Khalil Gibran :(January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) was a Lebanese American artist, poet and writer. He was born in today's Lebanon and spent much of his productive life in the United States.
One of his most notable lines of poetry in the English speaking world is from 'Sand and Foam' (1926), which reads : 'Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you'.
-----
Love
-----
Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.
And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise
----
Pain
----
And a woman spoke, saying, "Tell us of Pain."
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
-------------
The Farewell
-------------
And now it was evening.
And Almitra the seeress said, "Blessed be this day and this place and your spirit that has spoken."
And he answered, Was it I who spoke? Was I not also a listener?
Then he descended the steps of the Temple and all the people followed him. And he reached his ship and stood upon the deck.
And facing the people again, he raised his voice and said:
People of Orphalese, the wind bids me leave you.
Less hasty am I than the wind, yet I must go.
We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way, begin no day where we have ended another day; and no sunrise finds us where sunset left us.
Even while the earth sleeps we travel.
We are the seeds of the tenacious plant, and it is in our ripeness and our fullness of heart that we are given to the wind and are scattered.
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.
I go with the wind, people of Orphalese, but not down into emptiness;
And if this day is not a fulfillment of your needs and my love, then let it be a promise till another day. Know therefore, that from the greater silence I shall return.
The mist that drifts away at dawn, leaving but dew in the fields, shall rise and gather into a cloud and then fall down in rain.
And not unlike the mist have I been.
In the stillness of the night I have walked in your streets, and my spirit has entered your houses,
And your heart-beats were in my heart, and your breath was upon my face, and I knew you all.
Ay, I knew your joy and your pain, and in your sleep your dreams were my dreams.
And oftentimes I was among you a lake among the mountains.
I mirrored the summits in you and the bending slopes, and even the passing flocks of your thoughts and your desires.
And to my silence came the laughter of your children in streams, and the longing of your youths in rivers.
And when they reached my depth the streams and the rivers ceased not yet to sing.
But sweeter still than laughter and greater than longing came to me.
It was boundless in you;
The vast man in whom you are all but cells and sinews;
He in whose chant all your singing is but a soundless throbbing.
It is in the vast man that you are vast,
And in beholding him that I beheld you and loved you.
For what distances can love reach that are not in that vast sphere?
What visions, what expectations and what presumptions can outsoar that flight?
Like a giant oak tree covered with apple blossoms is the vast man in you.
His mind binds you to the earth, his fragrance lifts you into space, and in his durability you are deathless.
You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link.
This is but half the truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link.
To measure you by your smallest deed is to reckon the power of ocean by the frailty of its foam.
To judge you by your failures is to cast blame upon the seasons for their inconsistency.
Ay, you are like an ocean,
And though heavy-grounded ships await the tide upon your shores, yet, even like an ocean, you cannot hasten your tides.
And like the seasons you are also,
And though in your winter you deny your spring,
Yet spring, reposing within you, smiles in her drowsiness and is not offended.
Think not I say these things in order that you may say the one to the other, "He praised us well. He saw but the good in us."
I only speak to you in words of that which you yourselves know in thought.
And what is word knowledge but a shadow of wordless knowledge?
Your thoughts and my words are waves from a sealed memory that keeps records of our yesterdays,
And of the ancient days when the earth knew not us nor herself,
And of nights when earth was upwrought with confusion,
Wise men have come to you to give you of their wisdom. I came to take of your wisdom:
And behold I have found that which is greater than wisdom.
It is a flame spirit in you ever gathering more of itself,
While you, heedless of its expansion, bewail the withering of your days.
It is life in quest of life in bodies that fear the grave.
There are no graves here.
Khalil Gibran memorial in Washington, D.C.
