THE PROPHET book KHALIL GIBRAN Text ON LOVE English poetry
Khalil Gibran
The Prophet book
On Love
(1923)
Arabic literature
Gibran – poetry in prose
Original English text
The Book “The Prophet” is the most famous text by the Lebanese writer Gibran Khalil Gibran. The book “The Prophet”, published in 1923, was written by Gibran directly in English and is a collection of prose poems. The Book The Prophet by Khalil Gibran was an inspiration and father of the “New Age”.
Below I propose and you can read the full text of the first chapter book “the Prophet” by Khalil Gibran; is the prose poem: “On love“.
In the top or bottom menu you can read the prose poem text “On love” by Gibran translated into other languages: Italian, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, etc.
Happy reading and good love.
Kahlil Gibran All the poems > here
Index
The Prophet book
by Khalil Gibran
(with the link on yeyebook to where you can read them)
THE COMING OF THE SHIP
ON LOVE
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
Khalil Gibran
The Prophet
On Love
Arabic literature
Original English text
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 naked-ness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh,
but non 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 fulfil 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.
…
..
.
Khalil Gibran On Love
Book: The prophet (1923)
Arabic literature – poetry in prose
Original English text
Kahlil Gibran All the poems > here