Chapter 13: On Laws ~ Gibran’s The Prophet with Journaling Prompts
Then a lawyer said, But what of our
Laws, master?
And he answered:
You delight in laying down laws,
Yet you delight more in breaking them.
Like children playing by the ocean who
build sand-towers with constancy and
then destroy them with laughter.
But while you build your sand-towers the
ocean brings more sand to the shore,
And when you destroy them the ocean
laughs with you.
Verily the ocean laughs always with the
innocent.
But what of those to whom life is not
an ocean, and man-made laws are not
sand-towers,
But to whom life is a rock, and the law
a chisel with which they would carve it
in their own likeness?
What of the cripple who hates dancers?
What of the ox who loves his yoke and
deems the elk and deer of the forest
stray and vagrant things?
What of the old serpent who cannot shed
his skin, and calls all others naked and
shameless?
And of him who comes early to the
wedding-feast, and when over-fed and
tired goes his way saying that all
feasts are violation and all feasters
lawbreakers?
*****
What shall I say of these save that
they too stand in the sunlight, but with
their backs to the sun?
They see only their shadows, and their
shadows are their laws.
And what is the sun to them but a caster
of shadows?
And what is it to acknowledge the
laws but to stoop down and trace their
shadows upon the earth?
But you who walk facing the sun, what
images drawn on the earth can hold
you?
You who travel with the wind, what
weather-vane shall direct your course?
What man’s law shall bind you if you
break your yoke but upon no man’s prison
door?
What laws shall you fear if you dance
but stumble against no man’s iron
chains?
And who is he that shall bring you to
judgment if you tear off your garment
yet leave it in no man’s path?
*****
People of Orphalese, you can muffle the
drum, and you can loosen the strings
of the lyre, but who shall command the
skylark not to sing?
***** *****
~ Chapter 13: “On Laws” from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Spirit Nourished Earth created the image in this post in collaboration with DALL·E 3
Journaling Prompts for Self-Reflection
Freedom and Constraint
Gibran contrasts the laws of man with the freedom of those who walk facing the sun. In what areas of your life do you feel free, and where do you feel bound by external expectations or rules?
The Nature of Judgment
Gibran speaks of those who face life with their backs to the sun, seeing only their shadows. How do you view judgment, both from others and within yourself? How might facing the sun change your perspective on judgment?
The Tension Between Tradition and Growth
The lawyer asks about the laws, and Gibran responds by describing those who cling to old ways, such as the ox who loves his yoke. What traditions or ways of thinking do you hold onto, and how do they shape your life? Are they supportive or limiting?
Living Authentically
Gibran asks, “Who shall command the skylark not to sing?” What does living authentically mean to you, and what parts of your true self might you be holding back out of fear or conformity?
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