What Is Death? | 1923 | A Life Perspective-Changing Poem by Khalil Gibran

Narrated by Daniel "Avi" Avinash www.danielavinash.com All Rights Reserved Music Used With Permission: "Monomyth – The Restoration" by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au Recorded and produced in Melbourne, Australia by Daniel Avinash In this poem, Khalil Gibran drives a powerful perspective-changing poem on what death actually is. This poem is full of lines that challenge what you already know about death. Understanding this poem will help you come to terms and peace with this inevitable fate. By understanding death, you learn to accept and embrace it, and most importantly, live life to the fullest. THE PROPHET This poem "On Death" is the fourteenth of 26 prose poetry fables from the seminal book, "The Prophet". In this book, poet Khalil Gibran talks about a fictional prophet Al Mustafa who had been waiting twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and take him back to the isle of his birth. He is then stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses topics about life and the human condition. Facts about "The Prophet": 1) Translated into more than 100 languages making it one of the most translated books in history 2) Has never been out of print 3) Amongst the best selling books of all time - after The Bible and Shakespeare's collections. ---- Death (1923) by Khalil Gibran You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart 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 the 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 honour. 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. -------------------------------------------- #poetry #khalilgibran #poem #wisdom