And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
......... From The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
3 comments:
Great to know that you have found an interest in Gibran. The Prophet is truly a magical work of art ... I hope you will enjoy the wisdom in the other chapters contained therein too :)
It's a nice read thus far. Perhaps my blog's becoming more of a read between the lines kind of blog.
Looks like ive gotta take back whatever ive said about the cutting and pasting of complicated poetry.
I guess one needs to relax and read with the heart in order to be able to understand the magic behind it. :)
no one owns anything ... and no thoughts or writing is truly original.
what is - is the stories behind human's articulation of events - be it yours or others.
it is what speaks to you and not others.
welcome to my world :)
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