The Prophet

by Kahlil Gibran

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

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.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

Much of your pain is self-chosen.

Your friend is your needs answered.

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.

beauty is life when life unveils her holy face. But you are life and you are the veil. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror.

Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When ever you enter into it take with you your all.

Man’s needs change, but not his love, nor his desire that his love should satisfy his needs.

For in that day you shall know the hidden purposes in all things, And you shall bless darkness as you would bless light.