Saturday, December 6, 2014

Excerpts from"The beloved:Reflections on the path of the heart" by Khalil Gibran

Music:
Canon In D-brian Craig



Excerpt from:"Reflections on the path of the heart"
Chapter:At the gate of the temple
Khalil Gibran

Yesterday I stood by the gate of the temple and asked passersby about the mysteries and virtues of love.

A man of middle years passed by,his body wasted,his face dark. Sighing,he said,'Love has made weak the strength I inherited from the First Man.

A youth,his body strong and brawny,passed by.In a voice of song he said,'Love is resolution added to my being, linking my present to generations past and future.'


A woman,her eyes melancholy,passed by and,sighing,said, 'Love is a deadly poison, the breath of black adders writhing in Hell, flowing and swirling through the sky until it falls covered in dew, only to be lapped up by thirsty spirits.Then they are drunk for a moment,sober for a year, dead for eternity.'

A rosy-cheecked girl passed by and said,smiling, 'Love is a fountain whose waters the spirit brides pour into the spirits of the strong, making them to ascend in prayer among the stars of night and to sing songs of praise before the sun by day.'

A man passed by.His clothes were black,his beard long. Frowning,he said,'Love is blind ignorance.It begins at youth's beginning and ends with its end.'


A handsome man with open features passed and gaily said, 'Love is celestial knowledge that lights our eyes and shows us things as the gods see them.'

A blind man passed,tapping the earth with his cane, and weeping,he said,'Love is a thick mist enshrouding the soul on all sides and veiling the outlines of existence from it-or allowing it to see only the specters of its desires wandering among the rocks,deaf to the sounds of its own cries echoing in the valley.'

A youth carrying a guitar passed and sang out, 'Love is a magical ray of light shining out from the depths of the sensitive being and illuminating all around it. You see the world as a procession traveling through green meadows,life as a lovely dream erected between wakefulness and wakefulness.'


And old man passed.His back was bent,his feet dragged like pieces of cloth. In a quavering voice he said, 'Love is rest for the body in the silence of the tomb, peace for the soul in the depths of eternity.'

A child of five years passed and laughed back to me, 'Love is my father,love is my mother.Only my father and my mother know love.'

The day went by.The people passed before the temple, each describing himself as he spoke of love,revealing his hopes and telling of the mystery of life.

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