GIBRAN On EATING AND DRINKING Full TEXT The Prophet eBook
Gibran Khalil Gibran
On eating and drinking
The Prophet eBook
(1923)
on-line
Gibran – poetry in prose
Original English Full Text
Arabic literature
” On Eating and Drinking “ is the ninth prose poem by Gibran Khalil Gibran contained in his most famous book: “The Prophet”.
In the prose poem “On Eating and Drinking” Gibran Khalil Gibran underlines how man, in order to eat and drink, kills and takes goods from mother earth; and he indicates how eating and drinking must therefore be lived as an act of adoration towards the mother earth who gives us this, with the promise and the awareness of repaying this over time.
This is the core of the thought of the prophet by Khalil Gibran in the prose poem “On eating and drinking” contained in the book “the prophet”.
“The Prophet” is a book of 26 prose poetry fables written in English by the Lebanese-American poet and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf. “The Prophet” book is Gibran’s best known work.
The Prophet has been translated into over 100 different languages, making it one of the most translated books in history, as well as one of the best selling books of all time.
Synopsis “The prophet” by Khalil Gibran: Al Mustafa has lived in the city of Orphalese for 12 years and is about to board a ship which will carry him home. He is stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses topics such as life and the human condition…
Below you can read the full english text of the chapter “On eating and drinking” from “The Prophet” book by Khalil Gibran.
In the top or bottom menu you can read the prose poem text “On eating and drinking” by Gibran translated into other languages: Italian, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, etc.
Kahlil Gibran All the poems > here
Khalil Gibran
The Prophet eBook
On eating and drinking
Original English text
Then an old man, a keeper of an inn, said,
Speak to us of Eating and Drinking.
And he said:
Would that you could live
on the fragrance of the earth,
and like an air plant be sustained by the light.
But since you must kill to eat,
and rob the newly born of its mother’s milk to quench your thirst,
let it then be an act of worship,
And let your board stand an altar on
which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain
are sacrificed for that which is purer
and still more innocent in man.
When you kill a beast
say to him in your heart:
“By the same power that slays you,
I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
For the law that delivered you into my hand
shall deliver me into a mightier hand.
Your blood and my blood
is naught but the sap
that feeds the tree of heaven.”
And when you crush an apple with your teeth,
say to it in your heart:
“Your seeds shall live in my body,
And the buds of your to-morrow
shall blossom in my heart,
And your fragrance shall be my breath,
And together we shall rejoice
through all the seasons.”
And in the autumn, when you gather
the grapes of your vineyards for the winepress,
say in your heart:
“I too am a vineyard,
and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress,
And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels.”
And in winter, when you draw the wine,
let there be in your heart a song for each cup;
And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days,
and for the vineyard,
and for the winepress.
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Khalil Gibran On eating and drinking
from Book: The Prophet (1923)
Arabic literature – poetry in prose
Original English full text
Kahlil Gibran All the poems > here
Below you can read the index of prose poems contained in the book The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran with the link to where you can read them.
Index
The Prophet book
by Kahlil Gibran
(with the link on yeyebook to where you can read them)
THE COMING OF THE SHIP
ON EATING AND DRINKING
ON HOUSES
ON CLOTHES
ON BUYING AND SELLING
ON LAWS
ON FREEDOM
ON PAIN
ON SELF-KNOWLEDGE
ON TEACHING
ON TALKING
ON TIME
ON PRAYER
ON PLEASURE
ON BEAUTY
ON RELIGION
ON DEATH
THE FAREWELL
