The Prophet

On Clothes

· 2 min read

And the weaver said, Speak to us of Clothes.

And he answered:

Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.

And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in them a harness and a chain.

Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.

Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your skin and less of your raiment,

For the breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind.

Some of you say, “It is the north wind who has woven the clothes we wear.”

And I say, Ay, it was the north wind,

But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread.

And when his work was done he laughed in the forest.

Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean.

And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

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In brief

Garments hide much of our beauty and none of what is unbeautiful in us. Read the summaryHide the summary

Garments hide much of our beauty and none of what is unbeautiful in us. The privacy we look for in them can turn into a harness and a chain. Life breathes in the sunlight and reaches toward us in the wind, and Gibran asks his hearers to meet both with more of their skin and less of their covering. When the people say the north wind wove their clothes, he agrees, but adds that shame was the loom and the softening of the sinews was the thread, and that the wind laughed in the forest when the work was done. Modesty is a shield against the eye of the unclean, and where the unclean no longer exists, modesty becomes a fetter and a fouling of the mind. Gibran closes with the earth, which delights to feel bare feet, and the winds, which long to play with the hair.

Key ideas

  • Clothing hides the soul's beauty more readily than it hides what is unlovely in us.
  • The privacy sought in garments can harden into a harness and a chain.
  • Life touches us directly through sun and wind, and the body is meant to meet that touch.
  • Gibran names shame and softened sinews, not only the cold, as the true weavers of our coverings.
  • Modesty is a shield against the impure eye, and once that eye is gone, modesty only binds and clouds the mind.

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