
Kahlil Gibran {1883 - 1931} Selection of Works
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Spring of 1995

Kahlil Gibran

{1883 - 1931}

Selection of Works

Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Spring of 1995

Kahlil Gibran

from "Patterns of Happiness"

The whole earth is my birthplace and all humans are my brothers.

The major works of Kahlil Gibran should be browsed at least once by all students of life, for his insight into the world is one of depth. He has authored many books - the one possible best well known being "The Prophet". {See below ...}

In 1971 a small collection of quite short simple sayings of Kahlil Gibran's were selected and collated by Ben W. Whitley, illustrated by George Kauffman and published in a small booklet by Hallmark Editions. The following texts are taken from this collection, and are best reviewed as an introduction to the nature of Gibran's thinking, expression and vision. Artist, poet, and philosopher, was a prophet. Long before peace, brotherhood and ecology became issues of the day, Gibran told us of their importance. He spoke out for life.

The earth is like a beautiful bride who needs no man-made jewels to heighten her loveliness
but is content with the green verdure of her fields,
The golden sands of her seashores
and the precious stones of her mountains.

Humanity is a brilliant river
singing its way
and carrying with it
the mountain's secrets
into the heart of the sea.

We may change with the seasons
but the seasons will not change us.

The just is close to the people's hearts,
but the merciful is close to the heart of God.

My thought is a tender leaf
that sways in every direction
and find pleasure in its swayings.

A tree grown in a cave does not bear fruit.

Life is an island in an ocean of loneliness,
an island whose rocks are hopes,
whose trees are dreams,
whose flowers are solitude.

Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.

Does the song of the sea end at the shore
or in the hearts of those who listen to it?

Tomorrow never leaves a secret in the book of eternity.

Now I realise that the trees blossom in Spring
and bear fruit in Summer without seeking praise,
and they drop their leaves in Autumn
and become naked in winter without fearing shame.

Beauty is that which attracts the soul,
and that which loves to give and not to receive.

In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.

He who has not looked on Sorrow will never see Joy.

In the depth of my soul there is a wordless song.

Music is the language of the spirit.
It opens the secret of life
bringing peace,
abolishing strife.

Our appearance, our words, our actions are never greater than ourselves.
For the soul is our house, our eyes its windows, and our words its messengers.

Which one of us listens to the hymn of the brook when the tempest speaks?

Glorious intoxication of the soul is the reward of all who seek it in the bosom of nature.

God has given to each of us a spirit with wings,
wings on which to soar into the spacious firmament of Love and Freedom.

The Prophet

Chapter 2 - On Love

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:

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, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other 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 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.

The Prophet

Chapter 3 - On Marriage

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, Master?
And he answered saying:

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.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

The Prophet

Chapter 3 - On Children

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:

You 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.

Further References on the Web:

Full Text of "The Prophet"

The full 28 chapters of Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet" can be viewed at this site which has links to further literature including that of JRR Tolkien, the well known author of "Lord of the Rings" ....

"Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though I oft have passed them by,
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun. "