Liberal Arts Forum

While reading The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, I could only marvel at this masterpiece. Each word a jewel, strung together like a necklace – wisdom that shines yet not detrimental to the sight. He was born in Lebanon but struck a chord with both the East and the West. No other poet/writer has expressed his noble thoughts as Kahlil Gibran has done in both Arabic and English. Many times, I found myself deeply moved by the fragrance of his words – truly, a bouquet of love and wisdom. He wrote at the end of his seminal work The Prophet:

Brief were my days among you, and briefer still the words I have spoken.
But should my voice fade in your ears, and my love vanish in your memory, then I will come again,
And with a richer heart and lips more yielding to the spirit will I speak.
Yea, I shall return with the tide,
And though death may hide me, and the greater silence enfold me, yet again will I seek your understanding.
And not in vain will I seek.
If aught I have said is truth, that truth shall reveal itself in a clearer voice, and in words more kin to your thoughts.

As a final thought, a Muslim is not the one who knows the truth but rather the one who follows it – even if it is against his/her desire. Friends, as we pass through this ephemeral journey of life, always speak the truth and be upright – “For the truth shall remain and the falsehood shall pass” (ja al haqqu wa zahaqal batil – Koran).