The Prophet

On Prayer

Kahlil Gibran · 2 min read

Then a priestess said, Speak to us of Prayer.

And he answered, saying:

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?

And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.

And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing.

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?

When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet.

Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion.

For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive:

And if you should enter into it to humble yourself you shall not be lifted:

Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others you shall not be heard.

It is enough that you enter the temple invisible.

I cannot teach you how to pray in words.

God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.

And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains.

But you who are born of the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart,

And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence,

God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.

“Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.

It is thy desire in us that desireth.

It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.

We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all.”

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In brief

Prayer is the expansion of the self into the living ether, and it belongs to joy and abundance as much as to distress and need. Read the summaryHide the summary

Prayer is the expansion of the self into the living ether, and it belongs to joy and abundance as much as to distress and need. Gibran teaches that in prayer the soul rises to meet, in a temple invisible, all who pray at that same hour, and that this meeting is its own fulfilment. Whoever enters only to ask, or to be humbled, or even to plead for others, is not heard, for it is enough to enter. No one can be taught to pray in words, since God hears only the words He Himself speaks through the lips. The true prayer is that of the seas, forests and mountains, heard in the stillness of the night: a prayer that asks for nothing, because the Divine is already the will, the desire and the need within us, and in giving more of Himself gives all.

Key ideas

  • Pray in the fullness of joy as well as in the hour of need; the heart may pour forth its dawning as freely as its darkness.
  • The soul summons you to prayer again and again, though you weep, until you come laughing.
  • Prayer is communion in a temple invisible, where you meet those whom you meet nowhere else.
  • Entering only to ask, to be humbled, or to beg for others misses the prayer; entering is itself enough.
  • God hears only the words He utters through you, so the deepest prayer rises in silence, as the prayer of the seas, forests and mountains.
  • The Divine is the will and desire within us and knows our needs before they are born; to receive more of God is to receive all.

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Table of ContentsThe Prophet
0 of 28 chapters completed
OverviewIThe Coming of the ShipIIOn LoveIIIOn MarriageIVOn ChildrenVOn GivingVIOn Eating and DrinkingVIIOn WorkVIIIOn Joy and SorrowIXOn HousesXOn ClothesXIOn Buying and SellingXIIOn Crime and PunishmentXIIIOn LawsXIVOn FreedomXVOn Reason and PassionXVIOn PainXVIIOn Self-KnowledgeXVIIIOn TeachingXIXOn FriendshipXXOn TalkingXXIOn TimeXXIIOn Good and EvilXXIIIOn PrayerXXIVOn PleasureXXVOn BeautyXXVIOn ReligionXXVIIOn DeathXXVIIIThe Farewell
Kahlil Gibran
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