Friendship

And a youth said Speak to us of Friendship.
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is you needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap
with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek
him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the
"nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to
his heart;
For without words in friendship, all thoughts, all
desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy
that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in
his absence,as the mountain to the climber is clearer from
the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the
deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own
mystery is love not but a net cast forth: and only the
unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know your ebb of your tide, let him know its
flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with
hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be
laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its
morning and is refreshed.


The Prophet collection
By Kahlil Gibran