Treasured Writings of Kahlil Gibran

by Kahlil Gibran

SH-T-150

  SHEPHERD

  In the city the best of

  Man is but one of a flock, led by

  The shepherd in strong voice. And he

  Who follows not the command must soon

  Stand before his killers.

  T-361

  SIGHT

  Not all of us are enabled to see with our inner eyes the great depths of life, and it is cruel to demand that the weak-sighted see the dim and the far.

  SH-T-129

  SILENCE

  Great truth that transcends Nature does not pass from one being to another by way of human speech. Truth chooses Silence to convey her meaning to loving souls.

  WM-ST-75

  There is something greater and purer than what the mouth utters. Silence illuminates our souls, whispers to our hearts, and brings them together. Silence separates us from ourselves, makes us sail the firmament of spirit, and brings us closer to Heaven; it makes us feel that bodies are no more than prisons and that this world is only a place of exile.

  BW-ST-48

  SIN

  Perfection is not for the pure of soul;

  There may be virtue in sin.

  MS-75

  SINCERITY

  Many a time I have made a comparison between nobility of sacrifice and happiness of rebellion to find out which one is nobler and more beautiful; but until now I have distilled only one truth out of the whole matter, and this truth is sincerity, which makes all our deeds beautiful and honorable.

  BW-ST-117

  SLAVERY

  I accompanied the ages from the banks of the Kange to the shores of Euphrates; from the mouth of the Nile to the plains of Assyria; from the arenas of Athens to the churches of Rome; from the slums of Constantinople to the palaces of Alexandria…. Yet I saw slavery moving over all, in a glorious and majestic procession of ignorance. I saw the people sacrificing the youths and maidens at the feet of the idol, calling her the God; pouring wine and perfume upon her feet, and calling her the Queen; burning incense before her image, and calling her the Prophet; kneeling and worshipping before her, and calling her the Law; fighting and dying for her, and calling her Patriotism; submitting to her will, and calling her the Shadow of God on earth; destroying and demolishing homes and institutions for her sake, and calling her Fraternity; struggling and stealing and working for her, and calling her Fortune and Happiness; killing for her, and calling her Equality.

  She possesses various names, but one reality. She has many appearances, but is made of one element. In truth, she is an everlasting ailment bequeathed by each generation unto its successor.

  SH-T-64

  They tell me: If you see a slave sleeping, do not wake him lest he be dreaming of freedom.

  I tell them: If you see a slave sleeping, wake him and explain to him freedom.

  MS-72

  SLEEP

  Life is but a sleep disturbed

  By dreaming, prompted by the will;

  The saddened soul with sadness hides

  Its secrets, and the gay, with thrill.

  P-42

  SOBRIETY

  Few on this earth who savor life,

  And are not bored by its free gifts;

  Or divert not its streams to cups

  In which their fancy floats and drifts.

  Should you then find a sober soul

  Amidst this state of revelry,

  Marvel how a moon did find

  In this rain cloud a canopy.

  P-37

  SOCIETY

  Society

  Is of naught but clamour and woe

  And strife. She is but the web of

  The spider, the tunnel of the mole.

  T-376

  SOLITUDE

  The sorrowful spirit finds relaxation in solitude. It abhors people, as a wounded deer deserts the herd and lives in a cave until it is healed or dead.

  BW-ST-87

  Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow. Solitude is the ally of sorrow as well as a companion of spiritual exaltation.

  BW-ST-19

  Your life, my brother, is a solitary habitation separated from other men’s dwellings. It is a house into whose interior no neighbor’s gaze can penetrate. If it were emptied of provisions, the stores of your neighbors could not fill it. If it stood in a desert, you could not move it into other men’s gardens, tilled and planted by other hands. If it stood on a mountaintop, you could not bring it down into the valley trod by other men’s feet.

  Your spirit’s life, my brother, is encompassed by loneliness, and were it not for that loneliness and solitude, you would not be you, nor would I be I. Were it not for this loneliness and solitude, I would come to believe on hearing your voice that it was my voice speaking; or seeing your face, that it was myself looking into a mirror.

  WM-ST-43

  SONG

  Give to me the reed and sing thou!

  For the song is gracious shade,

  And the plaint of reed remaineth

  When illusions dim and fade.

  P-39

  SORROW

  Sorrow is the shadow of a God who

  Lives not in the domain of evil hearts.

  SH-T-86

  Sorrow, if able to speak, would

  Prove sweeter than the joy of song.

  SH-T-99

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

  WM-ST-88

  The sorrowful spirit finds rest when united with a similar one. They join affectionately, as a stranger is cheered when he sees another stranger in a strange land. Hearts that are united through the medium of sorrow will not be separated by the glory of happiness.

  BW-ST-42

  The secret of the heart is encased

  In sorrow, and only in sorrow is

  Found our joy, while happiness serves

  But to conceal the deep mystery of life.

