Kahlil Gibran
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,
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.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses
Your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and
Shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,
That you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All 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.
But if 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.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say,
“God is in my heart,”but rather,“I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love,