Cornerstones
Gibran left an Empire decaying
in ashes of former greatness.
Who will come as phoenix to nation
reborn, growing steadily in strength?
Moulding itself in virtue’s light
seeking crystal rays of clear vision.
Must many bring cornerstones together
for construction of a monument’s making?
Master builder cannot build
on gigantean scale alone.
To build an edifice to mankind
takes co-operative efforts of many hands.
How is it O Lebanon! Splinter cast free
of encroaching empires’ dominance
that war has come to tear your heart?
From heaven’s height O Beirut
do tears fall of Gibran’s weeping.
In your streets do your children die emasculated
stricken with hunger’s pain, diseases’ clawing hand.
Though exiled by masters of a former empire
Gibran never left you O Lebanon.
His body was ever cloaked with garment
of your ways his heart, ever full
with a father’s love O Lebanon.
Where are his sons Oh country of his love?
To comfort children of that love in need.
To stay bloody hand tearing a noble heart,
to lead toward prosperity and rejoicing.
Where O Lebanon! And where is promise?
Vision his awakened dream foretold overflowing.
Come new nations
of Empires ancient origin
as stranger walking streets
beyond antiquated walls.
Crushing inwards
are confining
mounds of rubble.
Future cities
have outgrown
their necessity.
In mosque and bazaar also pass
heralded, shadow of new age.
Paying homage to belief to tradition
which is upheld in all found good.
But swift and mighty be axe
to cut out cleanly,
creeping rotting wood.
For a strong nation
facing a demanding age;
Cannot stand
on weak foundations
time’s undermined.
Like prophets chosen of Allah
calming waves
of an encroaching hungry sea
are those enlightened
hearing the stirring of a coming voice.
When will you hear O Lebanon?
When will you gather fruit
prepared of your prophet?
Gladly eat of love’s gift
to lighten centuries’ burden?
Are not all races of man
starving simultaneously as one?
But then children
yours was a political
Lebanon’s problems.
His was Lebanon
of natural beauty.
Shrouds of ash and smoke burn
like funeral fires.
Hide face of the moon.
May wisdom’s seed blossom
in the garden of your soul.
Khalil Gibran was born in the Christian Maronite town of Bsharri in Lebanon, then part of the Ottoman Empire in decline, the remnant of which became the Republic of Turkey, under the leadership of Generals like Kazim Karabekir and Mustafa Kamel; who became Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Gibran’s mother was the daughter of a Maronite priest and priests taught Gibran about the Bible, and Arabic and Syriac languages. Maronite Christian’s spoke a dialect of Aramic and Christian Aramaic is still the liturgical language of the Maronite Church. Gibran returned to his homeland, at age fifteen, to study at a Maronite institute in Beirut. Gibran supported Arabic as a national language for Syria and wrote the famous poem ‘Pity The Nation’.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Related quotes
The Lebanon
She dreams of nineteen sixty-nine
Before the soldiers came
The life was cheap on bread and wine
And sharing meant no shame
She is awakened by the screams
Of rockets flying from nearby
And scared she clings onto her dreams
To beat the fear that she might die
And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone
From the lebanon
The lebanon
Before he leaves the camp he stops
He scans the world outside
And where there used to be some shops
Is where the snipers sometimes hide
He left his home the week before
He thought hed be like the police
But now he finds he is at war
Werent we supposed to keep the peace
And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone
From the lebanon
The lebanon
The lebanon
From the lebanon
I must be dreaming
It cant be true
I must be dreaming
It cant be true
And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone?
From the lebanon
The lebanon
The lebanon
From the lebanon
song performed by by Human League
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lebanon: Mountains, Meadows, Springs and Sea In The Same Sphere
And you ask me ' why
Do you love Beirut,
And Lebanon as a whole'?
Well, it is a requited kind of love,
For Lebanon love s me as well,
I can only reply
Saying can't you see
How it could heal
My physical
And psychological
Scars and wounds;
Is there a place
Like Beirut,
I wonder.
