#kahlil gibran
They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold; and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price.
Khalil Gibran, Sand and Foam
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
― Kahlil Gibran
Artwork by Evelyn Bencicova
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And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “ay.”
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
Kahlil Gibran, “On Friendship”
I belong to only me…
“Love has no desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you 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.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and mediate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at evetide with gratitude;
And then sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.”
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“To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving…”
~Kahlil Gibran
(Photo © dramoor 2019 Near Slumgullion Pass, Colorado)
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About:
The Garden of the Prophet was written by the Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran and published in 1933. This book was intended as a sequel to The Prophet, intending to be a book about man’s relationship to nature instead of his relationship with man. Gibran died before he could complete the book and it ended up being edited and published by his friend. There is some controversy about that as the friend took many liberties. For instance she created a loose framework where the prophet Almustafa returns to his home land and speaks his words of wisdom to his nine disciples. The words were Gibran’s own, but not the framework.
Did I Like It?:
While this was not as coherent as the first book ( which I think makes sense noting Gibran couldn’t finish this) I did find plenty of beautiful quotes and wisdom in this little book. Gibran is a writer who had such wonderful things to say about life, nature and the divine. It’s an awakening experience to read his words. Even though this didn’t flow together or was as perfectly organized as The Prophet, I enjoyed much of what Almustafa had to say.
Do I Recommend This?:
Yes, if you’ve already read The Prophet I think you would enjoy this for sure. If you haven’t though, do read The Prophet! It’s amazing. If you like prose and are interested in spiritual and philosophical writing, it’s a must read. Some passages may stick with you all your life.
~Katie
“Tell a lovely truth in little words, but never an ugly truth in any words.”
- The Garden of the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
“To follow Beauty even when she shall lead you to the verge of the precipice; and though she is wingèd and you are wing-less, and though she shall pass beyond the verge, follow her, for where Beauty is not, there is nothing.”
-The Garden of the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
“Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.”
-Kahlil Gibran
