Collected Poetical Works of Kahlil Gibran

by Kahlil Gibran

  Sometimes it seems to me that He heard the murmuring pain of all things that grow in the sun, and that then He lifted them up and supported them, not only by His own knowledge, but also by disclosing to them their own power to rise and become whole.

  Yet He was not much concerned with Himself as a physician. He was rather preoccupied with the religion and the politics of this land. And this I regret, for first of all things we must needs be sound of body.

  But these Syrians, when they are visited by an illness, seek an argument rather than medicine.

  And pity it is that the greatest of all their physicians chose rather to be but a maker of speeches in the market-place.

  SIMON WHO WAS CALLED PETER

  When He and His Brother were Called

  I was on the shore of the Lake of Galilee when I first beheld Jesus my Lord and my Master.

  My brother Andrew was with me and we were casting out net into the waters.

  The waves were rough and high and we caught but few fish. And our hearts were heavy.

  Suddenly Jesus stood near us, as if He had taken form that very moment, for we had not seen Him approaching.

  He called us by our names, and He said, “If you will follow me I will lead you to an inlet where the fishes are swarming.”

  And as I looked at His face the net fell from my hands, for a flame kindled within me and I recognized Him.

  And my brother Andrew spoke and said, “We know all the inlets upon these shores, and we know also that on a windy day like this the fish seek a depth beyond our nets.”

  And Jesus answered, “Follow me to the shores of a greater sea. I shall make you fishers of men. And your net shall never be empty.”

  And we abandoned our boat and our net and followed Him.

  I myself was drawn by a power, viewless, that walked beside His person.

  I walked near Him, breathless and full of wonder, and my brother Andrew was behind us, bewildered and amazed.

  And as we walked on the sand I made bold and said unto Him, “Sir, I and my brother will follow your footsteps, and where you go we too will go. But if it please you to come to our house this night, we shall be graced by your visit. Our house is not large and our ceiling not high, and you will sit at but a frugal meal. Yet if you will abide in our hovel it will be to us a palace. And would you break bread with us, we in your presence were to be envied by the princes of the land.”

  And He said, “Yea, I will be your guest this night.”

  And I rejoiced in my heart. And we walked behind Him in silence until we reached our house.

  And as we stood at the threshold Jesus said, “Peace be to this house, and to those who dwell in it.”

  Then He entered and we followed Him.

  My wife and my wife’s mother and my daughter stood before Him and they worshipped Him; then they knelt before Him and kissed the hem of His sleeve.

  They were astonished that He, the chosen and the well beloved, had come to be our guest; for they had already seen Him by the River Jordan when John the Baptist had proclaimed Him before the people.

  And straightway my wife and my wife’s mother began to prepare the supper.

  My brother Andrew was a shy man, but his faith in Jesus was deeper than my faith.

  And my daughter, who was then but twelve year old, stood by Him and held His garment as if she were in fear He would leave us and go out again into the night. She clung to Him like a lost sheep that has found its shepherd.

  Then we sat at the board, and He broke the bread and poured the wine; and He turned to us saying, “My friends, grace me now in sharing this food with me, even as the Father has graced us in giving it unto us.”

  These words He said ere He touched a morsel, for He wished to follow an ancient custom that the honoured guest becomes the host.

  And as we sat with Him around the board we felt as if we were sitting at the feast of the great King.

  My daughter Petronelah, who was young and unknowing, gazed at His face and followed the movements of His hands. And I saw a veil of tears in her eyes.

  When He left the board we followed Him and sat about Him in the vine-arbour.

  And He spoke to us and we listened, and our hearts fluttered within us like birds.

  He spoke of the second birth of man, and of the opening of the gates of the heavens; and of angels descending and bringing peace and good cheer to all men, and of angels ascending to the throne bearing the longings of men to the Lord God.

  Then He looked into my eyes and gazed into the depths of my heart. And He said, “I have chosen you and your brother, and you must needs come with me. You have laboured and you have been heavy-laden. Now I shall give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn of me, for in my heart is peace, and your soul shall find abundance and a home-coming.”

  When He spoke thus I and my brother stood up before Him, and I said to Him, “Master, we will follow you to the ends of the earth. And if our burden were as heavy as the mountain we would bear it with you in gladness. And should we fall by the wayside we shall know that we have fallen on the way to heaven, and we shall be satisfied.”

  And my brother Andrew spoke and said, “Master, we would be threads between your hands and your loom. Weave us into the cloth if you will, for we would be in the raiment of the Most High.”

  And my wife raised her face, and the tears were upon her cheeks and she spoke with joy, and she said, “Blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breast that gave you milk.”

  And my daughter, who was but twelve years old, sat at His feet and she nestled close to Him.

  And the mother of my wife, who sat at the threshold, said no word. She only wept in silence and her shawl was wet with her tears.

  Then Jesus walked over to her and He raised her face to His face and He said to her, “You are the mother of all these. You weep for joy, and I will keep your tears in my memory.”