Now I am in Iowa,
But Lebanon sent Maria,
For me,
Maria is a Lebanese virgin
All of Lebanon is embodied in
The beauty of her face:
Her hair ‘s colour is like Al-Bekaa' s hay
Her white complexion
I s like Al-Arz' snow
And all the beauty
All the anger and calmness;
All the sadness
And tears
Of the Mediterranean waves
Are reflected in the shade
Of Maria's dark
Blue eyes
Is there a place
On this earth
Like Beirut,
I wonder!
The LADY of the whole World,
As Nizar says and Magda sings,
Could awake
My love for life;
My vitality
How can I not love her.
Is there a spot
That combines all
Contradictions in a smooth smart way
Like Lebanon
I wander!
Lebanon is my small cosmos,
It is God's Paradise on earth,
As Wadee' enchanting
Melody says;
The Whole world can be found
In this metropolitan fantastic place,
If I miss Saltsburg's blue mountains
I go to the Lebanese mountains and hills
If I miss birds of the English countryside,
I go to Al Bekaa's landscape
If I want to shop,
If I want good books,
If I want good food,
If I want to enjoy both
City and scenery
I go to Beirut,
If I want to drink spring water
I go to the city of many wills;
This is the meaning of Beirut's name;
Wills used to nourish old Beirut
And still
Just as it nourishes my sight, my heart
And will
It irrigates me
Just like a spring
That irrigates forests
In the wilderness.
poem by Nadia Abduljabbar
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Lebanon (my country)
Lebanon is the country of truth and honesty
that i will cherish for eternity
its the land of great fantasy
its a land
that our faith commands
we support each other forever
we live together
we fight with our hearts
i love Lebanon from the bottom of my heart
poem by Jana Ghossein
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Lebanon will be engulfed again in a huge power game that will last quite a long time. This is the tragic destiny of Lebanon.
quote by Walid Jumblatt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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God Moves Through You
adapted from "the prophet" by kahlil gibran
lyrics by kahlil gibran and jason mraz
you were born together
and together ye shall be forever
until death should scatter
it wouldn't matter in the memory of God above
let the wind of heaven dance between you too
allow the space and time to bring you closer to everlasting love
cause God moves
what do you do
God moves through you
when love beckons
his ways are often hard and steep
when his wings unfold
ye yield to all he speaks
the soul it might be hidden there among his pinions
oh you may wear a wound that truly spoke to you
believe in all that voice and follow through
follow so on and on
what do you do when God moves through you
what do you do
say i do
i do
just remember love possesses nothing
nor would it ever be possessed
oh love is love sufficient unto love
and you can figure out the rest
your children will not be your children
they are the daughters and the son of a beginning
they'll come through your womb but not be coming from you
they will be with you but do not belong to you
you may give them your love but not your thoughts
then they'll arrive with their own hearts
they're the coming of angels this blessed season
and then they'll sing oh how God rests in reason
God rests in reason
so what do you do
ooh when God moves through you
what do you do
say i do
i do
think not you can direct the course of
love itself directs the course allowed
believe not God is in your heart, child
but rather you're in the heart of God
what do you do
say i do
i do
i do
think not you can direct the course of
love itselfs directs the course allowed
believe not God is in your heart, child
but rather you're in the heart of God
what do you do
ooh when God moves through you
remember God rests in reason
say i do
i do
song performed by by Jason Mraz
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Your Beauty
Where there is a will, there is always a way;
And i was there and i saw it myself,
For your beauty was as the beauty of Lebanon.
Black tea, brown tea and green tea to your taste;
It is a way of life by fulfilling the right things always.
so let the birds do fly across the expanse of the sky and,
Let this poem teach every human kind;
For every woman thinks that her burden is the heaviest!
Where there is a vision, there is always a path;
And with lovely memories and lovely emotions!
But do activate your mind to overcome the pressures around you.
Life is like the naked King and the naked women around him,
But freely rendered and freely given;
For every man thinks that his burden is the heaviest,
But who feels it knows it all.
