Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese-born philosophical essayist, writer, novelist, poet, and visual artist.
Although he received no formal schooling during his youth in Lebanon, the priests visited him regularly and taught him about the Arabic language and the Bible. Gibran emigrated with his family to the U.S. as a pre-teen, where he began his literary career and studied art, writing in both Arabic and English.
He is best known for his book The Prophet (1923) — a collection of philosophical essays written in English poetic prose, exploring the meaning of life and the condition of man. The Prophet has also been translated into as many as 110 languages.
In the world of Arabic literature, Gibran was regarded as a rebel for not complying with “the old ways.” As an artist, he created hundreds of paintings and drawings. He is also the third-best-selling poet of all time, behind Laozi and Shakespeare.
From Khalil Gibran’s vast catalogue of beautiful poems, today I share with you the poem “A Tear And A Smile“. I hope you find the following poem as uplifting and soul enriching as I do.
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A Tear And A Smile – A Soul Enriching Poem By Khalil Gibran
I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart
For the joys of the multitude.
And I would not have the tears that sadness makes
To flow from my every part turn into laughter.I would that my life remain a tear and a smile.
A tear to purify my heart and give me understanding
Of life’s secrets and hidden things.
A smile to draw me nigh to the sons of my kind and
To be a symbol of my glorification of the gods.
A tear to unite me with those of broken heart;
A smile to be a sign of my joy in existence.
I would rather that I died in yearning and longing than that I live weary and despairing.
I want the hunger for love and beauty to be in the
Depths of my spirit, for I have seen those who are
Satisfied the most wretched of people.
I have heard the sigh of those in yearning and longing, and it is sweeter than the sweetest melody.
With evening’s coming the flower folds her petals
And sleeps, embracing her longing.
At morning’s approach she opens her lips to meet
The sun’s kiss.
The life of a flower is longing and fulfilment.
A tear and a smile.
The waters of the sea become vapor and rise and come
Together and are a cloud.
And the cloud floats above the hills and valleys
Until it meets the gentle breeze, then falls weeping
To the fields and joins with brooks and rivers to return to the sea, its home.
The life of clouds is a parting and a meeting.
A tear and a smile.
And so does the spirit become separated from
The greater spirit to move in the world of matter
And pass as a cloud over the mountain of sorrow
And the plains of joy to meet the breeze of death
And return whence it came.
To the ocean of Love and Beauty—-to God.
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