- Re: Khalil Gibran --- [Love] [Pain] [The Farewell]posted on 06/19/2007
- Re: Khalil Gibran --- [Love] [Pain] [The Farewell]posted on 06/19/2007
很有意思,谢谢七月。 - posted on 06/19/2007
我不是非常喜欢中文的翻译,但是,聊胜于无:
论爱
于是爱尔美差说:请给我们谈爱。
他举头望着民众,他们一时沉默了。他用洪亮的声音说:
当爱向你们召唤的时候,根随着他,
虽然他的路程是艰险而陡峻。
当他的翅翼围卷你们的时候,屈服与他,
虽然那藏在羽膈中间的剑刃也许会伤毁你们。
当他对你说话的时候,信从他,
虽然他的声音会把你们的梦魂击碎,如同北风吹荒了林园。
爱虽给你加冠,他也把你钉在十字架上。他虽栽培你,他也刈剪你。
他虽升到你的最高处,抚惜你在日中颤动的枝叶,
他也要降到你的根下,摇动你的根柢的一切关节,使之归土。
如同一捆稻粟,他把你束聚起来。
他舂打你使你赤裸
他筛分你使你脱壳
他磨碾你直至洁白
他揉搓你直至柔韧
然后他送你到他的圣火上去,使你成为上帝圣筵上的圣饼。
这些都是爱要给你们作的事情,使你知道自己心中的密秘,在这知识中你便成了"生命"心中
的一屑。
假如在你的疑惧中,只寻求爱的和平与逸乐,
那不如掩盖你的裸露而躲过爱的筛打,
而走入那没有季候的世界,在那里你将欢笑,却不是尽量的笑悦,你将哭泣,却没有流干眼泪。
爱除自身外无施与,除自身外无接受
爱不占有也不被占有
因为爱在爱中满足了
当你爱的时候,你不要说"上帝在我心中",却要说"我在上帝的心里"
不要想你能引导爱的路程,因为若是他觉得你配,他就引导你
爱没有别的愿望,只要成全自己
但若是你爱,而且需求愿望,就让以下的作你的愿望吧:
溶化了你自己,象溪流般对清夜吟唱着歌曲
要知道过度温存的痛苦
让你对于爱的了解毁伤了你自己
而且甘愿地喜乐地流血
清晨醒起,以喜扬的心来致谢这爱的又一日
日中静息,默念爱的浓欢
晚潮退时,感谢地回家
然后在睡时祈祷,因为有被爱者在你的心中,有赞美之歌在你的唇上
- posted on 06/19/2007
论苦痛
于是一个妇人说:请给我们谈苦痛。
他说:
你的苦痛是你那包裹知识的皮壳的破裂。
连那果核也是必须破裂的,使果仁可以暴露在阳光中,所以你们也必须晓得苦痛。
倘若你能使你的心时常赞叹日常生活的神妙,你苦痛的神妙必不减于你的欢乐;
你要承受你心天的季候,如同你常常承受从田野上度过的四时。
你要静守,度过你心里凄凉的冬日。
许多的苦痛是你自择的。
那是你身中的医士,医治你病身的苦药。
所以你要信托这医生,静默安宁地吃他的药,
以为他的手腕虽重而辣,却是有冥冥的温柔之手指导着。
他带来的药杯,虽会焚灼你的嘴唇,那陶土却是陶工用他自己神圣的眼泪来润湿调转
而成的。
- posted on 06/19/2007
言别
现在已是黄昏了。
于是那女预言者爱尔美说:愿这一日,这地方,与你讲说的心灵都蒙福佑。
他回答说:说那话的是我么?我不也是一个听者么?
