Word
Gems
What is a
man but the sum of his thoughts?
Life
& Death:
Kahlil
Gibran
Death
Then Almitra spoke, saying,
We would ask now
of Death.
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the
heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the
day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open
your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the
sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your
silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your
heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to
eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the
shepherd when he stands before the king whose
hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling,
that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind
and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing but to free the
breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and
expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall
you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then
you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then
shall you truly dance.
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