The Beauty of Life
by
Kahlil Gibran


I found this poem when I was in 12th grade. I was bored...wastin' my time at da library although I shoulda been studyin'. Anyways, what I came across was a beautiful piece of work by Kahlil Gibran (whom u should all know by now is my fave poet). Da book was so beautiful...a lotta wonderful illustrations, it was a book intended to be given to a good friend, or even dat special someone. Unfortunately, since it was designed dat way...dat's da only way I know how to publish this poem. I'm almost certain dat all da short lines and "..."s were not intended in his original transcript. If I find a less annoyin' publication of this beautiful poem then I'll change da layout of this page. But for now, u all jus' gotta read it...although da format of da poem is a lil unconventional.


Like you, I have been here since the beginning....
....and I shall be
until the end of days.
There is no ending to my existence.
For the human soul is but a part
of a burning torch....
....which God separated from Himself
at Creation
Thus my soul and your soul
are one....
....and we are one with God.

Love is the lover's eyes
....and the spirit's wine
....and the heart's nourishment.
Love is a rose.
Its heart opens at dawn
and the virgin kisses the blossom
....and places it upon her breast.

Love is the gentle smile
upon the lips of beauty.
When youth overtakes love....
he forgets his toil....
....and his whole life becomes
a reality....
of sweet dreams.

Life without Love
is like a tree without blossoms
and fruit....
....and Love without Beauty
is like flowers without scents
and fruits without seeds.

Oh seekers....
Love is Truth
....beseeching Truth....
and your Truth is seeking
....and receiving
....and protecting Love
shall determine its behaviour.

Marriage begins
with the first look
....and the first kiss.
The first look
between lover and beloved
divides the intoxication of Life....
....from the awakening.

It is the first flame
that lights up the inner domain
of the heart....
....it is the first magic note
plucked on the silver string
of the heart....
....it is that brief moment
which unfolds before the soul
the chronicles of time,
and reveals to the eyes
....the deeds of the night
....and the works of conscience.
It opens Eternity's secret of the future.

Marriage is a word uttered
by four lips
proclaiming the heart a throne....
....Love a king....
....and fidelity a crown.
It is the beginning
of that magic vibration....
....that carries the lovers
from the world of weights and measures....
....into the world of dreams
....and revelations.

As the first glance
from the eyes of the beloved
is like a seed....
....sown in the human heart....
....and the first kiss of her lips
like a flower
upon the branch
of the Tree of Life....
....so the union of two lovers
in marriage
is like the first fruit
....of the first flower
....of that seed.

When Reason speaks to you,
hearken to what she says....
....and you shall be saved.
Make good use of her utterances....
....and you shall be
as one armed....
....for Reason is a prudent minister
....a loyal guide
....and a wise counselor.
Reason is light in darkness....
as anger is darkness amidst light.

Know your own true worth
....and you shall not perish.
Reason is your light
and your beacon
of Truth.
Reason is the source
of Life.

I would not exchange
the laughter of my heart....
....for the fortunes
of the multitude....
....nor would I be content
with converting my tears....
....invited by my agonized self....
....into calm.

It is my fervent hope
that my whole life on this earth
will ever be....
....tears and laughter.
....tears that purify my heart
and reveal to me
the secret of life....
....and its mystery....
....laughter that brings me
closer
to my fellow men....
....tears with which I join
the brokenhearted....
....laughter that symbolizes joy
over my very existence.

Some men would see the world
with the eyes of God....
....and would grasp the secrets
of the hereafter
by means of human thought....
....but go instead into the field
and see how the bee hovers
over the sweet flowers
....and the eagle swoops down
on its prey.

Go into your neighbor's house
and see the infant child
bewitched by the firelight....
while the mother is busied
at her tasks.

Be like the bee....
and do not waste your spring days
....gazing on the doings
of the eagle.
Be like the child
rejoicing at the firelight....
....and let the mother abide.
All that you see was....
and still is....
....yours.

To attain his goal
man must perceive that....
....he is a child
dependent upon his mother....
....a father
responsible for his family....
....a youth lost in love
....an ancient
wrestling against his past....
a worshipper in his temple....
....a criminal in his prison....
....a scholar amidst his parchments....
....an ignorant soul
stumbling between the darkness.
of his night
and the obscurity
of his day....
....a nun suffering between the
flowers of her faith
and the thistles of her loneliness....
....a poor man
trapped between his bitterness
and his submission....
....a rich man
between his greed
and his conscience....
....a poet
between the mist of his twilight
and the rays of his dawn....
He who can experience....
see....
....and understand these things
can reach perfection....
....and become a shadow....
....of God's shadow.


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Email: lbalagta@acs.ucalgary.ca