  T-362

  SOUL

  The reason why the soul exists

  Is folded in the soul itself;

  No painting could its essence show,

  Nor manifest its real self.

  P-65

  The soul does not see anything in life save that which is in the soul itself. It does not believe except in its own private event, and when it experiences something, the outcome becomes a part of it.

  SP-ST-56

  SOUNDS OF NATURE

  When the birds sing, do they call to the flowers in the fields, or are they speaking to the trees, or are they echoing the murmur of the brooks? For Man with his understanding cannot know what the bird is saying, nor what the brook is murmuring, nor what the waves whisper when they touch the beaches slowly and gently.

  Man with his understanding cannot know what the rain is saying when it falls upon the leaves of the trees or when it taps at the window panes. He cannot know what the breeze is saying to the flowers in the fields.

  But the Heart of Man can feel and grasp the meaning of these sounds that play upon his feelings. Eternal Wisdom often speaks to him in a mysterious language; Soul and Nature converse together, while Man stands speechless and bewildered.

  Yet has not Man wept at the sounds? And are not his tears eloquent understanding?

  WM-ST-58

  SPIRIT

  The spirit in every being is made manifest in the eyes, the countenance, and in all bodily movements and gestures. 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.

  WM-ST-62

  The strength of the spirit alone is

  The power of powers, and must in time

  Crumble to powder all things opposing

  It. Do not condemn, but pity the

  Faithless and their weakness and their

  Ignorance and their nothingness.

  T-365

  Through the spirit,

  Not the body, love must be shown,

  As it is to enl
iven, not to deaden,

  That the wine is pressed.

  T-371

  You may deprive me of my possessions; you may shed my blood and burn my body, but you cannot hurt my spirit or touch my truth.

  S

  SPIRITS

  Between the people of eternity and people of the earth there is a constant communication, and all comply with the will of that unseen power. Oftentimes an individual will perform an act, believing that it is born of his own free will, accord, and command, but in fact he is being guided and impelled with precision to do it. Many great men attained their glory by surrendering themselves in complete submission to the will of the spirit, employing no reluctance or resistance to its demands, as a violin surrenders itself to the complete will of a fine musician.

  Between the spiritual world and the world of substance there is a path upon which we walk in a swoon of slumber. It reaches us and we are unaware of its strength, and when we return to ourselves we find that we are carrying with our real hands the seeds to be planted carefully in the good earth of our daily lives, bringing forth good deeds and words of beauty. Were it not for that path between our lives and the departed lives, no prophet or poet or learned man would have appeared among the people.

  SH-T-146

  SPIRITUAL AFFINITY

  It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it will not be created in years or even generations.

  BW-ST-52

  SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

  Spiritual awakening is the most essential thing in man’s life, and it is the sole purpose of being. Is not civilization, in all its tragic forms, a supreme motive for spiritual awakening? Then how can we deny existing matter, while its very existence is unwavering proof of its conformability into the intended fitness? The present civilization may possess a vanishing purpose, but the eternal law has offered to that purpose a ladder whose steps can lead to a free substance.

  SH-T-29

  SPIRITUALITY

  Time and place are spiritual states, and all that is seen and heard is spiritual. If you close your eyes you will perceive all things through the depths of your inner self, and you will see the world physical and ethereal, in its intended entirety, and you will acquaint yourself with its necessary laws and precautions, and you will understand the greatness that it possesses beyond its closeness.

  SH-T-139

  SPRING

  In every winter’s heart there is a quivering spring, and behind the veil of each night there is a smiling dawn.

  SP-ST-57

  STRENGTH

  The very strength that protects the heart from injury is the strength that prevents the heart from enlarging to its intended greatness within. The song of the voice is sweet, but the song of the heart is the pure voice of heaven.

  SH-T-121

  SUBMISSION

  Men, even if they are born free, will remain slaves of strict laws enacted by their forefathers; and the firmament, which we imagine as unchanging, is the yielding of today to the will of tomorrow and submission of yesterday to the will of today.

  BW-ST-118

  SWORD

  Whoever reaches eternity with sword in his hand lives as long as there is justice.

  MS-29

  SYMPATHY

  The sympathy that touches the neighbour’s heart is more supreme than the hidden virtue in the unseen corners of the convent. A word of compassion to the weak criminal or prostitute is nobler than the long prayer which we repeat emptily every day in the temple.

  SR-T-257

  T

  TALK

  I am bored with gabbers and their gab; my soul abhors them….

  Is there in this universe a nook where I can go and live happily by myself?

  Is there any place where there is no traffic in empty talk?

  Is there on this earth one who does not worship himself talking?

  Is there any person among all persons whose mouth is not a hiding place for the knavish Mister Gabber?

  TM-ST-40-42

  TEACHER

  Whoever would be a teacher of men let him begin by teaching himself before teaching others; and let him teach by example before teaching by word. For he who teaches himself and rectifies his own ways is more deserving of respect and reverence than he who would teach others and rectify their ways.

