When love beckons to you follow him,
\nThough his ways are hard and steep.
\nAnd when his wings enfold you yield to him,
\nThough the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
\nAnd when he speaks to you believe in him,
\nThough his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
\nFor even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
\nEven as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
\nSo shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
\nLike sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
\nHe threshes you to make you naked.
\nHe sifts you to free you from your husks.
\nHe grinds you to whiteness.
\nHe kneads you until you are pliant;
\nAnd then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.
\nAll these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
\nBut if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
\nThen it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
\nInto the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
\nLove gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
\nLove possesses not nor would it be possessed;
\nFor love is sufficient unto love.
\nWhen you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather,
\n“I am in the heart of God.”
\nAnd think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
\nLove has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
\nBut if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
\nTo melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
\nTo know the pain of too much tenderness.
\nTo be wounded by your own understanding of love;
\nAnd to bleed willingly and joyfully.
\nTo wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
\nTo rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
\nTo return home at eventide with gratitude;
\nAnd then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.<\/p>\n
___________________________<\/p>\n
Khalil Gibran<\/em> (Jan 6 1883\u2013Apr 10 1931) was a Lebanese artist, poet, and writer. As a young man he immigrated with his family to the United States, where he studied art and began his literary career, writing in both English and Arabic. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero. He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet<\/a>, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again especially in the 1960s counterculture<\/a>. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare<\/a> and Laozi<\/a>. (Wikipedia)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When love beckons to you follow him,
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