  And now the old moon rose above the horizon. And Jesus gazed upon it for a moment, and then He turned to us and said, “It is late. Seek your beds, and may God visit your repose. I will be here in this arbour until dawn. I have cast my net this day and I have caught two men; I am satisfied, and now I bid you good-night.”

  Then my wife’s mother said, “But we have laid your bed in the house, I pray you enter and rest.”

  And He answered her saying, “I would indeed rest, but not under a roof. Suffer me to lie this night under the canopy of the grapes and the stars.”

  And she made haste and brought out the mattress and the pillows and the coverings. And He smiled at her and He said, “Behold, I shall lie down upon a bed twice made.”

  Then we left Him and entered into the house, and my daughter was the last one to enter. And her eyes were upon Him until I had closed the door.

  Thus for the first time I knew my Lord and Master.

  And though it was many years ago, it still seems but of today.

  CAIAPHAS

  The High Priest

  In speaking of that man Jesus and of His death let us consider two salient facts: the Torah must needs be held in safety by us, and this kingdom must needs be protected by Rome.

  Now that man was defiant to us and to Rome. He poisoned the mind of the simple people, and He led them as if by magic against us and against Caesar.

  My own slaves, both men and women, after hearing him speak in the market-place, turned sullen and rebellious. Some of them left my house and escaped to the desert whence they came.

  Forget not that the Torah is our foundation and our tower of strength. No man shall undermine us while we have this power to restrain his hand, and no man shall overthrow Jerusalem so long as its walls stand upon the ancient stone that David laid.

  If the seed of Abraham is indeed to live and thrive this soil must remain undefiled.

  And that man Jesus was a defiler and a corrupter. We slew Him with a conscience both deliberate and clean. And we shall slay all those who would debase the laws of M
oses or seek to befoul our sacred heritage.

  We and Pontius Pilatus knew the danger in that man, and that it was wise to bring Him to an end.

  I shall see that His followers come to the same end, and the echo of His words to the same silence.

  If Judea is to live all men who oppose her must be brought down to the dust. And ere Judea shall die I will cover my grey head with ashes even as did Samuel the prophet, and I will tear off this garment of Aaron and clothe me in sackcloth until I go hence for ever.

  JOANNA THE WIFE OF HEROD’S STEWARD

  On Children

  Jesus was never married but He was a friend of women, and He knew them as they would be known in sweet comradeship.

  And He loved children as they would be loved in faith and understanding.

  In the light of His eyes there was a father and a brother and a son.

  He would hold a child upon His knees and say, “Of such is your might and your freedom; and of such is the kingdom of the spirit.”

  They say that Jesus heeded not the law of Moses, and that He was over-forgiving to the prostitutes of Jerusalem and the country side.

  I myself at that time was deemed a prostitute, for I loved a man who was not my husband, and he was a Sadducee.

  And on a day the Sadducees came upon me in my house when my lover was with me, and they seized me and held me, and my lover walked away and left me.

  Then they led me to the market-place where Jesus was teaching.

  it was their desire to hold me up before Him as a test and a trap for Him.

  But Jesus judged me not. He laid shame upon those who would have had me shamed, and He reproached them.

  And He bade me go my way.

  And after that all the tasteless fruit of life turned sweet to my mouth, and the scentless blossoms breathed fragrance into my nostrils. I became a woman without a tainted memory, and I was free, and my head was no longer bowed down.

  RAFCA

  The Bride of Cana

  This happened before He was known to the people.

  I was in my mother’s garden tending the rose-bushes, when He stopped at our gate.

  And He said, “I am thirsty. Will you give me water from your well?”

  And I ran and brought the silver cup, and filled it with water; and I poured into it a few drops from the jasmine vial.

  And He drank deep and was pleased.

  Then He looked into my eyes and said, “My blessing shall be upon you.”

  When He said that I felt as it were a gust of wind rushing through my body. And I was no longer shy; and I said, “Sir, I am betrothed to a man of Cana in Galilee. And I shall be married on the fourth day of the coming week. Will you not come to my wedding and grace my marriage with your presence?”

  And He answered, “I will come, my child.”

  Mind you, He said, “My child,” yet He was but a youth, and I was nearly twenty.

  Then He walked on down the road.

  And I stood at the gate of our garden until my mother called me into the house.

  On the fourth day of the following week I was taken to the house of my bridegroom and given in marriage.

  And Jesus came, and with Him His mother and His brother James.

  And they sat around the wedding-board with our guests whilst my maiden comrades sang the wedding-songs of Solomon the King. And Jesus ate our food and drank our wine and smiled upon me and upon the others.

  And He heeded all the songs of the lover bringing his beloved into his tent; and of the young vineyard-keeper who loved the daughter of the lord of the vineyard and led her to his mother’s house; and of the prince who met the beggar maiden and bore her to his realm and crowned her with the crown of his fathers.

  And it seemed as if He were listening to yet other songs also, which I could not hear.

  At sundown the father of my bridegroom came to the mother of Jesus and whispered saying, “We have no more wine for our guests. And the day is not yet over.”

