Sand And Foam & A Tear And A Smile (Illustrated Edition) - Kahlil Gibran

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      The God separated a spirit from Himself and fashioned it into Beauty. He showered upon her all the blessings of gracefulness and kindness. He gave her the cup of happiness and said, "Drink not from this cup unless you forget the past and the future, for happiness is naught but the moment." And He also gave her a cup of sorrow and said, "Drink from this cup and you will understand the meaning of the fleeting instants of the joy of life, for sorrow ever abounds."

      And the God bestowed upon her a love that would desert he forever upon her first sigh of earthly satisfaction, and a sweetness that would vanish with her first awareness of flattery.

      And He gave her wisdom from heaven to lead to the all-righteous path, and placed in the depth of her heart and eye that sees the unseen, and created in he an affection and goodness toward all things. He dressed her with raiment of hopes spun by the angels of heaven from the sinews of the rainbow. And He cloaked her in the shadow of confusion, which is the dawn of life and light.

      Then the God took consuming fire from the furnace of anger, and searing wind from the desert of ignorance, and sharp- cutting sands from the shore of selfishness, and coarse earth from under the feet of ages, and combined them all and fashioned Man. He gave to Man a blind power that rages and drives him into a madness which extinguishes only before gratification of desire, and placed life in him which is the spectre of death.

      And the god laughed and cried. He felt an overwhelming love and pity for Man, and sheltered him beneath His guidance.

      Have Mercy On Me, My Soul

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      Why are you weeping, my Soul?

      Knowest thou my weakness?

      Thy tears strike sharp and injure,

      For I know not my wrong.

      Until when shalt thou cry?

      I have naught but human words to interpret your dreams,

      Your desires, and your instructions.

      Look upon me, my Soul;

      I have consumed my full life heeding your teachings.

      Think of how I suffer!

      I have exhausted my life following you.

      My heart was glorying upon the throne,

      But is now yoked in slavery;

      My patience was a companion,

      But now contends against me;

      My youth was my hope,

      But now reprimands my neglect.

      Why, my Soul, are you all-demanding?

      I have denied myself pleasure

      And deserted the joy of life

      Following the course which you impelled me to pursue.

      Be just to me,

      Or call Death to unshackle me,

      For justice is your glory.

      Have mercy on me, my Soul.

      You have laden me with Love until I cannot carry my burden.

      You and Love are inseparable might;

      Substance and I are inseparable weakness.

      Will e'er the struggle cease between the strong and the weak?

      Have mercy on me, my Soul.

      You have shown me Fortune beyond my grasp.

      You and Fortune abide on the mountain top;

      Misery and I are abandoned together in the pit of the valley.

      Will e'er the mountain and the valley unite?

      Have mercy on me, my Soul.

      You have shown me Beauty,

      But then concealed her.

      You and Beauty live in the light;

      Ignorance and I are bound together in the dark.

      Will e'er the light invade darkness?

      Your delight comes with the Ending,

      And you revel now in anticipation;

      But this body suffers with the life

      While in life.

      This, my Soul, is perplexing.

      You are hastening toward Eternity,

      But this body goes slowly toward perishment.

      You do not wait for him,

      And he cannot go quickly.

      This, my Soul, is sadness.

      You ascend high, though heaven's attraction,

      But this body falls by earth's gravity.

      You do not console him,

      And he does not appreciate you.

      This, my Soul, is misery.

      You are rich in wisdom,

      But this body is poor in understanding.

      You do not compromise,

      And he does not obey.

      This, my Soul, is extreme suffering.

      In the silence of the night you visit The Beloved

      And enjoy the sweetness of His presence.

      This body ever remains,

      The bitter victim of hope and separation.

      This, my Soul, is agonizing torture.

      Have mercy on me, my Soul!

      Two Infants

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      A prince stood on the balcony of his palace addressing a great multitude summoned for the occasion and said, "Let me offer you and this whole fortunate country my congratulations upon the birth of a new prince who will carry the name of my noble family, and of whom you will be justly proud. He is the new bearer of a great and illustrious ancestry, and upon him depends the brilliant future of this realm. Sing and be merry!" The voices of the throngs, full of joy and thankfulness, flooded the sky with exhilarating song, welcoming the new tyrant who would affix the yoke of oppression to their necks by ruling the weak with bitter authority, and exploiting their bodies and killing their souls. For that destiny, the people were singing and drinking ecstatically to the heady of the new Emir.

      Another child entered life and that kingdom at the same time. While the crowds were glorifying the strong and belittling themselves by singing praise to a potential despot, and while the angels of heaven were weeping over the people's weakness and servitude, a sick woman was thinking. She lived in an old, deserted hovel and, lying in her hard bed beside her newly born infant wrapped with ragged swaddles, was starving to death. She was a penurious and miserable young wife neglected by humanity; her husband had fallen into the trap of death set by the prince's oppression, leaving a solitary woman to whom God had sent, that night, a tiny companion to prevent her from working and sustaining life.

      As the mass dispersed and silence was restored to the vicinity, the wretched woman placed the infant on her lap and looked into his face and wept as if she were to baptize him with tears. And with a hunger weakened voice she spoke to the child saying, "Why have you left the spiritual world and come to share with me the bitterness of earthly life? Why have you deserted the angels and the spacious firmament

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