Tag: Khalil Gibran

Said a blade of grass

I was reminded of Kahlil Gibran’s “Said a blade of grass” poem several times over the last week.  Both in my own behaviour, & others I observed through the looking glass we all live in now, the ubiquitous “video call”.  
They say we’ve found & adapted to this “new normal”, like the behaviour is any different from the usual shitty pre-COVID19 ones. 


Philosophy & death [Article]

I discovered one of my favourite stories in a Khalil Gibran collection:

A rich and mighty Persian once walked in his garden with one of his servants. The servant cried that he had just encountered Death, who had threatened him. He begged his master to give him his fastest horse so that he could make haste and flee to Tehran, which he could reach that same evening. The master consented and the servant galloped off and the horse.

On returning to his house the master himself met Death, and questioned him, “Why did you terrify and threaten my servant?” “I did not threaten him; I only showed surprise in still finding him here, when I had planned to meet him tonight in Tehran,” said Death.

This article by Julian Baggini, who is trying to come to terms with his father’s demise, reminded me of it. Not an easy read, but who said you’d find only easy reading here?