  And Jesus heard the whispering, and He said, “The cup bearer knows that there is still more wine.”

  And so it was indeed – and as long as the guests remained there was fine wine for all who would drink.

  Presently Jesus began to speak with us. He spoke of the wonders of earth and heaven; of sky flowers that bloom when night is upon the earth, and of earth flowers that blossom when the day hides the stars.

  And He told us stories and parables, and His voice enchanted us so that we gazed upon Him as if seeing visions, and we forgot the cup and the plate.

  And as I listened to Him it seemed as if I were in a land distant and unknown.

  After a while one of the guests said to the father of my bridegroom, “You have kept the best wine till the end of the feast. Other hosts do not so.”

  And all believed that Jesus had wrought a miracle, that they should have more wine and better at the end of the wedding-feast than at the beginning.

  I too thought that Jesus had poured the wine, but I was not astonished; for in His voice I had already listened to miracles.

  And afterwards indeed, His voice remained close to my heart, even until I had been delivered of my first-born child.

  And now even to this day in our village and in the villages near by, the word of our guest is still remembered. And they say, “The spirit of Jesus of Nazareth is the best and the oldest wine.”

  A PERSIAN PHILOSOPHER IN DAMASCUS

  Of Ancient Gods and New

  I cannot tell the fate of this man, nor can I say what shall befall His disciples.

  A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible. Yet should that seed fall upon a rock, it will come to naught.

  But this I say: The ancient God of Israel is harsh and relentless. Israel should have another God; one who is gentle and forgiving, who would look down upon them with pity; one who would descend with the rays of the sun and walk on the path of their limitations, rather than sit for ever in the judgment seat to weigh their faults and measure their wrong-doings.

  Israel should bring forth a God whose heart is not a jealous heart, and whose memory of their shortcomings is brief; one who would not avenge Himself upon them even to the third and the fourth generation.

  Man here in Syria is like man in all lands. He would look into the mirror of his own understanding and therein find his deity. He would fashion the gods after his own likeness, and worship that which reflects his own image.

  In truth man prays to his deeper longing, that it may rise and fulfil the sum of his desires.

  There is no depth beyond the soul of man, and the soul is the deep that calls unto itself; for there is no other voice to speak and there are no other ears to hear.

  Even we in Persia would see our faces in the disc of the sun and our bodies dancing in the fire that we kindle upon the altars.

  Now the God of Jesus, whom He called Father, would not be a stranger unto the people of Jesus, and He would fulfil their desires.

  The gods of Egypt have cast off their burden of stones and fled to the Nubian desert, to be free among those who are still free from knowing.

  The gods of Greece and Rome are vanishing into their own sunset. They were too much like men to live in the ecstasy of men. The groves in which their magic was born have been cut down by the axes of the Athenians and the Alexandrians.

  And in this land also the high places are made low by the lawyers of Beirut and the young hermits of Antioch.

  Only the old women and the weary men seek the temples of their forefathers; only the exhausted at the end of the road seek its beginning.

  But this man Jesus, this Nazarene, He has spoken of a God too vast to be unlike the soul of any man, too knowing to punish, too loving to remember the sins of His creatures. And this God of the Nazarene shall pass over the threshold of the children of the earth, and He shall sit at their hearth, and He shall be a blessing within their walls and a light upon their path.

  But my God is the God of Zoroaster, the God who is the sun i
n the sky and fire upon the earth and light in the bosom of man. And I am content. I need no other God.

  DAVID ONE OF HIS FOLLOWERS

  Jesus the Practical

  I did not know the meaning of His discourses or His parables until He was no longer among us. Nay, I did not understand until His words took living forms before my eyes and fashioned themselves into bodies that walk in the procession of my own day.

  Let me tell you this: On a night as I sat in my house pondering, and remembering His words and His deeds that I might inscribe them in a book, three thieves entered my house. And though I knew they came to rob me of my goods, I was too mindful of what I was doing to meet them with the sword, or even to say, “What do you here?”

  But I continued writing my remembrances of the Master.

  And when the thieves had gone then I remembered His saying, “He who would take your cloak, let him take your other cloak also.”

  And I understood.

  As I sat recording His words no man could have stopped me even were he to have carried away all my possessions.

  For though I would guard my possessions and also my person, I know there lies the greater treasure.

  LUKE

  On Hypocrites

  Jesus despised and scorned the hypocrites, and His wrath was like a tempest that scourged them. His voice was thunder in their ears and He cowed them.

  In their fear of Him they sought His death; and like moles in the dark earth they worked to undermine His footsteps. But He fell not into their snares.

  He laughed at them, for well He knew that the spirit shall not be mocked, nor shall it be taken in the pitfall.

  He held a mirror in His hand and therein He saw the sluggard and the limping and those who stagger and fall by the roadside on the way to the summit.

  And He pitied them all. He would even have raised them to His stature and He would have carried their burden. Nay, He would have bid their weakness lean on His strength.