The Garden of the Prophet "part 9" 
by Gibran Khalil Gibran 

.
And when the night was fully come, he took his steps to the grave-side of his mother and sat
beneath the cedar-tree which grew above the place. And there came the shadow of a great
light upon the sky, and the Garden shone like a fair jewel upon the breast of earth. 

And Almustafa cried out in the aloneness of his spirit, and he said: 

"Heavy-laden is my soul with her own ripe fruit. Who is there would come and take and be
satisfied? Is there not one who has fasted and who is kindly and generous in heart, to come
and break his fast upon my first yieldings to the sun and thus ease me of the weight of mine
own abundance? "My soul is running over with the wine of the ages. Is there no thirsty one to
come and drink? "Behold, there was a man standing at the cross-roads with hands stretched
forth unto the passers-by, and his hands were filled with jewels. And he called upon the
passers-by, saying: 'Pity me, and take from me. In God's name, take out of my hands and
console me.' 

"But the passers-by only looked upon him, and none took out of his hand. "Would rather that
he were a beggar stretching forth his hand to receive -- ay, a shivering hand, and brought back
empty to his bosom -- than to stretch it forth full of rich gifts and find none to receive. "And
behold, there was also the gracious prince who raised up his silken tents between the
mountain and the desert and bade his servants to burn fire, a sign to the stranger and the
wanderer; and who sent forth his slaves to watch the road that they might fetch a guest. But
the roads and the paths of the desert were 
unyielding, and they found no one. 

"Would rather that prince were a man of nowhere and nowhen, seeking food and shelter.
Would that he were the wanderer with naught but his staff and an earthen vessel. For then at
nightfall would he meet with his kind, and with the poets of nowhere and nowhen, and share
their beggary and their remembrances and their dreaming. 

"And behold, the daughter of the great king rose from sleep and put upon her her silken
raiment and her pearls and rubies, and she scattered musk upon her hair and dipped her
fingers in amber. Then she descended from her tower to her garden, where the dew of night
found her golden sandals. "In the stillness of the night the daughter of a ploughman, tending
his sheep in a field, and returning to her father's house at eventide with the dust of the curving
roads upon her feet, and the fragrance of the vineyards in the folds of her garment. 

And when the night is come, andthe angel of the night is upon the world, she would steal her
steps to the river-valley where her lover awaits. "Would that she were a nun in a cloister
burning her heart for incense, that her heart may rise to the wind, and exhausting her spirit, a
candle, for a light arising toward the greater light, together with all those who 
worship and those who love and are beloved. 

"Would rather that she were a woman ancient of years, sitting in the sun and remembering
who had shared her youth." 

And the night waxed deep, and Almustafa was dark with the night, and his spirit was as a
cloud unspent. And he cried again: 

"Heavy-laden is my soul with her own ripe fruit; 
Heavy-laden is my soul with her fruit. 
Who now will come and eat and be fulfilled? 
My soul is overflowing with her wine. 
Who now will pour and drink and be cooled of the desert heat? 

"Would thatI were a tree flowerless and fruitless, 
For the pain of abundance is more bitter than barrenness, 
And the sorrow of the rich from whom no one will take 
Is greater than the grief of the beggar to whom none would give. 

"Would that I were a well, dry and parched , and men throwing stones into me; 
For this were better and easier to be borne than to be a source of living water 
When men pass by and will not drink. 

"Would that I were a reed trodden under foot, 
For that were better than to be a lyre of silvery strings 
In a house whose lord has no fingers 
And whose children are deaf."