Chapter 1: The Coming of the Ship ~ Gibran’s The Prophet with Journaling Prompts
Almustafa, the chosen and the
beloved, who was a dawn unto his own
day, had waited twelve years in the city
of Orphalese for his ship that was to
return and bear him back to the isle of
his birth.
And in the twelfth year, on the seventh
day of Ielool, the month of reaping, he
climbed the hill without the city walls
and looked seaward; and he beheld his
ship coming with the mist.
Then the gates of his heart were flung
open, and his joy flew far over the sea.
And he closed his eyes and prayed in the
silences of his soul.
*****
But as he descended the hill, a sadness
came upon him, and he thought in his
heart:
How shall I go in peace and without
sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the
spirit shall I leave this city.
Long were the days of pain I have spent
within its walls, and long were the
nights of aloneness; and who can depart
from his pain and his aloneness without
regret?
Too many fragments of the spirit have I
scattered in these streets, and too many
are the children of my longing that walk
naked among these hills, and I cannot
withdraw from them without a burden and
an ache.
It is not a garment I cast off this
day, but a skin that I tear with my own
hands.
Nor is it a thought I leave behind me,
but a heart made sweet with hunger and
with thirst.
*****
Yet I cannot tarry longer.
The sea that calls all things unto her
calls me, and I must embark.
For to stay, though the hours burn in
the night, is to freeze and crystallize
and be bound in a mould.
Fain would I take with me all that is
here. But how shall I?
A voice cannot carry the tongue and
the lips that gave it wings. Alone
must it seek the ether.
And alone and without his nest shall the
eagle fly across the sun.
*****
Now when he reached the foot of the
hill, he turned again towards the sea,
and he saw his ship approaching the
harbour, and upon her prow the mariners,
the men of his own land.
And his soul cried out to them, and he
said:
Sons of my ancient mother, you riders of
the tides,
How often have you sailed in my dreams.
And now you come in my awakening, which
is my deeper dream.
Ready am I to go, and my eagerness with
sails full set awaits the wind.
Only another breath will I breathe in
this still air, only another loving look
cast backward,
And then I shall stand among you, a
seafarer among seafarers.
And you,
vast sea, sleepless mother,
Who alone are peace and freedom to the
river and the stream,
Only another winding will this stream
make, only another murmur in this glade,
And then shall I come to you, a
boundless drop to a boundless ocean.
*****
And as he walked he saw from afar men
and women leaving their fields and their
vineyards and hastening towards the city
gates.
And he heard their voices calling his
name, and shouting from field to field
telling one another of the coming of his
ship.
And he said to himself:
Shall the day of parting be the day of
gathering?
And shall it be said that my eve was in
truth my dawn?
And what shall I give unto him who has
left his plough in midfurrow, or to
him who has stopped the wheel of his
winepress?
Shall my heart become a
tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may
gather and give unto them?
And shall my desires flow like a
fountain that I may fill their cups?
Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty
may touch me, or a flute that his breath
may pass through me?
A seeker of silences am I, and what
treasure have I found in silences that I
may dispense with confidence?
If this is my day of harvest, in what
fields have I sowed the seed, and in
what unremembered seasons?
If this indeed be the hour in which I
lift up my lantern, it is not my flame
that shall burn therein.
Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern,
And the guardian of the night shall fill
it with oil and he shall light it also.
*****
These things he said in words. But much
in his heart remained unsaid. For he
himself could not speak his deeper
secret.
*****
And when he entered into the city all
the people came to meet him, and they
were crying out to him as with one
voice.
And the elders of the city stood forth
and said:
Go not yet away from us.
A noontide have you been in our
twilight, and your youth has given us
dreams to dream.
No stranger are you among us, nor
a guest, but our son and our dearly
beloved.
Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for
your face.
*****
And the priests and the priestesses said
unto him:
Let not the waves of the sea separate us
now, and the years you have spent in our
midst become a memory.
You have walked among us a spirit,
and your shadow has been a light
upon our faces.
Much have we loved you. But speechless
was our love, and with veils has it been
veiled.
Yet now it cries aloud unto you, and
would stand revealed before you.
And ever has it been that love knows
not its own depth until the hour of
separation.
*****
And others came also and entreated him.
But he answered them not. He only bent
his head; and those who stood near saw
his tears falling upon his breast.
And he and the people proceeded towards
the great square before the temple.
And there came out of the sanctuary a
woman whose name was Almitra. And she
was a seeress.
And he looked upon her with exceeding
tenderness, for it was she who had first
sought and believed in him when he had
been but a day in their city.
And she hailed him, saying:
Prophet of God, in quest of the
uttermost, long have you searched the
distances for your ship.
And now your ship has come, and you must
needs go.
Deep is your longing for the land of
your memories and the dwelling place
of your greater desires; and our love
would not bind you nor our needs hold
you.
Yet this we ask ere you leave us, that
you speak to us and give us of your
truth.
And we will give it unto our children,
and they unto their children, and it
shall not perish.
In your aloneness you have watched with
our days, and in your wakefulness you
have listened to the weeping and the
laughter of our sleep.
Now therefore disclose us to ourselves,
and tell us all that has been shown
you of that which is between birth and
death.
*****
And he answered,
People of Orphalese, of what can I
speak save of that which is even now
moving within your souls?
***** *****
~ Chapter 1 “The Coming of the Ship” 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
The Arrival of Destiny
Almustafa waits twelve years for his ship to return, yet he is met with joy and sorrow when the moment comes. Have you ever longed for something, only to find unexpected emotions when it arrived?
The Call of the Unknown
He speaks of the sea calling him and the danger of staying too long and becoming “bound in a mould.” Where in your life do you feel called to move forward despite the comfort of the familiar?
Love at the Moment of Parting
The people of Orphalese only express their love for Almustafa as he prepares to leave. How can you more fully appreciate and honour the people in your life before they are gone?
Revealing the Hidden Self
Almitra asks Almustafa to “disclose us to ourselves.” If someone deeply wise were to reveal a truth about you, what do you think they would say?
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