No, not that one. That would be preposterous. As we only discuss books, here too we are talking about a book called The Prophet. Written by Kahlil Gibran and published in 1923, the book has never been out of print. It has inspired generations of artists, writers, lovers and romantics. The prose-style poetry of it captures every heart and fills one with a sense of bliss, a feeling that is hard to describe otherwise.
The book is made up of 26 prose poems, delivered as sermons by a wise man called Al Mustafa. He is about to set sail for his homeland after 12 years in exile on a fictional island when the people of the island ask him to share his wisdom on the big questions of life: love, family, work and death.
At one point in this conversation, an old man, who is a keeper of an inn, asks the prophet about his views on eating and drinking. In response, this is what he says:
Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light.
But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother’s milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship.
And let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man.
When you kill a beast, say to him in your heart:
“By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand.
Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven.”
And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart:
“Your seeds shall live in my body,
And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,
And your fragrance shall be my breath,
And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons.”
And in the autumn, when you gather the grapes of your vineyard for the winepress, say in your heart:
“I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress,
And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels.”
And in winter, when you draw the wine, let there be in your heart a song for each cup;
And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress.
Kalampedia 