他走下殿阶,一切的人都跟着他,他上了船,站在舱前。
转面向着大众,他提高了声音说:
阿法利斯的民众呵,风命令我离开你们了。
我虽不像风那般的迅急,我也必须去了。
我们这些飘泊者,永远地寻求更寂寞的道路,我们不在安歇的时间起程,朝阳与落日
也不在同一地方看见我们。
大地在睡眠中时,我们仍是行路。
我们是那坚牢植物的种子,在我们的心成熟丰满的时候,就交给大风 追状 散。
我在你们中间的日子是很短促的,而我所说的话是更短了。
但等到我的声音在你们的耳中模糊,我的爱在你们的记忆中消来的时候,我要重来。
我要以更丰满的心,更受灵感的唇说话。
是的,我要随着潮水归来。
虽然死要遮藏我,更大的沉默要包围我,我却仍要寻求你们的了解。
而且我这寻求不是徒然的。
假如我所说的都是真理,这真理要在更清澈的声音中,更明白的言语里,显示出来。
阿法利斯的民众呵,我将与风同去,却不是坠入虚空。
- posted on 06/19/2007
沙与沫
1 我永远在沙岸上行走,在沙土和泡沫的中间。高潮会抹去我的脚印,风也会把泡
沫吹走。但是海洋和沙岸,却将永远存在。
2 我曾抓起一把烟雾。然后我促掌一看,哎哟,烟雾变成一个虫子。我把手握起再
伸开一看,手里却是一只鸟。我再把手握起又伸开,在掌心里站着一个容颜忧郁,向
天仰首的人。我又把手握起,当我伸掌的时候,除了烟雾以外一无所有。但是我听到
了一支绝顶甜柔的歌曲。
3 仅仅在昨天,我认为我自己只是一个碎片,无韵律地在生命的穹苍中颤抖。现在
我晓得,我就是那苍穹,一切生命都是在我里面有韵律地转动的碎片。
4 他们在觉醒的时候对我说:“你和你所居住的世界,只不过是无边海洋的无边沙
岸上的一粒沙子。“在梦里我对他们说:“我就是那无边的海洋,大千世界只不过是
我的沙岸上的沙粒。“
5 只有一次把我窘得哑口无言,就是当一个人问我,“你是谁?“的时候。
6 我想使自己完满起来。但是除非我能变成一个上面住着理智的生物的星球,此外
还有什么可能呢?这不是第一个人的目标吗?
7 一粒珍珠是痛苦围绕着的一粒沙子所建造起来的庙宇。是什么愿望围绕着什么样
的沙粒,建造起我们的身体呢?
8 给我静默,我将向黑暗挑战。
9 当我的灵魂和肉体由相爱而结婚的时候,我就得到了重生。
10 记忆是相会的一种形式,忘记是自由的一种形式。
11 人性是一条光河,从永久以前流到永久。
12 除了通过黑夜的道路,人们不能到达黎明。
13 我的房子对我说:“不要离开我,因为你的过去住在这里。“道路对我说;“跟
我来吧,因为我是你的将来。“我对我的房子和道路说;“我没有过去,也没有将来。
如果我住下来,我的住中就有去,我的去中就有住,只有爱和死才能改变一切。“
14 奇怪和很,对某些娱乐的愿望,也是我痛苦的一部分。
15 我不知道什么是绝对的真理。但是我对于我的无知是谦虚的,这其中就有了我的
荣誉和报酬。
16 在人的幻想和成就中间有一段空间,只能靠他的热望来通过。
17 天堂就在那边,在那扇门后,在隔壁的房里;但是我把钥匙丢了。也许我只是把
它放错了地方。
18 一个人的意义不在于他的成就,而在于他所企求成就的东西。
19 我们中间,有些人像墨水,有些人像纸张。若不是因为有些人是黑的话,有些人就
成了哑巴。若不是因为有些人是白的话,有些人就成了瞎子。
20 给我一只耳朵,我将给你以声音。
21 我们的心才是一块海绵;我们的心怀是一道河水。然而我们大多宁愿吸收而不肯
奔流,这不是很奇怪吗?
22 当你想望着无名的恩赐,怀抱着无端的烦恼的时候,你就真和一切生物一同长大,
升向你的大我。
23 当一个人沉醉在一个纪象之中,他就会把这幻象的模糊的情味,当作真实的酒。
24 你喝酒为的是求醉;我喝酒为的是要从别种的醉酒中清醒过来。
25 当我的酒杯空了的时候,我就让他空着;但当它半满的时候,我却恨它半满。
26 一个人的实质,不在于他向你显露的那一面,而在于他所不能向你显露的那一面。
因此,如果你想了解他,不要去听他说出的话,而要去听他的没有说出的话。
27 我说的话有一半是没有意义的;我把它说出来,为的是也许会让你听到其他的一半。
28 幽默感就是分寸感。
29 当人们夸奖我多言的过失,责备我沉默的美德的时候,我的寂寞就产生了。
30 真理是常久被人知道的,有时被人说出的。
31 我的生命内的声音达不到你的生命内的耳朵;但是为了避免寂寞就让我们交谈吧。
32 只有哑巴才妒忌多嘴的人。
33 如果冬天说:“春天在我的心里“,谁会相信冬天呢?
