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Fri 11 Jun, 2010 12:20 pm
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
Kahlil Gibran
@Miller,
Back in the days of my youth in the '60s, Khalil Gibran's poetry was as popular as the Harry Potter books of today. I enjoy his words.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalil_Gibran
This website houses the complete works of Lebanese-American author Kahlil Gibran as well as pictures of his museum and hometown in Lebanon.
http://leb.net/~mira/
This was one of my favorites from his book, The Prophet:
Quote:Children
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
i'll never forget the time Rocky and Bullwinkle found a toy boat covered in rubies, with the name "Omar Kayam" inscribed on the side.
it was of course, the Ruby Yacht of Omar Kayam.
Pleasure is a freedom-song:
But it is not freedom.
It is the blossoming of your desires,
but it is not their fruit.
It is a depth calling unto a height,
but it is not the deep nor the high.
It is the caged taking wing,
but it is not space encompassed.
Go to your fields and your gardens,
and you shall learn that it is the pleasure
of the bee to gather honey of the flower,
but it is also the pleasure of the
flower to yield to the bee.
For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,
and to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,
and to both bee and flower the giving
and the receiving of pleasure
is a need and an ecstasy.
Kahlil Gibran
Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood.
Kahlil Gibran
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill 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 meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
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