Spiritual Friendship

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 shared,
with joy
that is acclaimed.

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 feel 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 Prophet