"The Prophet" By Khalil Gibran: On Death

"In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond." This is an audio version of the chapter from "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran, called "On Death." Almitra asks the prophet to speak death. The prophet, with beautiful examples, pours the light to this phenomenon.

Transcript

On death Then Almitra spoke,

Saying We would ask now of death And he said,

You would know the secret of death,

But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?

The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.

If you would indeed behold the spirit of death,

Open your heart wide unto the body of life.

For life and death are one,

Even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond.

And like seeds dreaming beneath snow,

Your heart dreams of spring.

Trust the dreams,

For in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king,

Whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor.

Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling that he shall wear the mark of the king?

Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die,

But to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is it to see his breathing,

But to free the breath from its restless tides that it may raise and expand and seek God in comfort?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing,

And when you have reached the mountain top,

Then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs,

Then shall you truly dance.

Reviews

When the Earth claimed my son's limbs, I'm comforted to picture him dancing. Ty