Love and Friendship

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

Some lovely words on Love and Friendship from Kahlil Gibran,

Best wishes, Semira

 

http://www.sibal.com/sandeep/texts/prophet.html#19

 

Kahlil Gibran The Prophet

 

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: 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.

 

 

FRIENDSHIP

And a youth said, " Speak to us of Friendship. "

Your friend is your needs answered.

He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.

For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

 

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the " nay " in your own

mind, nor do you withhold the " ay. "

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all

expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

 

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence,

as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the

spirit.

 

For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is

not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

 

And let your best be for your friend.

If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

 

For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?

Seek him always with hours to live.

For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and

sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is

refreshed.