The Prophet

On Time

· 2 min read

And an astronomer said, Master, what of Time?

And he answered:

You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.

You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons.

You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.

Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.

Yet the timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness,

And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.

And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.

Who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless?

And yet who does not feel that very love, though boundless, encompassed within the centre of his being, and moving not from love thought to love thought, nor from love deeds to other love deeds?

And is not time even as love is, undivided and paceless?

But if in your thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle all the other seasons,

And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.

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In brief

Time is measureless, and the timeless in us already knows that life itself is timeless. Read the summaryHide the summary

Time is measureless, and the timeless in us already knows that life itself is timeless. When an astronomer asks about time, Gibran answers that people try to measure what cannot be measured. They govern their conduct and even their spirit by hours and seasons, and they sit beside time as if it were a stream flowing past them. Yet yesterday is only today's memory and tomorrow only today's dream. What sings and contemplates in us still dwells within the first moment that scattered the stars into space. Gibran turns to love to show this. Love is boundless, yet it rests whole at the centre of our being and does not pass from one loving thought or deed to the next. Time is the same, undivided and paceless. If the mind must still divide time into seasons, let each season hold all the others, and let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.

Key ideas

  • Gibran teaches that time is measureless, and that ordering the spirit by hours and seasons mistakes its nature.
  • Yesterday is today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream, so the whole of time is gathered in the present.
  • What sings and contemplates in us belongs to the first moment of creation and is not carried off by passing hours.
  • Love is boundless yet centred and does not move step by step, and time is likewise undivided and paceless.
  • Where time must be measured, let each season encircle the others, and let today hold the past in remembrance and the future in longing.

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