34 每一粒种子都是一个愿望。
35 真理是需要两个人来发现的:一个人来讲说它,一个人来了解它。
36 虽然言语的波浪永远在我们上面喧哗,而我们的深处却永远是沉默的。
37 许多理论都像一扇窗户,我们通过它看到真理,但是它也把我们同真理隔开。
38 让我们玩捉迷藏吧。你如果藏在我的心里,就不难把你找到。但是如果你藏到你的
壳里去,那么任何人也找不到的。
39 一个女人可以用微笑把她的脸蒙了起来。
40 那颗能够和欢乐的心一同唱出欢歌的忧愁的心,是多么高贵呵。
41 想了解女人,或分析天才,或想解答沉默的神秘的人,就是那个想从一个美梦中挣
扎醒来坐到早餐桌上的人。
42 对于服侍你的人,你欠他的还不只是金子。把你的心交给他或是服侍他吧。
43 没有,我们没有白活。他们不是把我们的骨头堆成堡垒了吗?
44 树木是大地写上天空中的诗。我们把它们砍下纸,让我们可以把我们的空洞记录下
来。
45 如果一棵树也写自传的话,它不会不像一个民族的历史。
46 言语是没有时间性的。在你说它或是写它的时候,应该懂得它的特点。
47 诗是欢乐,痛苦和惊奇穿插着词汇的一场交道。
48 连那最高超的心灵,也逃不出物质的需要。
49 没有不能圆满的愿望。
50 我和另外一个我从来没有完全一致过。事物的实质似乎横梗在我们中间。
51 你的另外一个你总是为你难过。但是你的另外一个你就在难过中在长;那么就一切
都好了。
52 除了在那些灵魂熟睡、躯壳失调的人的心里之外,灵魂和躯壳之间是没有斗争的。
53 当你达到生命的中心的时候,你将在万物中甚至于在看不见美的人的眼睛里,也会
找到美。
54 我们活着只为的是去发现美。其他的一切都是等待的种种形式。
55 撒下一粒种子,大地会给你一朵花。向天祝愿一个梦想,天空会给你一个情人。
56 你生下来的那一天,魔鬼就死去了。你不必经过地狱去会见天使。
57 许多女子借到了男子的心;;很少女子能占有它。
58 如果你想占有,你千万不可要求。当一个男子的手接触到一个女子的手,他俩都接
触到了永在的心。
59 爱情是情人之间的面幕。
60 每一个男子都爱着两个女人:一个是他想象的作品,另外一个还没有生下来。
61 不肯原谅女人的细微过失的男子,永远不会欣赏她们伟大的美德。
62 不日日自新的爱情,变成一种习惯,而终于变成奴役。
63 情人只拥抱了他们之间的一种东西,而没有互相拥抱。
64 恋爱和疑忌是永不交谈的。
65 爱情是一个光明的字,被一只光明的手写在一张光明的册页上的。
66 友谊永远是一个甜柔的责任,从来不是一种机会。
67 如果你不在所有的情况下了解你的朋友,你就永远不会了解他。
68 你的最华丽的衣袍是别人织造的;你的最可口的一餐是在别人的桌上吃的;你的最
舒适的床铺是在别人的房子里的。那么请告诉我,你怎能把自己同别人分开呢?
69 除非我们把语言减少到七个字,我们将永不会互相了解。
70 我的心,除了把它敲碎以外,怎能把它打开呢?
71 如果自然听到了我们所说的知足的话语,江河就不去寻求天海,冬天就不会变成春
天。如果她听到我们所说的一切吝啬的话语,我们有多少人可以呼吸到空气呢?
72 当你背向太阳的时候,你只看到自己的影子。
73 你在白天的太阳前面是自由的,在黑夜的星辰前面也是自由的;在没有太阳,没有
月亮,没有星辰的时候,你也是自由的。就是在你对世上一切闭起眼睛的时候,你也是
自由的。但是你是你所爱的人的奴隶,因为你爱了他。你也是爱你的人的奴隶,因为他
爱了你。
74 你不能吃得多过你的食欲。那一半食粮是属于别人的,而且也还要为不速之客留下
一点面包。
75 如果不为待客的话,所有的房屋都成了坟墓。
76 和善的狼对天真的羊说:“你不光临寒舍吗?“羊回答说:“我们将以造府为荣,
如果你的贵府不是在你肚子里的话。“
77 我把客人拦在门口说:“不必了,在出门的时候再擦脚吧,进门的时候是不必擦的。”
78 慷慨不是你把我比你更需要的东西给我,而不是你把你比我更需要的东西,也给了
我。
79 当你施与的时候你当然是慈善的,在授与的时候要把脸转过一边,这样就可以不看
那受者的羞赧。
80 最富与最穷的人的差别,只在于一整天的饥饿和一个钟头的干渴。
81 我们常常从我们的明天预支了来偿付我们昨天的债负。
82 如果你的心是一座火山的话,你怎能指望会从你的手里开出花朵来呢?
83 多么奇怪的一个自欺的方式!有时我宁愿受到损害和欺骗,好让我嘲笑那些以为我
不知道我是被损害、欺骗了的人。
84 对于一个扮作被追求者的角色的追求者,我该怎么说他呢?
85 让那个把脏手擦在你的衣服的人,把你的衣服拿走吧。他也许还需要那件衣服,你
却一定不会再要了。
86 请你不要以后天的德行来粉饰你的先天的缺陷。我宁愿有缺陷;这些缺陷和我自己
的一样。
87 有多少次我把没有犯过的罪都拉到自己身上,为的让人家在我面前感到舒服。
88 就是生命的面具也都是更深的奥秘的面具。
89 你可能只根据自己的了解去判断别人。现在告诉我,我们里头谁是有罪的,谁是无
辜的。
90 真正公平的人就是对你的罪过感到应该分担的人。
91 只在你被追逐的时候,你才快跑。
92 一个人在自卫的时候可能自杀。
93 如果他们所谈的善恶都是正确的话,那么我的一生只是一个长时间的犯罪。
94 怜悯只是半个公平。
95 在自卫中我常常憎恨;但是如果我是一个比较坚强的人,我就不必使用这样的武器。
96 用唇上的微笑来摭掩眼里的憎恨的人是多么愚蠢呵!
97 只有在我以下的人,能忌妒我或憎恨我。我从来没有被妒忌或憎恨过,我不在任何
人之上。只有在我以上的人,能称赞我或轻蔑我。我从来没有被称赞或轻蔑过,我不在
任何人之下。
98 你对于我说:“我不了解你。“这就是过分地赞扬了我,无故地侮辱了你。
99 当生命给我金子而我给你银子的时候,我还自以为慷慨,这是多么卑鄙呵!
100 当你达到生命心中的时候,你会发现你不高过罪人,也不低于先知。
- Re: Khalil Gibran --- [Love] [Pain] [The Farewell]posted on 06/19/2007
爱没有别的愿望,只要成全自己
但若是你爱,而且需求愿望,就让以下的作你的愿望吧:
溶化了你自己,象溪流般对清夜吟唱着歌曲
要知道过度温存的痛苦
让你对于爱的了解毁伤了你自己
而且甘愿地喜乐地流血
清晨醒起,以喜扬的心来致谢这爱的又一日
日中静息,默念爱的浓欢
晚潮退时,感谢地回家 - Re: Khalil Gibran --- [Love] [Pain] [The Farewell]posted on 06/19/2007
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