The prophet Kahlil Gibran speaks to us concerning marriage:
Let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of heaven dance between you
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joys, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars
of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
On the 84th anniversary of Khalil Gibran’s death, his poems are still talked about in a region where there is a lot of political turmoil.
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States, once said to Kahlil Gibran, “You are the first Eastern storm to sweep this country, and how many flowers it has brought!”
A few years ago, an American reporter interviewed the late Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who led the U.S. coalition to victory against Iraq in the first Gulf War. The footage showed that Schwarzkopf kept a copy of The Prophet, which is perhaps Khalil Gibran’s most famous work.
Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India’s fight for independence, was inspired by Gibran and said, “Do nothing, and everything is done.” This is the perfect way to explain Gibran’s philosophy. “If you want to be happy, make other people happy.”
His writings have even become important parts of popular culture.
When The Beatles’ lead singer John Lennon sang, “Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you,” he was quoting Gibran’s famous lines from the aphorism Sand and Foam: “Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you.”
Elvis Presley, who is still known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” was also a fan. He used to read “The Prophet” out loud to his mother and even gave copies of the book to other people.
Since then, “The Prophet” has been made into an animated movie with voiceovers by Hollywood stars Liam Neeson and Salma Hayek.