage of mine that there was not room for it in the universe- at least that is what I then felt.

حين يمتد الليل ساكناً .. وتسري النجوم نجماً في إثر نجم .. سأفتح الرسالة على ركبتيّ وألوذ بالصمت .. لم يتأت لي أن أحظى بما أبحث عنه .. لم أستطع أن أفهم ما أتشوق إلى معرفته .. لكن هذه الرسالة التي لم تتم لي قراءتها قد خففت من أعبائي وأحالت أفكاري إلى أغنيات ...

Where roads are made I lose my way.

In the wide water, in the blue sky there is no line of a track.

The pathway is hidden by the birds' wings, by the star-fires, by the flowers of the wayfaring seasons.

And I ask my heart if its blood carries the wisdom of the unseen way.

When I go from hence, let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable.
I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus that expands on the ocean of light, and thus I am blessed — let this be my parting word.
In this playhouse of infinite forms I have had my play and here have I caught sight of him who is formless.
My whole body and my limbs have thrilled with his touch who is beyond touch; and if the end comes here, let it come — let this be my parting word.

أكثر الأشياء روعة على الأرض
أشياء خجلة
تتجنب أن تقع عليها عيون الناس !

إن لم تتكلم ، فسأتحمل ، في الحق ، صمتك ، وسأملأ
به قلبي .
سأنتظر ساكناً ، في الليلة المتلاحمة النجوم ، ورأسي
حانٍ مطرق .
سيقبل الفجر ، بلا ريب ، وستنقشع الظلمة ،
وسيسيل صوتك في رعشات مذهبة تنسرب عبر السماء .
حينذاك ، ستتّسق كلماتك في أغنيات حول أي عش
من أعشاشي وتتشقّق أغنياتك زهوراً في جميع منعطفات
غاباتي.

I leave no trace of wings in the air, but I am glad that I had my flight

In learning a language, when from mere words we reach the laws of words, we have gained a great deal. But if we stop at that point and concern ourselves only with the marvels of the formation of a language, seeking the hidden reason of all its apparent caprices, we do not reach that end, for grammar is not literature… When we come to literature, we find that, though it conforms to the rules of grammar, it is yet a thing of joy; it is freedom itself. The beauty of a poem is bound by strict laws, yet it transcends them. The laws are its wings. They do not keep it weighed down. They carry it to freedom. Its form is in law, but its spirit is in beauty. Law is the first step toward freedom, and beauty is the complete liberation which stands on the pedestal of law. Beauty harmonizes in itself the limit and the beyond – the law and the liberty.

Night's darkness is a bag that bursts with the gold of the dawn.

And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well. (#95)

Knowledge is partial, because our intellect is an instrument, it is only a part of us, it can give us information about things which can be divided and analysed, and whose properties can be classified part by part. But Brahma is perfect, and knowledge which is partial can never be a knowledge of him.

Let your life lightly dance on the edges of
Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.

Love's gift cannot be given, it waits to be accepted.