4umi Khalil Gibran : The Wanderer / The Prophet and the Child

The Prophet and the Child

Once on a day the prophet Sharia met a child in a garden. The child ran to him and said, “Good morrow to you, Sir,” and the prophet said, “Good morrow to you, Sir.” And in a moment, “I see that you are alone.”

Then the child said, in laughter and delight, “It took a long time to lose my nurse. She thinks I am behind those hedges; but can't you see that I am here?” Then he gazed at the prophet's face and spoke again. “You are alone, too. What did you do with your nurse?”

The prophet answered and said, “Ah, that is a different thing. In very truth I cannot lose her oftentime. But now, when I came into this garden, she was seeking after me behind the hedges.”

The child clapped his hands and cried out, “So you are like me! Isn't it good to be lost?” And then he said, “Who are you?”

And the man answered, “They call me the prophet Sharia. And tell me, who are you?”

“I am only myself,” said the child, “and my nurse is seeking after me, and she does not know where I am.”

Then the prophet gazed into space saying, “I too have escaped my nurse for awhile, but she will find me out.”

And the child said, “I know mine will find me out too.”

At that moment a woman's voice was heard calling the child's name, “See,” said the child, “I told you she would be finding me.”

And at the same moment another voice was heard, “Where art thou, Sharia?”

And the prophet said, “See my child, they have found me also.”

And turning his face upward, Sharia answered, “Here I am.”

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 Khalil Gibran Introductory biography Spirits Rebellious The Broken Wings A Tear and a Smile The Madman The Forerunner The Prophet The New Frontier Sand and Foam Jesus, The Son Of Man The Earth Gods The Wanderer The Wanderer Garments The Eagle and The Skylark The Love Song Tears and Laughter At the Fair The Two Princesses The Lightning Flash The Hermit and the Beasts The Prophet and the Child The Pearl Body and Soul The King Upon the Sand The Three Gifts Peace and War The Dancer The Two Guardian Angels The Statue The Exchange Love and Hate Dreams The Madman The Frogs Laws and Law-Giving Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow The Philosopher and the Cobbler Builders of Bridges The Field of Zaad The Golden Belt The Red Earth The Full Moon The Hermit Prophet The Old, Old Wine The Two Poems Lady Ruth The Mouse and the Cat The Curse The Shadow The Pomegranates God and Many Gods She Who Was Deaf The Quest The Sceptre The Path The Whale and the Butterfly Peace Contagious Seventy Finding God The River The Two Hunters The Other Wanderer Al-Nay The Garden of the Prophet Lazarus and His Beloved Satan My Countrymen I Believe In You Your Thought And Mine You Have Your Lebanon History and the Nation The Vision Visual art