Today's Beautiful Gem: "Song of Man" by Khalil Gibran,
translated by Anthony Ferris.

When will the hot winds of war be driven away by the cool breezes of peace?
When will the poison of hatred be replaced by the nectar of love?
When will the fragments of ignorance be sewn into the fullness of knowledge?
When will the horrors of nationalism be supplanted by the grandeur of
universalism? These have been the dreams of idealists since time
immemorial. Astronauts of all nations have felt the indivisible wholeness
of the Earth when viewed from the space. Man, wherever he is born, is
the heir to the cultural riches of the entire world, not just his region or
his nation. How beautifully these ideas were distilled in such a poignant
manner by that great Lebanese poet, Khalil Gibran in the "Song of Man"!

"I was here from the moment of the Beginning, and here I am still. And
    I shall remain here until the end of the world, for there is no Ending
    to my grief-stricken being.

"I roamed the infinite sky, and soared in the ideal world, and floated
    through the firmament. But here I am, prisoner of measurement.

"I heard the teachings of Confucius; I listened to Brahma's wisdom; I sat
    by Buddha under the Tree of Knowledge. Yet here I am, existing with
    ignorance and heresy. I was on Sinai when Jehovah approached Moses;
    I saw the Nazarene's miracles at the Jordan; I was in Medina when
    Mohammed visited. Yet here I am, prisoner of bewilderment.

"Then I witnessed the might of Babylon; I learned of the glory of Egypt;
    I viewed the warring greatness of Rome. Yet my earlier teachings showed
    the weakness and sorrow of those achievements.

"I conversed with the magicians of Ain Dour; I debated with the priests of
    Assyria; I gleaned depth from the prophets of Palestine. Yet I am still
    seeking the Truth.

"I gathered wisdom from quiet India; I probed the antiquity of Arabia;
    I heard all that can be heard. Yet my heart is deaf and blind.

"I suffered at the hands of despotic rulers; I suffered slavery under
    insane invaders; I suffered hunger imposed by tyranny; yet I still
    possess some inner power with which I struggle to greet each day.

"My mind is filled, but my heart is empty; my body is old, but my heart is an
    infant. Perhaps in youth my heart will grow, but I pray to grow old and
    reach the moment of my return to God. Only then will my heart fill!

"I was here from the moment of the Beginning, and here I am still. And
    I shall remain here until the end of the world, for there is no Ending
    to my grief-stricken being."

Om shaantih: Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

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