Freedom | 1923 | A Life Changing Poem by Khalil Gibran

Narrated by Daniel "Avi" Avinash
www.danielavinash.com
All Rights Reserved
Music Used With Permission: A Kind of Hope by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
Recorded and produced in Melbourne, Australia by Daniel Avinash
In this poem, Khalil Gibran reminds us that we are free not when our days are carefree and our nights are want- and grief- free. Rather, we are free when we can rise above our physical concerns. We cannot do so without breaking at dawn the chains that fasten around the understanding at noon.
THE PROPHET
This poem "Freedom" is the fourteenth of 26 prose poetry fables from the seminal book, "The Prophet". In this book, poet Khalil Gibran talks about a fictional prophet Al Mustafa who had been waiting twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and take him back to the isle of his birth. He is then stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses topics about life and the human condition.
Facts about "The Prophet":
1) Translated into more than 100 languages making it one of the most translated books in history
2) Has never been out of print
3) Amongst the best selling books of all time - after The Bible and Shakespeare's collections.
Freedom (1923) by Khalil Gibran
At the city gate and by your fireside I
have seen you prostrate yourself and worship
your own freedom,
Even as slaves humble themselves before
a tyrant and praise him though he slays
them.
Ay, in the grove of the temple and in
the shadow of the citadel I have seen the
freest among you wear their freedom as a
yoke and a handcuff.
And my heart bled within me; for you
can only be free when even the desire of
seeking freedom becomes a harness to you,
and when you cease to speak of freedom
as a goal and a fulfilment.
You shall be free indeed when your days
are not without a care nor your nights with-
out a want and a grief,
But rather when these things girdle your
life and yet you rise above them naked and
unbound.
And how shall you rise beyond your
days and nights unless you break the chains
which you at the dawn of your under-
standing have fastened around your noon
hour?
In truth that which you call freedom is
the strongest of these chains, though its
links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes.
And what is it but fragments of your own
self you would discard that you may become
free?
If it is an unjust law you would abolish,
that law was written with your own hand
upon your own forehead.
You cannot erase it by burning your law
books nor by washing the foreheads of your
judges, though you pour the sea upon them.
And if it is a despot you would dethrone,
see first that his throne erected within you is
destroyed.
For how can a tyrant rule the free and
the proud, but for a tyranny in their own
freedom and a shame in their own pride?
And if it is a care you would cast off, that
care has been chosen by you rather than
imposed upon you.
And if it is a fear you would dispel, the
seat of that fear is in your heart and not in
the hand of the feared.
Verily all things move within your being
in constant half embrace, the desired and
the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished,
the pursued and that which you would
escape.
These things move within you as lights
and shadows in pairs that cling.
And when the shadow fades and is no
more, the light that lingers becomes a
shadow to another light.
And thus your freedom when it loses its
fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater
freedom.
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#poetry #khalilgibran #poem #wisdom

[@bushidooffaith4706]

Don't over think freedom, do what you know is wright, keep up the fight while always heading toward the light, remembering with each new day, you are reborn new, so don't be trip up by yesterday.

[@Wiseman__]

American conservatives need to listen to this poem daily.

[@malamatyneapapadatos1460]

It’s a haunting comment Fazza.. our liberation from the Ottoman regime, stood on the Greek motto.. One day of freedom is better than a lifetime in slavery.. See Kahlil’s poem ‘The Prophet’ on freedom.. it could also be our jailer.. Love you..T..

[@nickmulcahy9199]

This is very heady -- feels like it was written in a room without windows. Sometimes I can deal with that, sometimes not.

[@myJesusfilledshishilife95]

well wow beautiful as always!! made my morning thank you...and that last part gave me what to think about God bless you

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

I'm glad 🙂

[@sue6454]

Powerful. I ❤Gibran.

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

Indeed! Thanks for the comment Sue Avi.

[@claudianedelcu4125]

❤⚘🌿

[@user-oz8xb9wq1v]

Love love love these words,in my soul.amen.❤❤❤

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

Thanks for the comment!

[@user-oz8xb9wq1v]

@@DanielAvinashVOX thank u so,daniel,what a beautiful name u hav.

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

@@user-oz8xb9wq1v Thank you.

[@wensjoeliz722]

tears in my eyes

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

Thanks for the comment Wen. I'm glad you liked it. Avi.

[@viveksharma8698]

JAI BABAJI 🌷🌹🤲⭐️🌈🌺🌸🦚🌹🦚🙏JAI MAA 🌷🌹🤲⭐️🌈🌺🌸🦚🌹🦚🙏

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

Thanks for the comment mate! Have a great time ✌🏾 Avi

[@Lili-Benovent]

KENSINGTON AVE Lili Banished to the outer reaches I peer in from the bitter cold I see the warmth and reverie Afforded to the fold Hardship brings experience That opens up the mind Camaraderie with desperates The fold will never find They'll never walk the hard felt mile In shoes all filled with holes The end's the same for all of us No empathy, no soul.

[@kyssa_min_rumpa]

Nicely read, with pleasant background music. However, the message in the end ruins it a bit, as it most likely has nothing to do with the author’s intentions. It’s a religious interpretation trying to stand on the shoulders of a great writer and thinker .

[@Lili-Benovent]

DIFFERENT EYES Lili The rat infested holes in which we Derros dwell Fighting for our daily bread with us as much as them For others looking at our lives perceived as living Hell If we can find an alley, with a corner safe and dry Then we are Kings for just a night and we don’t question why We’re creatures of the shadows from which existence stems. - The city is a cruel Lord and all we have is time There’ll be no hand to lift us up, no help to find a bed We waste our time wandering, with others of our kind Talking dreams, opportunity, reality and crime And those among us jackals, put their brothers on the spike Promise bliss for just a time, escape from life, sublime. - It’s all our fault we are told, by people who don’t know Just get a job and buy a house but none will ever employ A black who can’t afford to eat, a white who’s tired and slow For this is what the streets give us and Winter is the worst The frozen parks, incessant rain, back in our holes we go We try the subway, bus stations; move on, the middle class comes first. - Charity comes with a hook, the drone of pray to God We’ll give a little, not a lot, endeavour to change your life To one of fierce obedience to Jesus in the sky And if you let us take control for one small meal a day You’ll struggle on and on through life and then one day you’ll die A mansion awaits you in the clouds, if you pray and pray and pray. - But Spring brings hope, all Nature’s good, to creatures all awake Nature provides enough to eat, a nest a tree a cave But man must find their own abode and man exploits the poor So back into the tents on streets us Derros slink once more And every day it seems there’s more, one paycheck from the street This lucky country prosperous once, now greed’s a festering sore.

[@naeemsearle4169]

Please don't quote Billy Graham after Khalil Gibran, you trully lost the poem's point.

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

Thanks for the comment. Ok I won't quote Billy Graham 😊 In fact, I've removed the quote just because you said so ❤️ Just kidding. Avi.

[@henryhandel]

Love that we can all personalize poetry and song in a way that is meaningful to ourselves. Universal, yet so personal. That's part of the power of it!

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

@@henryhandel absolutely. Poetry is interpretive. Thanks for the comment Henry.

[@brettpilkington9539]

​​@@DanielAvinashVOXyou don't get it at all, yes there is interpretation but there are also clear motives of the author, it's like taking the American national anthem and then quoting Putin. You don't get the message at all.

[@DanielAvinashVOX]

@@brettpilkington9539 that's a poor comparison. But thanks for the input though.