The Blessed City
In my youth I was told that in a certain city every one livedaccording to the Scriptures.
And I said, "I will seek that city and the blessedness thereof."And it was far. And I made great provision for my journey. Andafter forty days I beheld the city and on the forty-first day Ientered into it.
And lo! the whole company of the inhabitants had each but a singleeye and but one hand. And I was astonished and said to myself,"Shall they of this so holy city have but one eye and one hand?"
Then I saw that they too were astonished, for they were marvelinggreatly at my two hands and my two eyes. And as they were speakingtogether I inquired of them saying, "Is this indeed the BlessedCity, where each man lives according to the Scriptures?" And theysaid, "Yes, this is that city."
"And what," said I, "hath befallen you, and where are your righteyes and your right hands?"
And all the people were moved. And they said, "Come thou and see."
And they took me to the temple in the midst of the city. And inthe temple I saw a heap of hands and eyes. All withered. Then saidI, "Alas! what conqueror hath committed this cruelty upon you?"
And there went a murmur amongst them. And one of their eldersstood forth and said, "This doing is of ourselves. God hath madeus conquerors over the evil that was in us."
And he led me to a high altar, and all the people followed. Andhe showed me above the altar an inscription graven, and I read:
"If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee;for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,and not that the whole body should be cast into hell. And if thyright hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee; for itis profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, andnot that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
Then I understood. And I turned about to all the people and cried,"Hath no man or woman among you two eyes or two hands?"
And they answered me saying, "No, not one. There is none whole savesuch as are yet too young to read the Scripture and to understandits commandment."
And when we had come out of the temple, I straightway left thatBlessed City; for I was not too young, and I could read the scripture.
Words in this poem
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- amongst prep.
- Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
- graven p. p.
- Carved. Graven image, an idol; an object of worship carved from wood, stone, etc.
- commandment n.
- An order or injunction given by authority; a command; a charge; a precept; a mandate. [OF. commandement, F. commandement.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Blessed City is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Madman: His Parables and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5616; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Kahlil Gibran, The Blessed City, in The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5616, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gibran-madman/the-blessed-city.html, id L27302.
About this section
The Blessed City is prose, printed in 13 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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