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.

......
.....
.....

But is 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.

Kahlil Gibran. The Prophet

 

 

 

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your
laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your
tears.

And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your
being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup
that was burned in the potter's over?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit,
the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart
and you shall find it is only that which has given
you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that
which has been your delight.

Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow,"
and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone
with you at your board, remember that the other
is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between
your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver,
needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

Kahlil Gibran. The Prophet