The Prophet On Friendship
And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your 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 cared, 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 not love but a net cast forth:
and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the 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.
Kahlil Gibran
The Friend Who Stands By
When troubles come your soul to try
You love the friend who just stands by.
Perhaps there's nothing he or she can do
The thing is strictly up to you.
For there are troubles all your own
And paths the soul must tread alone
Times when love can't smooth the road
Nor friendship lift the heavy load.
But just to feel you have a friend
Who will stand by until the end.
Whose sympathy through all endures
Whose warm handclasp is always yours.
It helps somehow to pull you through
Although there's nothing he or she can do.
And so with fervent heart we cry...
God Bless the friend who just stands by.
B. Y. Williams
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