  KG-P-27

  TEARS

  He who is seared and cleansed once with his

  Own tears will remain pure forevermore.

  SH-T-86

  The tears you shed are purer than the laughter of him that seeks to forget and sweeter than the mockery of the scoffer. These tears cleanse the heart of the blight of hatred, and teach man to share the pain of the brokenhearted. They are the tears of the Nazarene.

  WM-ST-65

  Love that is cleansed by tears will remain eternally pure and beautiful.

  BW-ST-42

  The tears of young men are the overflow of full hearts. But the tears of old men are the residue of age dropping upon their cheeks, the remains of life in weakened bodies. Tears in the eyes of young men resemble drops of dew upon a rose, but the tears of old men resemble yellow autumn leaves, blown and scattered by the wind as the winter of life approaches.

  S

  TEARS AND LAUGHTER

  I would not exchange the laughter of my heart for the fortunes of the multitudes; nor would I be content with converting my tears, invited by my agonized self, into calm. It is my fervent hope that my whole life on this earth will ever be tears and laughter.

  T-413

  TEETH

  In the mouth of Society are many diseased teeth, decayed to the bones of the jaws. But Society makes no efforts to have them extracted and be rid of the affliction. It contents itself with gold fillings. Many are the dentists who treat the decayed teeth of Society with glittering gold.

  Numerous are those who yield to the enticements of such reformers, and pain, sickness, and death are their lot….

  Visit the courts and witness the acts of the crooked and corrupted purveyors of justice. See how they play with the thoughts and minds of the simple people as a cat plays with a mouse.

  Visit the homes of the rich where conceit, falsehood, and hypocrisy reign.

  But don’t neglect to go through the huts of the poor as well, where dwell fear, ignorance, and cowardice.

  Then visit the nimble-fingered dentists, possessors of delicate instruments, dental plasters and tranquilizers, who spend their days filling the cavities in the rotten teeth of the nation to mask the decay.

  TM-ST-38

  THINGS

  Substantial things deaden a man without suffering; love awakens him with enlivening pains.

  TL-T-3

  If your knowledge teaches you not the value of things, and frees you not from the bondage to matter, you shall never come near the throne of Truth.

  WM-ST-63

  THIRST

  The thirst of soul is sweeter than the wine of material things, and the fear of spirit is dearer than the security of the body.

  BW-ST-69

  THRONG

  Life amid the throngs is but brief

  And drug-laden slumber, mixed with

  Mad dreams and spectres and fears.

  T-362

  TIME

  This world is but a winery,

  Its host and master Father Time,

  Who caters only to those steep’d

  In dreams discordant, without rhyme.

  For people drink and race as though

  They were the steeds of mad desire;

  Thus some are blatant when they pray,

  And others frenzied to acquire.

  P-39

  The people

  Of the city abuse the wine of Time,

  For they think upon it as a temple,

  And they drink of it with ease and

  With unthinking, and they flee,

  Scurr
ying into old age with deep

  But unknowing sorrow.

  T-363

  How strange Time is, and how queer we are! Time has really changed, and lo, it has changed us too, It walked one step forward, unveiled its face, alarmed us and then elated us.

  Yesterday we complained about Time and trembled at its terrors. But today we have learned to love it and revere it, for we now understand its intents, its natural disposition, its secrets, and its mysteries.

  Yesterday we crawled in fright like shuddering ghosts between the fears of the night and the menaces of the day. But today we walk joyously towards the mountain peak, the dwelling place of the raging tempest and the birthplace of thunder.…

  Yesterday we honored false prophets and sorcerers. But today Time has changed, and lo, it has changed us too. We can now stare at the face of the sun and listen to the songs of the sea, and nothing can shake us except a cyclone.

  Yesterday we tore down the temples of our souls and from their debris we built tombs for our forefathers. But today our souls have turned into sacred altars that the ghosts of the past cannot approach, that the fleshless fingers of the dead cannot touch.

  We were a silent thought hidden in the corners of Oblivion. Today we are a strong voice that can make the firmament reverberate.

  TM-ST-33

  TORCH

  The human soul is but a part of a burning torch which God separated from Himself at Creation.

  WM-ST-67

  TREASURE

  Knowledge and understanding are life’s faithful companions who will never prove untrue to you. For knowledge is your crown, and understanding your staff; and when they are with you, you can possess no greater treasures.

  WM-ST-62

  TRUTH

  Truth is like the stars; it does not appear except from behind obscurity of the night. Truth is like all beautiful things in the world; it does not disclose its desirability except to those who first feel the influence of falsehood. Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content with our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness.

  SR-T-255

  He who would seek truth and proclaim it to mankind is bound to suffer. My sorrows have taught me to understand the sorrows of my fellow men … persecution … [has not] dimmed the vision within me.

  VM-P-86

  Truth calls to us, drawn by the innocent laughter of a child, or the kiss of a loved one; but we close the doors of affection in her face and deal with her as with an enemy.