Kahlil Gibran ON DEATH

On Death

Kahlil Gibran

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 heath 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 sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
and like seeds dreaming beneath the 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 cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless
tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

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.