Kahlil Gibran is best known as the author of The Prophet, one of the best-selling books of all time. He was part of the Mahjar movement in Arabic literature and symbolism. He’s remembered as a poet, author, and philosopher, despite his rejection of the latter. Throughout his life, he wrote short stories, political essays, and coined famous aphorisms.
‘On Joy and Sorrow’ by Kahlil Gibran is a meditative, insightful, poetic essay that makes interesting implications about the inseparable emotions of joy and sorrow.
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?
‘A Tear and A Smile’ by Kahlil Gibran explores life’s duality, longing for love, and the journey to divine union, invoking profound introspection.
I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart
For the joys of the multitude.
And I would not have the tears that sadness makes
To flow from my every part turn into laughter.
‘The Perfect World’ describes what a speaker sees as an ideal way to live in order to take advantage of all that God has created.
God of lost souls, thou who are lost amongst the gods, hear me:
Gentle Destiny that watchest over us, mad, wandering spirits, hear me:
Gibran’s ‘And When My Sorrow was Born’ explores the transient joy and lasting sorrow, underscoring the cyclical nature of emotions.
When my Sorrow was born I nursed it with care, and watched over it
with loving tenderness.
And my Sorrow grew like all living things, strong and beautiful
and full of wondrous delights.
‘On Children’ is the third prose-poem of Kahlil Gibran’s best-loved work, “The Prophet”. Through this poem, the prophet Al Mustafa explores how parents should think about their children.
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
‘On Love’ appears in the second part of Kahlil Gibran’s best-known work “The Prophet”. It is a thoughtful meditation on spiritual love by the prophet Al Mustafa.
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,
‘Song of the Flower’ by Khalil Gibran describes what the life of a flower involves, from sunrises and weddings to perpetual optimism.
I am a kind word uttered and repeated
By the voice of Nature;
I am a star fallen from the
Blue tent upon the green carpet.