I was there and isaw your beauty myself,
For your beauty was as the beauty of Lebanon;
And i will try to be around you always.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Girl From Lebanon
Its time to break out from the cage
Its time to change your ways
Its time to find those shattered dreams
That vanished in the haze
Its time to lose those concrete shoes
They held you down too long
cause trouble days have come and gone
And the night has just begun
Another dawn is yet to come
Carry on my little one girl from lebanon
Its time to meet the canges
They come from all around
Its time for you to realize
Freedom has been found
Its time to meet the future
And forget about the past
Its time to make a good thing last
And the night has just begun
Another dawn is yet to come
Carry on my little one
Girl from lebanon
Its time to cut the barbwire
And walk out on the street
Its time that we stayed up all night
And lose all kinds of sleep
Its time to wear those bright blue jeans
And let your hair hang down
The word of peace is goin round
And the night has just begun
Another dawn is yet to come
Carry on my little one girl from lebanon
song performed by by Europe
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.
quote by Khalil Gibran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cedars Of Lebanon At Warwick Castle
CEDARS of Lebanon! Labyrinths of Shade,
Making a mystery of open day;
With layers of gloom keeping the Sun at bay,
And solemn boughs which never bloom or fade.
Contemporaries of that great Crusade,
When militant Christendom leaped up one day,
Fired by the Cross, and rushing to the fray,
Poured Eastward as oracular Peter bade.
Borne hither when Christ's Sepulchre was won,
And planted by hoar Warwick's feudal walls,
You grew, o'ershadowing every rival stem.
When English woods don May's fresh coronals,
Say,--Mourn ye still lost Jerusalem,
Funeral trees--beloved of Lebanon?
poem by Mathilde Blind
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Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
quote by Khalil Gibran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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America is America
America is America the land of the free, born in
the hope of a new world created, amongst men
who believed the vision of liberty and a freedom
to live in this glorious world
as inspired by valued people, created by its natural
landscaping, bounded by principles that to live in
harmony with nature has come to witness the wisdom
of our dear forefather the dignity of each man, living
in a time of what has been bless by the Almighty Father
perfected by His creation
as the spring birth the summer breeze, and the night
comes after the day, the morning has bless the loving
people of America, where respect and understanding
welcome all nation to shelter, the cheddar of Lebanon
Oh! America, where every hope comes in the most
expected ways, come swift it away for the day has given
to you to stay, Nay! America leaves us with pain, our
hearts echo it joy to renew the eternity bell, where you
always there to lend your hand, Alas! America, your
the answer of our call, the unity that we almost fall, the
clings of every nation souls to live freely as everybody
wants to be free
America is America, the journey that always there, the
step that make us well and the nation that takes you there
Viva America!
poem by Antonio Liao
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The Destruction Of Jerusalem By The Babylonian Hordes
They left their Babylon bare
Of all its tall men,
Of all its proud horses ;
They made for Lebanon.
And shadowy sowers went
Before their spears to sow
The fruit whose taste is ash,
For Judah's soul to know.
They who bowed to the Bull god,
Whose wings roofed Babylon,
In endless hosts darkened
The bright-heavened Lebanon.
They washed their grime in pools
Where laughing girls forgot
The wiles they used for Solomon.
Sweet laughter, remembered not !
Sweet laughter charred in the flame
That clutched the cloud and earth,
While Solomon's towers crashed between
To a gird of Babylon's mirth.
poem by Isaac Rosenberg
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Keep me away from the wisdom that does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.
quote by Kahlil Gibran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.
quote by Kahlil Gibran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Pain
And a woman spoke, saying, 'Tell us of Pain.'
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
poem by Khalil Gibran
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Pain XVI
And a woman spoke, saying, 'Tell us of Pain.'
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
poem by Khalil Gibran
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My friends and my road-fellows, pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion. Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own winepress. Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful. Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block. Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking. Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again. Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.
quote by Kahlil Gibran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Hallow the body as a temple to comeliness and sanctify the heart as a sacrifice to love; love recompenses the adorers.
quote by Khalil Gibran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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On Pain
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses
your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its
heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the
daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem
less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart,
even as you have always accepted the seasons that
pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the
winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within
you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy
in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by
the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has
been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has
moistened with His own sacred tears.
poem by Khalil Gibran
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Your pain is....
Your pain is the breaking of the shell
that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break,that its
heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder
at the daily miracles of your life, your pain
would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your
heart, even as you have always accepted
the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity
through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the
physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink
his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided
by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips,
has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter
has moistened with His own sacred tears.
poem by Khalil Gibran
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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