Khalil Gibran

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love
" And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them
And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,

Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn onto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth
And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of...

In the ancient days, when the first quiver of speech came to my lips,
I ascended the holy mountain and spoke unto God, saying, "Master,
I am thy slave
Thy hidden will is my law and I shall obey thee for ever more

As the Sun withdrew his rays from the garden, and the moon threw cushioned beams upon the flowers,
I sat under the trees pondering upon the phenomena of the atmosphere, looking through the branches at the strewn stars which glittered like chi...

And a man said, "Speak to us of Self-Knowledge
" And he answered, saying:
Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge

Then said a teacher, "Speak to us of Teaching
" And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among h...

And a woman spoke, saying, "Tell us of Pain
" And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you...

I am dotted silver threads dropped from heaven By the gods
Nature then takes me, to adorn Her fields and valleys
I am beautiful pearls, plucked from the Crown of Ishtar by the daughter of Dawn To embellish the gardens
When I cry the...

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself But if your love and must needs have desires,
Let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook That sings its melody to the night
To know the pain of too much tenderness

Then a priestess said, "Speak to us of Prayer
" And he answered, saying:
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance
For what is pray...

Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow
" And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears

Love is a magic ray emitted from the burning core of the soul and illuminating the surrounding earth
It enables us to perceive life as a beautiful dream between one awakening and another

Come, my beloved; let us walk amidst the knolls,
For the snow is water, and Life is alive from its Slumber and is roaming the hills and valleys
Let us follow the footprints of Spring into the Distant fields, and mount the hilltops to dra...

A young man of strong body, weakened by hunger, sat on the walker's portion of the street stretching his hand toward all who passed, begging and repeating his hand toward all who passed, begging and repeating the sad song of his defeat in life, wh...

Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death
" And he said:
You would know the secret of death
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life

Love one another, but make not a bond of love
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls
Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf