Love

By Kahlil Gibran from The Prophet

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 to 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 till 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 
Loves possesses not nor would it be possessed
For love is sufficient unto Love 
And think not that you can direct the course of Love
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself 
But if you love and have needs and desires, let these be your desires To melt and be like a running brook that sings in melody to the night To know the pain of too much tenderness
To be wounded by your own understanding of love
And to bleed joyfully and willingly 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 at eventide with gratitude 
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
and a song of praise upon your lips. 

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