The Prophet

On Self-Knowledge

· 2 min read

And a man said, Speak to us of Self-Knowledge.

And he answered, saying:

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”

Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

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In brief

The heart already holds in silence the secrets of the days and the nights. Read the summaryHide the summary

The heart already holds in silence the secrets of the days and the nights. Self-knowledge is therefore not the getting of something new. It is the rising into words of what the soul has always known. Gibran honours the longing to hear and touch this inner knowledge, and he lets the hidden well-spring run murmuring to the sea. Then he forbids every attempt to weigh or measure it, for the self is a sea boundless and measureless. From this follows a humility of speech. No one finds the truth, only a truth. No one finds the path of the soul, only meets the soul walking upon his own path, because the soul walks upon all paths. It does not move along a line or grow like a reed. It unfolds like a lotus of countless petals.

Key ideas

  • Self-knowledge begins as silent knowing in the heart. Words only give voice to what the soul already holds.
  • The desire to put inner knowledge into words and to see one's own depths is right and good.
  • The self cannot be weighed or sounded. It is a sea without boundary or measure.
  • Gibran asks for humble speech: one finds a truth, never the truth.
  • The soul walks upon all paths. No single path owns it.
  • The soul does not advance in a line. It unfolds from within, like a lotus of countless petals.

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