Khalil Gibran on
Love
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 ****